Spineless Wonders Short Australian Stories

30/07/2024

Episode 4 of Zorba The Buddha has now dropped. Yet to dive into this crime fiction podcast? You can find it on Spotify. Subscribe so you don't miss the next instalments.
https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/T1T8ciKgFLb
About Episode 4. We finally learn about Sharabo’s betrayal of Bhagwan as he recounts the day he discovered she had fled to Germany and his subsequent escape from Oregon himself. Mukunda tells of the downward spiral Bhagwan and the commune endured after Sharabo’s departure, when they learned details of all her crimes and then saw Bhagwan himself apprehended by law enforcement. As Shakti (voiced by Josh McConville, pictured) prepares to leave Greece and Mukunda, he is wracked by guilt over his own actions at rajneeshpuram and remembers his final encounter with her father as the FBI became involved.
Sharabo writes another letter to Bhagwan, but her tone has taken quite a shift.

ABOUT THIS PODCAST
‘Zorba The Buddha’ is a novella written by Katerina Cosgrove, an author of Greek heritage and regular writer for SBS. It charts the demise of Bhagwan Rajneesh/Osho and his sanyassins in his brief exile in Crete in the 80s. The novella has been adapted into an audio-drama by Elizabeth Nabben (Belvoir 25A, Red Stitch) who
directs actors Nicholas Brown as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and 2019 Helpmann Award-winner, Vaishnavi Suryaprakash (‘Counting and Cracking’) as Ma Anand Sharabo, Anita Hegh (A Room of One’s Own, Janet King) as Ma Yoga Mukunda, the Greek shipping heiress and Josh McConville as Shakti, the Oregon farm-boy.
Sound engineer, Jeff Zhang.
Production by Spineless Wonders Audio.

28/07/2024

Episode 3 of Zorba the Buddha is now live. Featuring Anita Hegh (pictured) as Mukunda, the Greek heiress and devotee of cult leader, Osho. Catch up now on Spotify. Subscribe so you don't miss the next ep.
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/spineless-wonders-audio/episodes/Zorba-The-Buddha-Episode-3-e2mcsk2
In this episode:
In Crete in 1986, Bhagwan presents a discourse that inspires Mukunda and bores Shakti. Shakti and Mukunda fight after he reveals he wants to go home. Sharabo
continues her campaign with two more letters to Bhagwan, still beginning for forgiveness and revealing some of the questionable and illegal acts she committed
in his name. Back in Oregon in 1984, Bhagwan watches Sharabo grasping for power and control. Mukunda and Shakti come face to face with the extreme and dangerous lengths Sharabo goes to in order to win them an election.

ABOUT THIS PODCAST
‘Zorba The Buddha’ is a novella written by Author Katerina Cosgrove, an author of Greek heritage and regular writer for SBS. It charts the demise of Bhagwan Rajneesh/Osho and his sanyassins in his brief exile in Crete in the 80s.
The novella has been adapted into an audio-drama by Elizabeth Nabben (Belvoir 25A, Red Stitch) who
directs actors Nicholas Brown as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and 2019 Helpmann Award-winner, Vaishnavi Suryaprakash (‘Counting and Cracking’) as Ma Anand
Sharabo, Anita Hegh (A Room of One’s Own, Janet King) as Ma Yoga Mukunda, the Greek shipping heiress and Josh McConville as Shakti, the Oregon farm-boy.
Audio engineer, Jeff Zhang. Production by Spineless Wonders Audio.

25/07/2024

Episode 2 of the Zorba The Buddha fiction podcast is now live.
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/spineless-wonders-audio/episodes/Zorba-The-Buddha-Episode-2-e2mcqie
Here's the ep summary: Daily life at Rajneeshpuram is revealed as we jump back two years in time to the day Bhagwan arrives at the commune’s location in Oregon. Shakti tells of his initiation
into the commune as a local teenager of the small rural town of Antelope, and the exhausting and restrictive lifestyle required. Mukunda reminisces about her old relationship with Shakti, the time when she first spotted him as in a diner and brought him into the commune. Sharabo writes another letter to Bhagwan, detailing the sacrifices she made for him and begging for a response. Back in Greece, Bhagwan contemplates his own mortality.
ABOUT THIS PODCAST
‘Zorba The Buddha’ is a novella written by Katerina Cosgrove, an author of Greek heritage and regular writer for SBS. It charts the demise of Bhagwan Rajneesh/Osho and his sanyassins in his brief exile in Crete in the 80s. The novella has been adapted into an audio-drama by Elizabeth Nabben (Belvoir 25A, Red Stitch) who
directs actors Nicholas Brown as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and 2019 Helpmann Award-winner, Vaishnavi Suryaprakash (‘Counting and Cracking’) as Ma Anand
Sharabo, Anita Hegh (A Room of One’s Own, Janet King) as Ma Yoga Mukunda, the Greek shipping heiress and Josh McConville as Shakti, the Oregon farm-boy.
Sound engineer, Jeff Zhang. Produced by Spineless Wonders Audio.

