'All on the page': Writer ready to share lessons of the craft

Award winning author, journalist, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, and former human rights lawyer Peter Godwin says he is looking forward to sharing his craft at the upcoming 17th annual Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival as he prepares to visit the region for the first time.

Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Godwin has spent time travelling, writing and experiencing all corners of the globe, and spoke to the Mail as he made his way home to New York City following a stop in Melbourne to promote his latest memoir, Exit Wounds: A Story of Love, Loss and Occasional Wars.

Godwin said he was looking forward to not only discussing the new book, which focuses on middle age and his changing relationships with the three women who shaped his life, but taking part in workshops to help guide young and emerging writers.

Having previously taught writing at Wesleyan and Columbia, he said he was a “great believer in the craft”.

“These days, you’ve got to really write well, to hook readers,” he said.

“There are so many other distractions to a reader’s attention. You’ve really got to be on your A-game from the very beginning of a book.

“Unlike a lot of other art forms, it really is all on the page.

“You can be a great moviemaker, but then you need to go and raise the money, and work on the script, and it’s all collaborative. But there’s something about writing that’s just you, and the page.”

Godwin will take part in the in the Memoir Masterclass, where writers will learn techniques for researching and structuring narrative, as well as Manuscript Speed Dating, alongside Chris Flynn, Jane Caro, and ECU Associate Professor Donna Mazza.

He will also join the panel for Voices for the Future, where Margaret River Senior High School students take centre stage to discuss democracy, human rights, and the state of the world.

Godwin said when it comes to writing, “theoretically, anybody can do it”.

“If you’re sent a manuscript blind, you don’t care whether that person has a PhD, or a title, it’s either on the page, or it’s not,” he said. “It’s meritocratic – it’s just there, and if you can do it, it doesn’t matter who you are.

“I love that about teaching writing, I find it very interesting and really rewarding, every so often you discover someone who has a natural talent, and you can help hone that.”

The Writers Room will offer workshops including Working Up Stream – Adapting Novels for the Screen with Jock Serong; Flash Fiction: the art of writing tiny, beautiful stories with Gillian O’Shaughnessy and Masterclass: Writing Fearlessly with Charlotte Wood.

For information on these and all other Festival events, head to www.mrrwf.com