Voices of Women CLEARWAY is very ambitious for a small not for profit! It is a unique national short story competition and performance event that celebrates fast fiction, slam readings and pop up performance. It calls for short pieces in the first person to be read by professional actors.
 


CLEARWAY: create the space is an unusual and unique writing method that calls for writers to create ‘to the space’. Unlike most writing competitions, it has an open theme - all topics are considered – but the writers must choose from three voices and interpret them as wildly and playfully as they like.
 


The performance events are powerful, audience immersed with extraordinary actors who read the stories in an up front and personal setting.

CLEARWAY begins on Parramatta Road in Leichhardt at Articulate Space and then heads to Tin Sheds café in Lithgow, Mudgee and the old post office in Dubbo.

“We champion new Australian stories that are diverse, from women of all ages, backgrounds and writing skills. The result is an expression of our differences and our commonality, the way women experience the same challenges and moments of beauty but from our unique and personal perspectives,” says Voices of Women Director Lliane Clarke.
 


Led by leading writers and publishers from all over Australia, Voices of Women is pushing the boundaries of what writers and audiences can expect from the spoken word. 

“The exciting part about CLEARWAY is that until all the stories are submitted, and the voices allocated, we won’t know what the shape of the performance will be. The pieces will be individually shaped to each space we perform in, to create a site-specific framework for the tour. That lends it an aura of unpredictability which is really exciting and keeps it fresh. At the same time its a snapshot of what women are thinking about” said Lliane Clarke.  

It is supported by First Nations Australia Writers Network and actively seeks out writers from diverse backgrounds across Sydney.