Agenda for September Meeting
Anne Blythe-Cooper will talk about her writing process, including for the novel "The Shape of Water", which “takes the brute facts of history and weaves them into a narrative thread that is no longer purely historical, but also not quite purely fictional. It focuses on the life of Sophia Degraves, wife to Peter Degraves, the founder of Cascade Brewery and one of Tasmania’s most prominent early entrepreneurs. Like many other historical wives living in the shadow of their husbands, Sophia has received little scholarly attention over the years. The Shape of Water sets about righting this injustice.”
About the guest speaker
Anne Blythe-Cooper is a writer, actor, theatre director and semi-retired teacher.
She wrote The Shape of Water in 2016 about a woman about whom she knew virtually nothing. Sophia Degraves, her maiden name and place of birth unknown, is the lens through which her husband, Peter Degraves (Beer entrepreneur) is viewed.
Subsequently, Anne performed a season as Sophia in a one act play at Cascades Brewery. The 60-minute play included a song – a moving mechanism to get to the heart of the desire of her main character. Given the vagaries of Sophia’s life, Anne chose to make Sophia’s goal that of home and stability.
Anne was subsequently privileged to put together a non-fiction book on the life of musician, Lucy Benson (1860-1943). With the assistance of family archives, Lucy also became a play and a novel. The novel remains unpublished due to the scruples of relatives who know their forebears to have been perfect people doing perfect things in perfect situations.
Anne is currently researching another Tasmanian opera star, Marie Carandini. Unlike the Tasmanian Nightingale, Amy Sherwin, Carandini and Benson sacrificed careers on the stages of Europe to benefit the colonies with their talents.
Anne is also writing a musical about the Poulett-Harris family. Richard Deodatus Poulett-Harris (1817-99) was a teacher, a linguist, a cricketer and an Anglican minister involved in the masons. He lived 20 minutes from where Anne now resides. Of his twelve children, eight daughters remained in the orbit of their father. Lily established Australia’s first competitive cricket club, was a teacher and musician who aced university exams for which she was ineligible. She died of tuberculosis aged 23. Her twin, Violet, changed her name and moved to Sydney where she became a news reporter and actress. Charlotte was confined to a mental asylum until she died aged 91. Annie was left behind in England, aged three.
Who were these women and how were they shaped by a father who was brutal, depressive, and frighteningly intelligent? Anne plans to let them tell their story in song.
The Writing Group
Are you interested in writing about your family history but need a bit more motivation or encouragement?
Come along to The Writing Group and work on your writing skills in a fun and supportive atmosphere. The group meets via Zoom on the second Thursday of each month and has a varied program of activities and speakers designed to help you progress your project/s - whatever style of writing you are interested in!
In addition to the group meetings there is an optional forum utilising the Basecamp website where group attendees can discuss writing projects and share ideas between meetings.
Come and join us, new attendees are always welcome.
Skill Level: All
Group Leads: Elizabeth Capelin & Emily Purser
Each session will be recorded so you can join live or watch the recording later.