Subscribe to the podcast via Spotify so you don't miss an episode.

23/07/2024

Drum roll! After much anticipation, we are ready to launch the audio-drama, Zorba The Buddha, adapted from Author Katerina Cosgrove's novella by Elizabeth Nabben. Enjoy this trailer and be sure to subscribe to the fiction podcast so you don't miss any episodes. Stay tuned and do leave a comment if you like what you hear. And please Like and Share so others can find it. Thanks for supporting Australian fiction podcasts!

Zorba The Buddha

17/07/2024

What started as volunteering at a writer’s workshop ended up helping me realise what the most important aspects of writing are. Madison Woods, our intern from Boston Uni describes her encounter with the wonderful Walter Waite aka Richard Holt and the community of storytellers from Green Square, Sydney. Read her blog on the Spineless Wonders website. https://shortaustralianstories.com.au/finding-freedom-with-writing-at-green-square/
#107

02/07/2024

Come along and launch Antonia Pont’s The Memory Library (Spineless Wonders), a retro scifi novella, set in an analogue future, and illustrated by Richard Holt. Artists and poets have been invited to contribute work in response to the story and its array of characters and weathers. Featuring: Debris Facility Pty Ltd, Light and Air and Space and Time (Beth Arnold, Melanie Irwin, Katie Lee, Clare Rae and Hanna Tai), Roman Sigley, Richard Holt, Yongping Ren & Ben Woods. Launched by Rebecca Hill (RMIT) and MC’ed by Andrea Eckersley (RMIT), and hosted by Run Artist Run gallery in Docklands. In collaboration with Public Exchange Bureau (Deakin University). Register here https://events.humanitix.com/the-memory-library-launch-and-responsive-artworks

29/06/2024

Had such a blast this afternoon at Haymarket Creative recording the first episode of our new behind-the-scenes podcast with authors (My Name Is Revenge) and Author Katerina Cosgrove (Zorba the Buddha). Lovely working with our podcast host and sound engineer extraordinaire Marty Gallagher from (Co-Producer Bronwyn Mehan photo-bombing.)Big chats about the inspo behind these two historical crime fiction novellas plus extracts from the audio productions featuring .e.l.i.x.j and We’ll be dropping this first ep soon. Plus look out for the release of the Zorba the Buddha fiction podcast directed by .nabbs

27/06/2024

For aspiring writers, or anyone with a story they'd like to tell.
Join us at 107 Green Square for an afternoon of place-making and storytelling. Have a story you want to craft? Want to learn more about how to weave compelling narratives? Want to just get out and learn more about the local community? Presentor Richard Holt will take you through a storytelling writing workshop to unlock your potential and engage with your local environment.
Presented by author and story coach Richard Holt in association with Spineless Wonders publishing and brought to you by 107 Projects, City of Sydney and Create NSW. Link in bio.

26/06/2024

Don’t forget to register for the free writing workshop with Richard Holt this coming Saturday from 1pm -3pm at 107 Green Square.

Storytelling Writing Workshop

21/06/2024

For this year’s NWF/joanne burns Microlit Award, we invite submissions which respond to the theme of ricochet. Award judges, Cassandra Atherton and Paul Hetherington (pictured below) will look for ricochets or instances of sudden redirection which function to skew the reader’s sense of a work and take them toward unexpected places. They will look for writing which challenges the idea of linear connection. Writing which involves deflected ideas, redirected themes, or the skewing effects of simile and metaphor.

