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Peta Murray Peta Murray i(A15076 works by)
Born: Established: 1958 Sydney, New South Wales, ;
Gender: Female
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Works By

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1 Birds of a Feather: On Queerness, Performance, the Coming Back Out Ball and the LGBTIQ+ Elders Dance Club Peta Murray , Adelaide Rief , Marnie Badham , Tristan Meecham , Bec Reid , Lenine Bourke , 2022 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australasian Drama Studies , October no. 81 2022; (p. 237-271)

'All these groups, for one reason or another, are loosened from the power structure of society because they are different, other. Such folks can easily see their fellow human beings as themselves. They have a sense of the naked unaccommodated human being, the 'communitas' person. Power structures tend to kill 'communitas'. It is the fact of liminality, its aside-ness, its below-ness, that produces and protects 'communitas'... The domination system cannot understand liminality. But the liminal desires the liminal, has to be out of the structure game, where it can have its ordinary people quality. There 'communitas' exists, just as grass wants to come up between the cracks.' (Publication abstract)
1 Herd Lachlan Philpott , Peta Murray , Meta Cohen (composer), 2022 single work musical theatre

'When and how do many voices become one?

'What happens when they do?

'When does group become herd?

'And how do we tell communal stories for an endlessly heterogeneous group of people?

'HERD is a new work of queer music theatre.

'Springing off Lachlan Philpott’s 21-year-old play BISON, this new work expands outwards, opening up from its original metaphor for the gay male herd to consider herding and herdlike behaviours, kinship, discrimination and isolation in the wider LGBTQIA+ community.

'HERD lays claim to queer history, insisting it be visible and seeking to memorialise those lost to stigma, illness, violence and ignorance. An unapologetic provocation for our times, HERD sharply examines what it means to be part of ‘the queer community’.

'Are we all in it together?'

Source: Theatre Works.
1 On the Holding of Spaces for Essaying Into Melody Ellis , Andy Jackson , Tina Stefanou , Peta Murray , Khalid Warsame , 2021 single work essay
— Appears in: Cordite Poetry Review , October no. 103 2021;

'It’s a putting oneself into a space of deliberate uncertainty. Stepping into the unknown. A practicing in that space. Training. It’s about thinking provisionally. Speaking small. Not for all.

'It’s about languaging. Being attentive to words, to meaning. To the meaning that can be smuggled in however unwittingly.

'It’s about taking seriously – which might have nothing whatsoever to do with being serious.'  (Introduction)
1 Kin-as-Ethics : Experiments in Un/authorised Queer Essay Practice Peta Murray , Francesca Rendle-Short , 2021 single work essay
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , October 2021;

Author's note: INSTRUCTIONS TO THE READER:

  • The different parts of this intervention into the essay may be read in any order in homage to Deleuze and Guattari’s A Thousand Plateaus (1980).
  • It may also be diverting for the reader to apply alphabetical and/or numerical filters so as to read each author’s entries as discrete components, thus 1,2,3,4 etc (Francesca Rendle-Short) and A,B,C,D etc (Peta Murray).
  • A randomising instrument may also be applied for the experience of the essay willy-nilly.
  • The reader need feel no obligation to keep paragraphs or indeed sentences intact.

 
1 We Thought We Knew What Summer Was Susan Ballard , Hannah Brasier, , Sholto Buck , David Carlin , Sophie Langley , Joshua Lobb , Brigid Magner , Catherine McKinnon , Rose Michael , Peta Murray , Francesca Rendle-Short , Lucinda Strahan , Stayci Taylor , 2020 single work prose poetry
— Appears in: Axon : Creative Explorations , December vol. 10 no. 2 2020;
1 Murray's Covidictionary : New Words for Testing Times Peta Murray , 2020 single work prose
— Appears in: TEXT Special Issue Website Series , April no. 58 2020;
1 Diarology for Beginners : Articulating Playful Practice through Artless Methodology Kim Munro , Peta Murray , Stayci Taylor , 2020 single work criticism
— Appears in: New Writing , vol. 17 no. 1 2020; (p. 80-100)

