Bookworm … Writer Margaret McCarthy will be running workshops as part of Brimbank’s Literary Festival. 65919 Picture: DAMJAN JANEVSKI
By Belinda Nolan
MARGARET McCarthy still cringes when she reads her first forays into writing.
Her love affair with the written word began when she started keeping diaries as a teenager.
Now 43 and with a successful writing career under her belt, Ms McCarthy recently re-read her girlish outpourings with a mixture of fascination and embarrassment.
“I had a look at the one I wrote when I was 14 years old and as you’d imagine, it’s very 14-year-old.
“It’s quite self-centred and at times quite dull but it’s also an interesting historical record because I’d written about some quite significant events like the Ash Wednesday Fires, which was quite interesting to go back and read.”
With a successful writing career spanning almost two decades, Ms McCarthy has spent much of her time inspiring others.
Last year she published her first poetry book, Night Crossing.
She is currently teaching professional writing and editing at Victoria University in St Albans.
A proud Seddon resident, Ms McCarthy said she often drew inspiration for her stories and poetry from her Western Suburbs roots.
“I feel a really strong connection to where I live,” Ms McCarthy said.
“I use my car as a kind of mobile office. I’ll go and park my car where I can watch the shipping containers being loaded or trucks going in and out.
“When people think of the Western Suburbs there’s this perception that it’s very industrial and therefore not pretty but to me it’s quite beautiful.
“It has an industrial beauty about it.”
Ms McCarthy is one of four writers who will be holding workshops as part of this year’s Brimbank Literary Festival.
She will be hosting the adult short story writing sessions on 14 and 27 June.
Entries for the Literary Festival Awards are now open until 22 July.
For more information visit www.brimbank.vic.gov.au/arts or call 9249 4600.
