South Side Quills Writers Group

A group of enthusiastic and passionate local writers was formed on Monday 16 November 2009 with an inaugural meeting, including a ceremonious champagne toast to celebrate the historic occasion.

Known as South Side Quills, the group culminated from a handful of like minded people from various backgrounds with a passion to write. Founding members, Glenys Yeoman,  Ingrid Rickersey,  Johanna Castro and Jennifer share similar interests and writing goals.

Johanna Castro, a freelance journalist with a wealth of experience, has written for magazines and newspapers in the UK, The Philippines, Namibia and South Africa. Ms Castro also has experience in facilitating writing workshops and retreats and Copywriting for businesses. “This is an exciting new venture and we hope that the group can become a helpful resource, perhaps uncovering and promoting new talent in the south west,” she said. Ms Castro, a feature travel writer, now has a prolific travel bog called Zigazag and another super prolific blog called Lifestylefifty.

Glenys Yeoman is a retired counsellor and retreat and workshop facilitator  who also worked as a volunteer fire fighter in Gelorup for five years. Ms Yeoman enjoys writing short stories, one of which won a national competition.  Excited about the formation of South Side Quills, Ms Yeoman, a member of the Fellowship of West Australian Writers (FAWWA) said she has wanted to see a south side writers group for some years. “We have decided that the mission of South Side Quills is to provide a supportive milieu for committed writers to develop their skills, and to share new contacts and networks,” said Ms Yeoman.

Freelance writer, Ingrid Rickersey said the vision of the group is to widen the scope and outreach of Bunbury writers. “We will be associated with FAWWA (Fellowship of Writers West Australia) as a regional group and host workshops, speakers and events,” explained Ms Rickersey, who writes articles and restaurant reviews for a West Australian magazine. Ms Rickersey also runs creative writing workshops for beginners.

The SS Quills writers group,  meet once a month to share writing news and ideas , critique one another’s work and manage to have a few laughs along the way. With several publishing success stories already, Quills members continue to have many stories on the boil and on the way to publication.

Founding members of South side Quills (2009)
L-R: Jo Castro, Glenys Yeoman, Ingrid Rickersey