Sarah Tiffen - June 2020 Artist of the Month
Sarah Tiffen is a poet, playwright, a university lecturer, and a speechwriter for Australian politicians. As one of five generations of her family to live in Leeton, she is also a proud local through and through.
Sarah’s upbringing in Leeton fostered her passion for writing: “I grew up in a house full of books. I have been writing since I was really tiny. Growing up on a farm and being quite socially isolated, was a very quiet and thoughtful way to grow up and I always felt like I had to write stuff down. I learnt recitations, poetry and speeches with Art of Speech. I was encouraged by teachers, I was lucky to have good teachers.”
Her business Sarah Tiffen Writing Services caters to all writing needs, offering services in creative writing, writing for small business, grants, marketing copy, media releases, articles, op-eds, research reports and books. Sarah recently worked as a consultant, contributing to written texts for the new Leeton Museum and Gallery’s upcoming premiere exhibition, ‘Water by Design- the Leeton Water Story’ which greatly assisted Council staff. You may have also recently seen Sarah perform a live reading at the Booranga Poetry Night, which saw fifty attendees enjoy the works of four local regional poets online.
Sarah is currently the writer-in-residence at the Historic Hydro Hotel: “It gives you the chance to be a lightning rod for people’s stories and their aspirations.” The residency is a project brainstormed from a conversation between Sarah and Hydro management, and is supported by Leeton Shire Council’s Community Strengthening Grants. “I’ve always wanted somewhere to sit and write where I feel inspired, but getting a writer’s residency is almost impossible. It’s come out of my own desire to write, but I also think it is the missing part in the Leeton art scene. Council said it was a great idea. That was exciting to get that support.” Outcomes delivered as part of her residency include running a pilot creative writing program, finishing her book, keeping a blog documenting her stay during COVID-19, and holding an event. She is also pursuing an additional project to research the stories of the Historic Hydro.
Sarah views the Historic Hydro as the third iconic building in the triad of Leeton’s cultural and artistic establishments, with the other two being the Roxy Theatre and the WC&IC Building. The Hydro is a place rich in history that always gives locals and tourists alike a story to tell. “Leeton has a writers’ history. In the last blogpost I was writing, I was thinking this building is quite writerly, and we’ve got this writers’ history in Leeton. Agatha Christie stayed here at the Hydro, Henry Lawson drank here, and Jim Graham and Dame Mary Gilmore used to hang out here.” Sarah acknowledges the strong community of creatives in the Western Riverina and hopes to further the artistic merit of the region: “We’ve also had a lot of people in town who have written books. It feels like it’s tying in with that tradition.”
She has successfully finished her fifth book during her residency with the working title ‘Soldier Boy and the Rural Fundamentalists’. Sarah says: “It’s got stories about Leeton, about rural Australia, about growing up here, about people that I know, about things that have happened to me and to other people. This book has quite a lot of tribute poems, as there’s been a few things that have happened in the community, tragedies and other things that have happened that have made me write about them.” Sarah plans to hold a book launch in Leeton when COVID-19 restrictions have been eased.
Her blog Covert COVID is updated regularly and is documenting what it’s like living in isolation at this time. “That’s been a learning process for me, it’s another way of writing, another way of connecting with people. It’s a record. I think it will prove to be a record of some of the aspects of this very strange time.”
“The next poetry book will be about what’s going on or how I’m feeling right now. I feel like it’s inevitable that every response we have at the moment , and maybe for a long time after, is going to be tinged with COVID-19. People still write novels and books about the Second World War, because the massive things that happened need to re-processed, re-understood and re-expressed over and over again.”
Sarah is building a community through her creative writers’ group, which is free and open to people of all experience levels: “The aim is to simply give people who are interested the opportunity to have a space to explore their self-expression. To get people to get into the swing of writing and give them an outlet while things are so crazy.”
Sarah’s plans for the future include launching an exhibition in Leeton with artist Jacqui Herrmann that is showcasing their ongoing collaborative project where Jacqui paints in response to Sarah’s writing. “She was very inspired. She just reads my poems, which are quite painterly and imagistic, and when something has touched her, she’s responded to it. You never know how people will respond. Once you’ve created it and put it out there, it’s not up to you to decide what it means or how people respond to it. However some of Jacqui’s responses have been exactly what was in mind. It’s interesting how sometimes you get the synergy.”
Sarah is available for one-off writing and communications workshops for businesses or individuals. Sarah’s poetry books can be bought through independent publishers Ginninderra Press and at the Leeton Newsagency. You can get in touch with Sarah at sarah.tiffen93@gmail.com, connect with with her over at Sarah Tiffen Writing Services and you can follow her journey at the Historic Hydro via her blog.
Images and story by Camille Whitehead, Wednesday 3rd June, 2020.