'Here we set out to map, through epitextual moves, the first year of our practice-based research into ‘diary performance’, taking up Watkins and Krauth’s call for ‘new ways of “doing” and of “writing up” research that are discipline and form/genre relevant' (2016. “Radicalising the Scholarly Paper: New Forms for the Traditional Journal Article.” TEXT: Journal of Writing and Writing Courses 20 (1)). We offer the emergent methodology we call diarology much as it was discovered: chronologically, playfully and intuitively, through voicings, listenings, space for awkward silences and the serendipitous, and increasing attention to the métissage of our interleavings. We draw on the possibilities of playful practices both as means of inquiry and as sources of new knowledge, recalling Halberstam who encourages scepticism around modes of ‘disciplinary correctness’, suggesting they confirm the ‘already known according to approved methods of knowing [but] do not allow for visionary insights of flight or fancy' (2011. The Queer Art of Failure. Durham: Duke University Press). The outcome re-purposes found materials to create new life narratives, each iteration finding form and gathering vitality within the extemporaneous/ephemeral architecture of ‘essayesque dismemoir' (Murray 2017. “Essayesque Dismemoir: w/rites of elder-flowering”. PhD Thesis, RMIT University).' (Publication abstract)
1 Advanced Diarology : Mortification, Materiality and Meaning-making Stayci Taylor , Kim Munro , Peta Murray , 2019 single work criticism
— Appears in: TEXT Special Issue Website Series , October no. 57 2019; 'Public diary-reading events, arguably originating in the USA in 2002, continue to draw participants eager to share their teenage angst and juvenilia, yet there is little scholarly reflection on this peripheral practice of performative writing. Having birthed our own version in 2017 – within the safe harbour of the academy and using an intuitive, practice-based methodology – we believe there are some useful questions to pose about the autoethnographic contributions of this mortification rite. Eighteen months in, we are further moved to ask, what is happening in the presentational and performative space as we show our younger selves to one another as we have, and do? This article, a follow-up to our previous Diarology for beginners (2019), formally reiterates on the page the associative leaps and communal meaning-making arising from our explorations so far. Prompted by questions, such as, ‘Is the practice of diary keeping inherently gendered? Is it about becoming visible? Audible? Memorable? What? And what is the impulse to publicly share the archives?’ (Munro, Murray and Taylor 2019), we draw on the literature around diary keeping, as well as theories on voice, gender and creative autoethnography, as a way into understanding diary performing and the public sharing of juvenile shame.' (Publication abstract)
1 Methodologically Speaking: Innovative Approaches to Knowledge and Text in Creative Writing Research Mattie Sempert , Louise Sawtell , Peta Murray , Sophie Langley , Craig Batty , 2017 single work criticism
— Appears in: New Writing , May vol. 14 no. 2 2017; (p. 205-222) 'This article considers how creative writers use research to experiment with and expand the written form. Focussing on modes of storytelling for fiction and non-fiction, four current research degree candidates and a supervisor-mentor from RMIT University present snapshots of research works in progress, to reveal how they are negotiating the sticky yet rich relationship between theory and practice. Specifically, they offer innovative ways of expanding the written form to combine creative and critical modes of thought, resulting in distinctive contributions to knowledge and practice that are relevant to their genres, forms and subject matters. The candidates, who are working across the lyric essay, screenwriting, performance writing and radio, are also members of a peer-to-peer group facilitated by the supervisor-mentor, which over a four-year period has supported research training in creative writing and assisted in the formation of new research identities. This collaborative support structure has helped candidates to transform from creative writers to creative writing researchers, encouraging playfulness and experimentation yet underpinned by the needs of academic rigour. This article thus offers a collective, reflective approach to finding innovation in/through creative writing research – methodologically speaking.' (Publication abstract)