We particularly invite ekphrastic submissions which ‘bounce off’ artistic works. The choice of artwork can take any form—from paintings, sculptures, photos, posters, comics, graffiti to digital images of all kinds. Even some presentations of food, architecture, music and dance performances might be art that inspires your piece. Please include the reference to the relevant artwork(s) in your submission.

Finalists selected from this award, along with invited contributors, will be published by Spineless Wonders in Ricochet, a Microlit anthology which will be launched at the 2025 Newcastle Writers Festival.

The deadline for submissions to both the National and Hunter categories has been extended until Sunday August 4.

20/06/2024

***DEADLINE EXTENDED***

Submissions now due Sunday Aug 4 for the 2025 NWF/joanne burns Microlit Award.
Theme: Ricochet
Maximum length: 200 words
Prizes: $300 for winners of both the National and Hunter categories
Judges: Cassandra Atherton - Prose Poet and Paul Hetherington

19/06/2024

For aspiring writers, or anyone with a story they'd like to tell.
Join us at 107 Green Square for an afternoon of place-making and storytelling. Have a story you want to craft? Want to learn more about how to weave compelling narratives? Want to just get out and learn more about the local community? Presentor Richard Holt will take you through a storytelling writing workshop to unlock your potential and engage with your local enviornment.
Presented by author and story coach Richard Holt in association with Spineless Wonders publishing and brought to you by 107 Projects, City of Sydney and Create NSW.
What to expect:
* activities to get you thinking about natural story telling (how we use our own voices to tell stories every day – humour, anecdotes, ‘deep & meaningfuls' etc)
* Thinking about location/setting as a part of good story telling
* The difference between stories told in conversation and stories written down
* Thinking about Green Square as a location/setting for stories
* plenty of writing time
* plenty of sharing time (participants to have an opportunity to share their stories if they wish)
* feedback from the story coach for those who want it
* Optional collection of stories

About the Presenter:
Richard Holt is a writer and visual artist with three decades experience working across local government and community sectors using art, story and cultural interaction to engage communities.
His story-gathering engagements use performative strategies that break down inhibitions that often prevent people sharing their stories. This informal story-gathering can be supplemented by more conventional strategies (formal story workshops etc) to target the stories of key community segments.
Richard has gathered stories from communities for clients including Inner West City Council, Maroondah City Council, St Kilda Park Primary School and South East Water. He has conducted story workshops for children and young people, writing groups, older people, libraries and community groups. He has worked as a professional story coach, and published broadly. His short story collection, What You Might Find was published by Spineless Wonders in 2018.
Richard exhibits at & Gallery, Sorrento (Vic). He co-founded Platform Artists Group and the zine store Sticky. He’s a former public librarian, and in his various cultural development roles has developed key cultural policy and strategic cultural documents for inner urban, suburban, urban fringe and regional councils. He has been a member of the Spineless Wonders creative team for over a decade.

Storytelling writing workshop

19/06/2024

Do you know anyone who wants to make a film using just a smartphone for SF3 2024 but they just don't have a story idea? We are here to help! Check out the SF3/Spineless Wonders Best Adaptation Award where there is a selection of short stories ready to adapt into film. Pick a story from this list, adapt and make your film up to 3 mins and enter it by September 1st.
Need help deciding on which microfiction to adapt? Here is Lili Paquet, one of the authors with some ideas that will spark your creativity.

06/06/2024

The Microfiction Adaptation Award closes Sept 1. Writers and filmmakers are brought together in this exciting collab with SF3

Submit Micro-Fiction Texts Introducing the SF3/Spineless Wonders Microlit Film Award Are you a short filmmaker on the lookout for great plot ideas for our SF3 Mini Category? You are in luck. Publisher, Spineless Wonders has curated a selection of microliterature for a brand new SF3 award. These half...

05/06/2024

Check out Bel Schenk discussing The Most Famous Boy in Town with Cath Kenneally from the Tsundoku podcast for Addicted Readers. Interview begins at 19:30.

The outwardly comfortable life of mother and wife, Winona Dalloway, has dark currents running beneath. "Thunderhead" is her interior monologue as she navigates the everyday acts of collecting the children from school, shopping and preparing for a dinner party when in fact she is a woman in peril. A....

