The contemporary American writer, Paul Auster, speaks passionately about the connection between reading and writing. ‘I can’t imagine anyone becoming a writer who wasn’t a voracious reader as an adolescent. A true reader understands that books are a world unto themselves – and that the world is richer and more interesting than any one we’ve travelled in before. I think that turns young men and women into writers – the happiness you discover living in books.’ Stephen King, another contemporary American writer, supports Auster’s view on the rich interplay between reading and writing when he says, ‘If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.’

Mount Carmel has been committed to developing a community of writers for some time now. In 2016, the English faculty established a writing club which soon grew to include teachers from all subject areas as well as some of our ancillary staff. Every first Thursday of the month, after school, we would drive up to the Carmelite Retreat Centre on St Andrews Rd, and sit and write for one, sometimes two, or on a couple of occasions, three hours. Our writing was often guided by a stimulus from a piece of literature, a particular painting, or a prayer. At other times we would sit quietly in that beautiful space overlooking the rural landscape, and simply journal.

When COVID-19 and lockdown curtailed our writing sessions at the Retreat Centre, we improvised with sessions at home. At a particular time of day, many of our staff would respond to a prompt and sit and write. This concept of a professional learning community working collectively for a specific goal, was wonderfully fruitful. Throughout the remote learning period, many English classes set up writing clubs of their own. Their mantra was to ‘keep the appointment’. This commitment to writing – and writing often – gave birth to yet another mantra which still reverberates today: ‘I am a writer!’ So, when Paul Auster and Stephen King speak about writers needing to be enthusiastic readers, that includes all of us at Mount Carmel.

Mrs Clare Murphy

English Coordinator and Literacy Instructional Coach