1 Please Supply Own Title:______________________________________ Peta Murray , 2017 single work essay
— Appears in: TEXT Special Issue Website Series , no. 39 2017;
1 Panel Play in Three Acts : Or, How (or When) Does a Panel Become a Playpen? Peta Murray , Mattie Sempert , Stayci Taylor , 2017 single work criticism
— Appears in: Axon : Creative Explorations , April vol. 7 no. 1 2017; 'Playwright and novelist Michael Frayn reminds us ‘the world is irregular and confused [and] understanding this is where any inquiry into the nature of things has to begin’ (2006: 37). A conference panel, such as the one that we (the authors) arranged ourselves into in late 2015, would appear to resist such irregularity and confusion. Presenters speak (as we did) in a predetermined order, observing a time limit and, where possible, aiming for coherence in theme, content or field. As creative practice researchers, knee-deep in our doctoral projects, each of us spoke of our recent experiences in different immersive writing environments – residencies, labs and boot camps – proposing there might be such a thing as ‘living in the research project’. Our session was lively and well received. Within our different approaches was room for playfulness and spontaneity. These spilled out into the presentation as a whole: with no prior consultation, we were surprised and delighted by unexpected connections. The residency, lab and, yes, even ‘thesis boot camp’ had playful elements in and of themselves, and perhaps these were the uniting factor. We were encouraged to publish together, expand on the ideas discussed. But, as Francesca Rendle-Short has written, ‘We are too often obsessed with content, the “what” [rather than the “how”]’ (2014: 92). We wondered if there was something further to mine. Had the panel itself become its own playroom? Three HDR candidates decided to assume the role of ‘panel beaters’, slip on some overalls, and find out.' (Introduction)
1 Indigestion Peta Murray , 2010 single work short story
— Appears in: New Australian Stories Two 2010; (p. 35-37)
1 Untitled Peta Murray , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December 2010 - January 2011 no. 327 2010; (p. 72)
— Review of Girl Saves Boy Steph Bowe , 2010 single work novel
1 Cameraman Peta Murray , 2009 single work short story
— Appears in: The Sleepers Almanac No. 5 2009; (p. 1-4)
1 The Volunteer Peta Murray , 2008 single work short story
— Appears in: Award Winning Australian Writing 2008 : The Best Winning Writing from Short Story and Bush Poetry Competitions Nationally 2008; (p. 182-189)
1 y separately published work icon The Law Of Large Numbers Peta Murray , 2003 Hobart : Australian Script Centre , 2003 Z1648543 2003 single work drama satire Coral Reith, a middle aged woman, suddenly finds herself in an 'empty nest' after years of being defined by her duties as mother and wife. Coral's attempts to find kindred spirits and meaningful community all lead to dead ends, until ultimately she takes solace in 'the nearly machines' of local gaming halls. Meanwhile, her home town itself is experiencing a mysterious proliferation as it's overrun by ants and spectacular ant mounds. The play is a bizarre comedy designed to involve community members and audience in the performance. It was written for 5 actors plus a chorus of community members, but has a variable cast with 13 main roles plus chorus. - from The Australian Script Centre website
1 1 Stormy Night Peta Murray , 2002 single work drama
2 6 y separately published work icon Salt : A Play in Five Helpings Peta Murray , Strawberry Hills : Currency Press Playbox Theatre , 2001 Z856011 2001 single work drama
1 1 y separately published work icon The Procedure Peta Murray , 2000 (Manuscript version)x400945 Z856003 2000 single work drama
1 Blueback Peta Murray , 1999 single work drama

'This moving Western Australian story captures the mystery of the sea and majesty of the old fish Abel calls “Blueback”. It is Abel’s journey from inquisitive boy to a man prepared to stand up for what he loves and believes in.

'Blueback is full of underwater imagery and exquisite puppetry, an extraordinary celebration of the West Australian coastline from one of WA’s most beloved authors.'

source: Spare Parts Puppet Theatre.
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