2006: Making Tracks

Excerpts and selected moments

I still have a photograph of Andrew in my wallet, although it's not the one I used to keep there. It's the same Andrew, his eyes scrunched into narrow slits and his brown hair turning blond at the tips. But it didn't seem right for a forty-three-year-old man to be carrying around a picture of a shirtless seven-year-old, so I replaced it with another one, taken on the same day.
(Missing Boy, by Nigel Bartlett)

Pete propped an arm on the side of the house, and leant in closer to her. He could smell the coconut oil on her skin and see a tiny pimple on the side of her nose. The strap of her bikini dangled off one peeling shoulder.
'I'm just messing with ya,' he said, both palms up. "Relax."
(Dingo Creek, by Pip Harry)

This was The Perfect Window, when a man knows death is approaching. He is closer to death than birth. He laughs cynically at young people, and has difficulty getting an erection. His mortality is written all over him like bad poetry.
(Twice a Child, by Beth Hill)

All I said was the turkey stinks and I want to find Dad so she whacks me one and nearly brain concusses me. Wuzhead is laughing so I thump her - just a little thump you crybaby - and the phone's ringing again.
(Argy Bargy, by Andy Porter)

A line in the sand. The edge. On one side, leasehold land, marginal and bare, cowshit and flies. On the other side, the Simpson Desert, empty and barren. Little difference, to tell the truth, under the same white sun.
(Lines in the Sand, by Mark Rossiter)

Editors

The editorial crew of seven, aided and abetted by UTS lecturer and author Cathy Cole spent many sleepless nights chatting about the correct places for commas and italics.

Melissa Bruce has a Bachelor of Education, a Diploma in Directing from NIDA and is studying for an MA in Creative Writing. Occupations include theatre directing, performance consulting, fiction/non-fiction writing. She has a penchant for subtext and other invisible things.

The phrase 'She'll read anything' was created for UTS Writing graduate Natalie Costa Bir after she was found guiltily clutching a Mills & Boon in her hands at the age of ten. Today she wallows in this description by working in a publishing company.

Reg Domingo is a writer and freelance journalist. His work has been published in magazines such as SX News and Good Reading. He is completing his BA in Media and Communications, majoring in Creative Writing, and is currently writing his first novel.

Rochelle Fernandez has just finished a double degree in International Studies and Writing. She hopes one day to combine her two passions - language and travel - into something that will earn her a (decent) living.

Tiffany Hambley is currently undertaking her MA in Creative Writing at UTS. She was previously an editor of Hermes , the literary and graphics journal of the University of Sydney .

Holly Hutchinson graduated from UTS in 2005 with a Graduate Diploma of Writing. She has worked as a writer for Sparx magazine, Wollongong , and has published short stories in Going Down Swinging , LiNQ Journal and Vertigomagazine.

Martin Ivanov is completing a Communications degree at UTS after years of academic endeavours in humanities. A screenwriter with experience in television and short drama, Martin is looking at possibilities for reviving the film industry in his native country, Bulgaria .

The UTS lecturer who worked with the students is Dr Catherine Cole, who teaches in and co-ordinates a number of writing subjects at UTS and supervises post graduate writing students. She has published poetry, short fiction, three novels, and a non fiction book. During the process of editing the UTS Writers' Anthology, Cathy Cole did not participate in any of the decision, but rather guided, offered advice and support - and bought the chocolate biscuits.

In the news

IN SHORT Fiction
(Sydney Morning Herald, 17 June 2006)

New Views, New Voices
(SX News, Issue 280, 8 June 2006)

UTS launches a new collection of writing talent
(UTS Media Releases, 31 May 2006)

Making tracks on the road to creativity: UTS Anthology talent showcase
(UTS Festival News, 28 May 2006)

Mark their words
(Sydney Central Courier, 24 May 2006)

Anthology the write stuff
(Wentworth Courier, 24 May 2006)

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