King Island - Part 2: The Project

The Project: 'Right Here - Write Now'

It was agreed by general concensus of the major stakeholders - the kids - that this is what we should call the thing. I'm pretty happy with the title because it fairly accurately portrays what the project was about and (perhaps more importantly) what's come out of it so far.

I say so far because many of the pieces that students wrote while I was there weren't complete in their minds and they consider them works in progress. I have no doubt that the finished works will be of immense interest to anyone interested in island culture from all over the world, and I think there'll be quite a lot of other work that comes from kids on King Island as a result my brief time there.

I did some very quick 'taster' workshops early on in my trip and I must say I was extremely surprised by the quality of work that came through. I always consider them 'on the run' and not really of any great value except to open the eyes of participants to the possibilities of songwriting as a means of creative expression - these sessions are always too brief. But here it seemed that these kids were intent on grabbing the opportunity given with both hands - they had things to tell the world and they weren't to be put off by anyone! We talked about sense of place and the good things and bad things about living on the island. Many of the boys were into football and surfing as well as motorbike riding and muttonbirding during the nesting season.


A Short Note About Muttonbirds

For those of you not from south eastern Australia I think a brief explanation is in order....... the Short-Tailed Shearwater travels more than half-way round the planet each year to get to its nesting sites in southern Victoria, northern Tasmania and predominantly the Bass Strait islands. They are traditional food and medicine of Victorian and Tasmanian aboriginal people and are harvested in a traditional manner. People put their hands down the nests and remove the fledgeling birds, which are killed immediately. This is one of the few wild birds in Australia that are harvested commercially and the practice is heavily licensed and regulated. There's some excellent information on the birds and their amazing migration at the Tas Park & Wildlife page. Unfortunately, its not uncommon to find tiger snakes have been there first and on King Island I heard some great tales from some of the boys of how to work out if the nest is empty and finding extremely well fed poisonous reptiles instead of fluffy chicks!

If you are curious muttonbird's available commercially in Australia through specialty food outlets - the kind of place that sells crocodile meat would sell cooked muttonbirds. I've eaten muttonbird years ago when I first moved to Tasmania and found it way too oily and fish-flavoured for my taste. The consistency of the meat is like a wild duck but it tastes like extremely rich sardines to me!


The Project: Who's Who in the Zoo

As the project progressed it was clear who the really keen students were and we bunkered down for some intense sessions all day Thursday and Friday morning. The school principal (a wonderfully positive man, Charlie Stubbs) asked if a presentation in front of the school was possible Friday afternoon. So we had a deadline and a performance to prepare for! Also, I upped the ante by inviting the participants who wanted and were able to be my support acts on Saturday night at the Boomerang by the Sea. (I've never seen a bunch of kids look more scared and excited at the same time!)

So, for the final leg of the project, I ended up working with Sophie, Breanna, Nick, Marie, Tiana, Bronny, Steph, Meegan, Jayden and Justin. (There was also one adult participant from the school community, Kelly.... but more on Kelly next post!) The music teacher, Duncan McFie was extremely generous and gave us free run of the music centre, heaps of his time and expertise and even became our sound engineer for the school assembly and Boomerang gigs.

My school liaison, teacher Peta McFadzean (also my rock) made sure the logistics of everything ran smoothly. From having the kids out of their normal classes to organising ticketing with the mighty school office staff for Saturday night, nothing was too much bother for her. It was a classic team effort where everyone was equally important to both process and outcomes and I think we all learnt a great deal. There was tremendous feedback within the group for each others' work and suggestions were made positively and without bagging or putting anyone down. We were there for each other.

This became particularly evident when Nick had an accident on Friday morning, ended up with stitches and couldn't play bass for Breanna's song anymore. Marie switched from drums and played bass with only a couple of hours' practice - what an effort! Also Meegan, who opted not to be involved directly in composition but was there for everyone with her quiet support and lovely harmony singing.

Meanwhile, as part of the Tasmanian Writers In Schools Projects, students were asked in July to contribute to an e-zine that will be published soon on the net. A sample is available here.

Next post, what they wrote and pics.

King Island - Part 1

I think the best way is to take this in small bits..... it was too beautiful and too many things happened for just one post.

Suffice it to say the project was a success, and I'm already in discussion with KIDHS to go back in early October for a follow-up.

Cape Wickham Lighthouse is on the landmass in the picture (I could just make it out from the plane) and that's the tallest lighthouse in the southern hemisphere. Anyway, this is how I left the island on Sunday and you have to admit it was rather lovely!