Writing the Weird with Johanna Bell – Alice Springs
Writing the weird: how to in inject more strangeness into your writing with award-winning author Johanna Bell
Life is strange and sometimes inexplicable so why do so many writers tend towards cliches? What is it that prevents us from straying towards the strange? And how can we use play to generate surprise and satisfaction for our readers?
Join award-winning author, Johanna Bell, for a fast-paced writing workshop that embraces the odd and provides writers with practical ways to inject novelty and wonder into their writing. Drawing on work by writers like Olga Ravn, Max Porter, Victoria Chang, Miranda July, Maggie Nelson and Ben Walter, you will explore how disruption, proximity and step changes can make your writing more beguiling.
Designed for writers of all levels and forms, this hands-on workshop has something for everyone. Expect a mix of discussion, reading and generative writing and opportunities to share (for those who feel like it). All you need is a pen and paper and if you’re working on a current writing project, bring along a few excerpts.
You’ll leave the workshop with:
- A stronger understanding of what we mean by ‘weird’ and why it’s so important to your writing
- Easy-to-use techniques for writing novel and surprising content
- A library of ‘weird writers’
- A stronger connection with local writers.
Participants will need to bring a notebook and a pen. For anyone with a work-in-progress, you are invited to bring a a short excerpt of writing of up to 500 words – this is optional and not a requirement to attend.
About Johanna
Until recently, Johanna lived in Garramilla (Darwin) where she founded a storytelling studio to elevate voices from northern Australia. She now lives in Nipaluna (Hobart) where she writes fiction, poetry and children’s books. Her work is widely published and she has won a string of awards, including a Tasmanian Literary Award for her recent novel Department of the Vanishing. In 2026, Johanna received the Copyright Agency / University of Technology New Writer’s Fellowship to work on her next book which explores memory loss.