By Callum Ludwig
The Writers and Rhythm event in Healesville is celebrating its 30th anniversary with another celebration of local residents’ creative ventures, including one of a world-renowned psychologist’s grisly end.
The volunteer-run community event aims to allow writers and musicians to showcase their original material and create a warm, welcoming, acoustic-focussed event on Friday 9 September.
Event organiser Catherine Nolan said the event has always been about local people and stemmed from an old writers group wanting to get involved with the Gateway Festival that used to run in Healesville every year.
“What was beautiful was you might go along to the local newsagents, and the person behind the counter, it would be their job during the day, but they might play music at night and this gives them the chance to showcase it,” she said.
“Over the 30 years, it has been running in many different formats at different venues, but since 2014, it’s been held at the Uniting Church, featuring mostly Healesville people with some from Warburton or Yarra Junction or somewhere like that.”
Entry costs a $20 ticket and covers the cost of dinner, tea and coffee and the artists on show.
Ms Nolan said the event has a strong objective of creating a very nurturing environment for people to perform.
“Some people have never performed before, and they get up for the first time and they’re very supported and hopefully go on to produce a lot more. It’s a stepping stone for a lot of musicians and writers when they first start up,” she said.
“It’s really important for them to have these opportunities, and Writers and Rhythm creates a very attentive and respectful space for people to perform in.”
Healesville naturopath Tim Howden, performing under the name BlackSpur and will play original compositions for voice, guitar and atmospheric elements.
Trawlwoolway woman Merilyn Duff who now lives in Healesville will be presenting poems and songs in Palawa language as well as other Indigenous languages.
Healesville band After Dark will perform their original acoustic songs with a possible beloved cover or two.
Chelsea McNab, the Executive Director of Yarra Valley ECOSS, will be performing a song, along with Natalie Tuck, about the extraordinary life of explorer Doctor Annie Yoffa who explored the Warburton Ranges.
Ms McNab said back in 1929, Dr Yoffa walked from Warburton to Walhalla alone.
“She was a philosopher, writer, psychologist and surgeon at the Alfred Hospital. She wrote several books, but she had written a book about the journey from Warburton to Walhalla and a group of us wanted to reopen that historical trail as a nature walk and that’s how the project started to write this song,” she said.
“Natalie Tuck started researching her and found out so many amazing things about her life. At the end of her life, she was murdered when she was living in The Basin in the Dandenongs. She was living in a tent, testing her body to the limits and communing with nature, and someone came to her for a psychological appointment. They had a vision from God telling them to kill her and so they did.”
Dr Yoffa was world-renowned and even was a student of Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud. Dr Yoffa was even struck by lightning while studying psychoanalysis in Mount Martha.
Ms McNab’s friends and musicians Will Tate and Brendan Jones penned the song from Ms Tuck’s research, which included visits to the State Library of Victoria to uncover more information.
Ms McNab said she has fond memories of going to the Writers and Rhythm event as a teenager.
“It’s been going such a very long time as a gathering of local talent in poets and singer-songwriters. It’s a beautiful space in that church that gives a really special evening feel and sense of community that’s really strong at those events,” she said.
“Catherine Nolan asked me to do a piece I’d previously done and I offered this one up to perform it one last time with Natalie and tell the story of trying to reopen up the walk.”
The event is accessible for people of all abilities and attendees are encouraged to arrive at 7pm for a 7.30pm start. Cash can be accepted at the door or tickets can be bought at www.events.humanitix.com/writers-and-rhythm-healesville-yarra-glen-uniting-church. Catherine Nolan can be contacted at 0417 002 793 for any other questions.