04/06/2024

‘Novella is an unnecessarily frilly and diminishing word for what can be a high-octane experience: a short, sharp dip into another reality.’ Anna Funder
Have you written a novella in prose or verse? Or a hybrid novella that crosses genre boundaries? Enter the Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP) and Spineless Wonders ‘Novella Prize’ for your chance to win.
Closes June 30. Enter via AAWP website.
-fiction

03/06/2024

For this year’s NWF/joanne burns Microlit Award, we invite submissions which respond to the theme of ricochet. Award judges, Cassandra Atherton and Paul Hetherington will look for ricochets or instances of sudden redirection which function to skew the reader’s sense of a work and take them toward unexpected places. They will look for writing which challenges the idea of linear connection. Writing which involves deflected ideas, redirected themes, or the skewing effects of simile and metaphor.

We particularly invite ekphrastic submissions which ‘bounce off’ artistic works. The choice of artwork can take any form—from paintings, sculptures, photos, posters, comics, graffiti to digital images of all kinds. Even some presentations of food, architecture, music and dance performances might be art that inspires your piece. Please include the reference to the relevant artwork(s) in your submission.

We are delighted to open the 2025 NWF/joanne burns Microlit Award. Theme: Ricochet Maximum length: 200 words Prizes: $300 for winners of both the National and Hunter categories Due: 30 June 2024 Enter via Submittable: National or Hunter About the award Something that rebounds in a ricochet has an un...

31/05/2024

We ask Bel Schenk if her experience as a poet played a role in crafting her debut novella. We asked why she decided to give the reader more access to the truth of the sexual assault which is at the heart of this story when most of the characters must question what they have seen and heard. And why she chose to write a story that exposes such uncomfortable truths about the sport that she loves. And we asked about the whale.
To find out what she told us, check out the latest blog here

https://shortaustralianstories.com.au/bel-schenk-qa/

08/04/2024

We’re so excited to celebrate our microlit anthology, Remnant, and all the wonderful people and writers who made it happen. All of us at Spineless Wonders believe in the power of microlit to highlight the things we’re often inclined to ignore, and we hope you’ll join us online April 17 at 8pm to be transported to the many different worlds of Remnant. The event is free. Register via Eventbrite to get the Zoom link.
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/remnant-launch-tickets-875699289147?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl

07/04/2024

Some pics from last night’s Microlit event celebrating the NWF/joanne burns Microlit Award and the anthology Remnant. These feature MC Cassandra Atherton, NWF Program Manager Amy Lovat as well as readers Ronald Atilano, Alison Whipp, Deborah Van Heerkeren, Brenda Proudfoot, Cedar Whelan, Jane Crowley and Paul Hetherington. More pics to come.Photo credit: PH

03/04/2024

Only a few days away... we're getting excited! Come celebrate Remnant with us at Newcastle Writers Festival on Saturday.

01/04/2024

Our Newcastle Writers Festival event is coming up this week!

We’re so excited to celebrate our microlit anthology, Remnant, and all the wonderful people and writers who made it happen. All of us here at Spineless Wonders believe in the power of microlit to highlight the things we’re often inclined to ignore, and we hope you’ll come with us on April 6 to be transported to the many different worlds of Remnant.

The event starts at 6pm at NUSpace, X321. Admission is free—see you there!

28/03/2024

We’re thrilled to be returning to the Newcastle Writers Festival this year, bringing the “Spineless Wonders literary salon” to NUSpace for one evening only.

Come along to our free event—hosted by the wonderful Cassandra Atherton—to hear work performed from Remnant, our newest microlit anthology, and celebrate the winners of the 2024 joanne burns Microlit Award. Immerse yourself in our theme of ‘remnant’ and ask—what can we create with what remains?

Whether you’re a microlit newbie or a flash fiction fanatic, we’d love to see you there. 6pm on April 6.

26/03/2024

What do we make of the things we leave behind?

Join us for a free evening at the Newcastle Writers’ Festival celebrating the launch of Remnant, our newest microlit anthology. Cassandra Atherton will be joined by authors Emma Ashmere, Katharine Coles, Sally Egan, Paul Hetherington and John Kinsella, who will be performing their short works inspired by the theme of ‘remnant’. We’ll also be presenting the joanne burns Microlit Award to our 2024 winners of the national and Hunter categories.

Come along for a transformative hour of great company and brilliant writing as we celebrate short form fiction and its power to make long lasting impacts.