Alice Campion is the
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...
of a group of Australian writers who have published two collaborative novels, ''The Painted Sky'' (
Random House
Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...
, 2015; published in German as ''Der Bunte Himmel,''
Ullstein Verlag
The ''Ullstein Verlag'' was founded by Leopold Ullstein in 1877 at Berlin and is one of the largest publishing companies of Germany. It published newspapers like '' B.Z.'' and '' Berliner Morgenpost'' and books through its subsidiaries ''Ullstei ...
2015), and ''The Shifting Light'' (
Penguin Random House
Penguin Random House Limited is a British-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Books and Random House. Penguin Books was or ...
, 2017). The group promotes
collaborative fiction writing through workshops, public lectures, and the internet.
Members
Alice Campion consists of four core members: Denise Tart, a Sydney civil celebrant with a background in writing and performance; Jane Richards, a senior travel editor with Australian media group
Fairfax; Jane St Vincent Welch (full name Mary Jane St Vincent Welch), an Australian film editor; and Jenny Crocker, a communications manager specialising in
behaviour change campaigns. For its first novel, the Alice Campion group also included Madeline Oliver.
Origins
The Alice Campion collaborators met as members of an inner-city book club in
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, Australia, The Book Sluts. In 2010, while discussing
Crime and Punishment, five members of the group decided spontaneously to write a ‘
bestseller
A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...
’ in order to fund a trip to Russia. What began as a light-hearted attempt to write a run-of-the-mill romance soon developed into a more serious attempt to write a quality
genre novel. The group was also motivated by the lack of
collaborative writing
Collaborative writing is a procedure in which two or more persons work together on a Writing, text of some kind (e.g., academic papers, reports, creative writing, projects, and business proposals). It is often the norm, rather than the exception, i ...
in commercial fiction. While other forms of creative writing – notably
screenwriting
Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is often a freelance profession.
Screenwriters are responsible for researching the story, dev ...
for television and movies – thrived on collaboration, multi-author novels were rare.
Other successful collaborative pairs writing commercial
Australian literature
Australian literature is the literature, written or literary work produced in the area or by the people of the Australia, Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding colonies. During its early Western culture, Western history, Australia was a ...
include
Thomas Keneally and his daughter Meg Kenneally as well as
Florence James and
Dymphna Cusack, who wrote the classic Australian novel
Come In Spinner. Alice Campion remains the only multi-member commercial fiction group collaboration in the world.
Writing process
The Alice Campion authors have outlined their writing process in detail, that they refer to as 'group fiction'. The document this process in their e-book ''How to Write Fiction as a Group''. Generally, the group meets on a Sunday to develop the plot of the book. This involves breaking the existing story into short scenes of around two to four pages. The group collaboratively decides what will happen in each scene: the action, setting the point of view, impacts on the emotion and knowledge of the participating character and the tone. Each writer then takes a single scene away and writes it as a draft. Scenes must be written and circulated to the other writers ahead of the next meeting, which generally takes place on a Thursday. At this Revision Meeting, each writer reads her own scene out loud and other participants have an opportunity to suggest improvements, which are integrated or not by agreement. In subsequent drafts, scenes are re-written by someone other than the original author and
edited collaboratively to ensure a smooth and seamless narrative. Disagreements are decided by a vote.
Bibliography
* ''The Painted Sky'' (
Random House
Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...
Australia, 2015), published in German as ''Der Bunte Himmel'' (
Ullstein Verlag
The ''Ullstein Verlag'' was founded by Leopold Ullstein in 1877 at Berlin and is one of the largest publishing companies of Germany. It published newspapers like '' B.Z.'' and '' Berliner Morgenpost'' and books through its subsidiaries ''Ullstei ...
, 2015). In this family mystery/romance hybrid, a young urban designer inherits an outback property and is drawn into layers of family secrets.
* ''How to Write Fiction as a Group'' (2015), an e-book by Alice Campion members Jenny Crocker, Jane Richards and Denise Tart.
* ''The Shifting Light'' (
Penguin Random House
Penguin Random House Limited is a British-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Books and Random House. Penguin Books was or ...
, 2017), a sequel to ''The Painted Sky.''
Public reception
Following its publication in 2015, ''The Painted Sky'' drew attention from the Australian media. The Alice Campion authors have presented at numerous events, workshops and festivals including the Japan Writers’ Conference, the inaugural St Albans Writers’ Festival, the
New South Wales Writers' Centre, the Society of Women Writers (NSW),
the State Library NSW, the NSW Writers' Centre, and for Writers Victoria at the
Wheeler Centre in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
. Following the publication of ''The Shifting Light'' in 2017, the Alices appeared at the
Sydney Writers' Festival and ran a workshop on how to write collaborative fiction.
References
External links
Groupfiction.net a website founded by three members
Penguin Random House AustraliaDenise Tart – Civil CelebrantJapan Writers’ ConferenceThe Society of Women Writers (NSW)Writers VictoriaSydney Writers’ Festival
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campion, Alice
21st-century Australian novelists
Pseudonymous women writers
Collective pseudonyms
Collaborative fiction
Australian women novelists
21st-century Australian women writers
21st-century pseudonymous writers