I saw a skein of Ibis once

Transforming sun to feathered light,

Shaping sky to black edged wing

In spiralling and perfect flight.

                      Pat Baird

Ibis Writers originated following a writers workshop run by Bruce Pascoe at Wonthaggi Secondary College in 1988. Workshop participants Jane Matta (Ford), Christine Edwards and Marian Quigley founded the group which was formally named by Petrea Savige in 1989.  The ibis, a local water bird was also the ancient symbol of Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom and learning, inventor of writing and the official scribe of the after-world.

Ibis members presented their work in annual readings at Phillip Island and at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1995 in association with the 'Postcards and Souvenirs' exhibition by Phillip Island artists. This was followed by an anthology, A Skein of Ibis and a second volume in 1998, coinciding with the Bass Bicentenary celebrations. 

The group runs regular workshops and public readings, has funded a local writers competition and in April 2007, organised the inaugural Bass Coast Writing Festival.

Ibis Writers are affiliated members of the Artists Society of Phillip Island Inc. PO Box 198, Cowes 3922.  No. A0030311H.

http://www.aspi-inc.org.au

Members' Recent Publications & Awards:

• Barbara Orlowska-Westwood’s poetry has been published in a chapbook entitled Firing Neurons by PressPress (2010). Barbara's poem 'The Nest' was comended in Dangerously Poetic Byron Bays Writers Festival Poetry Prize 2011. 

• Quigley, Marian (ed.) ICT Ethics and Security in the 21st Century: New Developments and Applications (IGI Global, Hershey, PA, USA, 2011).

• Eileen Harrison and Carolyn Landon, Black Swan; a Koorie Woman's Life (Allen & Unwin, 2011).