Fact and Fiction in Community Health

Abstract

In July 1996, La Trobe University's Schools of English, Nursing and Public Health joined forces to produce a unique program for three Writers-in-Residence. For six weeks the writers spent one day a week teaching writing techniques to clients from two Community Health Centres. In response, the clients and staff drew on their experiences of illness and health, producing autobiographical and fictional works. The Writers-in-Residence Program was funded by the Literature Board of the Australia Council. Financial support was also provided by the Public Health Branch of the Victorian Department of Health and Community Services. The writers involved were author Andrea Goldsmith, playwright Ray Mooney and poet Earl Livings. Projects involving two of these authors are described here.