AustLit

'The 2020 March-November coronavirus lockdown period in Melbourne (Australia) led to the suspension of many arts/entertainment programs, but it also provided an opportunity to launch innovative online projects. An informal partnership between Montsalvat artists’ colony and La Trobe University in Victoria, allowed the short story winners of La Trobe’s 2019 Young Writers’ Award to be read for film by professional stage and television actors: Anisha Senarate, Emily Taheny, Cal Wilson and Maude Davey. Initially proposed to Montsalvat as an online alternative to its community arts schedule during intermittent lockdown months, the Young Writers project was complete and uploaded in March 2021. The filmed stories, shot on the grounds and in the unique gothic styled buildings of Montsalvat, demonstrate the intermedial possibilities available to contemporary literary and performance-based pedagogy and practice. This article elaborates on the nature and value of this approach to storytelling and references the historical and contemporary nature of performed readings that informed the development of this project.' (Publication abstract)