‘Writing for resilience’: South West regional towns harness the arts to transform drought anxiety

A series of writing workshops in South West communities are giving a voice to the sense of anxiety people are feeling in response to drying conditions. Author Nicole Sinclair guides the workshops and said the sessions invited people to talk about the drought and what was happening on the outer landscape — but also what was happening on the inner landscape. “There’s a lot of eco-anxiety experienced by (many) people especially within these unprecedented dry days,” she said. Dr Sinclair said a field study called eco-anxiety described the sense of foreboding people were experiencing and looked at the effects on the individual at a micro level. With this understanding, the RiverLines Writing for Resilience sessions through Southern Forest Arts’ Rivers of Thirst project provide a space for people to explore the ways drought and climate issues are impacting them both environmentally and internally. Dr Sinclair said the sessions discussed participants’ feelings about the region’s dry spell. “We talk about the drought, and the inner drought, what it feels like when you’re at your end, because that’s what the south has been like for lots of people,” Dr Sinclair said. Workshops have started in the towns of Pemberton, Northcliffe, Manjimup, Nannup and Boyup Brook, with the sessions open to anyone. Previous sessions have seen participants write about possible solutions for drought and water management, while others find refuge in telling their story after experiencing no rain on their property for the past seven months. Dr Sinclair said people never knew what would come up for them and the beauty of allowing creative freedom meant they could explore their own thinking, views and solutions to drying times. “A part of creativity is — here’s an invitation, here’s a prompt, but you take it where you need to take it or where you want,” she said. “Some people had fun, they were playful with it. Other people went to the darkness.” Dr Sinclar said the issue of drying times, over-consumption and climate change were not just a conversation for policymakers and government. She said it was a situation for every person to address and think about — even a small group, in a small town in a regional corner of the planet. “Historically, creative people have been able to see things with new eyes and a new perspective, and maybe there are solutions that might be overlooked or dismissed in hierarchy,” Dr Sinclair said. “It’s a way to get insights — people from their personal lives have insights. They are the drivers and the engine room of culture. That’s where innovation occurs.” South West NRM, Southern Forests Landcare, Blackwood Basin and Goombarup and Southern Forest Arts are working together to raise drought awareness, with the workshops linked to the Surviving the Dry initiative funded by the Foundation for Regional and Rural Renewal, Regional Arts Australia and Regional Arts WA.