Renee in her aforementioned space at The Mill.
After finishing her degree in 2020, Renee Miller decided she wanted to take some time to travel and then the pandemic came along.
Like many, 24-year-old Renee felt a loss of momentum during this time. So, when a friend shared The Mill’s Writer in Residence program, she decided to apply in the hopes of rebuilding that momentum and her faith in her ability as a writer.
Sitting down with Renee in her space, it’s hard to imagine her being ‘lost’ - from the moment you start chatting it’s clear she has a deep passion for writing and developing her skills.
“I’ve been writing all my life, so it’s always been something I wanted to do - even if it’s not my job,” she says.
Whenever you talk about writing as a career, people often jump to the conclusion that you want to become a journalist - an assumption that Renee confesses had initially created a small chip on her shoulder.
“When you tell people you do creative writing or writing [in general] they assume you’re a journalist,” she says. “I always thought that journalism had none of that creativeness in it. But that’s what I’ve really enjoyed about this experience, getting to use my creative skills in a new way and seeing how it’s applicable. I’ve found that love for it in a new way - I think that’s been really cool.”
One of the biggest hurdles Renee talks about during our chat is the classic cycle many emerging writers find themselves stuck in - not having enough experience or a portfolio for a job application, but also not having the experience to get work published to build that portfolio.
“You apply for a job and they go ‘oh, you haven’t really done these things … where’s proof you’ve written articles?’ and it’s like, well, no one’s given me the chance,” Renee says. “I don’t know how else I would’ve got this experience without the Writer in Residence program. I think this broadens what I see myself doing, I can see myself going for a lot more jobs after this because I’ve got experience in different areas now.”
Some of Renee’s treasured desk pinboard mementos.
During Renee’s six month residency, she’s covered stories on Buon-Cattivi Press: A micropublisher telling Adelaide’s queer history, The art of difficult conversations with Viray Thach and Why Adelaide memes for Citymag, and has also written an exhibition essay in response to Resilience, Viray Thach’s SALA Festival solo exhibition.
“I think working with Citymag, they know so much about what’s happening in the city, you’ll never beat them - you know?” Renee says.
“I guess you just need to think about what you might know more than them. You’ve got to find what you bring to the table.”
Working in a space like The Mill, surrounded by resident artists, has certainly helped Renee to find stories and has brought a much-needed sense of community.
“I’ve never really been part of an artist community, the degree I did at uni was a Bachelor in Arts and History,” Renee says. “There were people in your class that weren’t even doing anything writing related, so it made it hard to fall into the right sort of community after uni.
“It’s been a gift to come to The Mill, a lot of people do writing on the side here and being in the artist environment there’s a real opportunity for collaboration. Even my desk neighbour Eleanor Green has been getting involved in some writing stuff - people bring you along when you’re in these kinds of communities, which is really nice.”
One of the biggest hurdles we face during the Writer in Residence call-out is explaining that this opportunity isn’t just for writers wanting to become journalists. Renee seconds this, saying she felt she wasn’t the type of writer we were looking for. However, we can’t stress enough that this residency is open to creative writers, poets and arts writers.
To put simply: any writer looking to develop their skills and build a portfolio.
“Even on the day applications closed I still felt like ‘I really don’t know this seems very journalism-y' and I don’t have that,” Renee says. “But then I looked through Tanner’s work and he had a lot of creative writing so I thought I’m just going to go for it.
The bookshelf in the Writer in Residence space is always growing.
“You can’t lose anything by applying and you’re going to learn so much!”
At the end of our chat, we talk about what’s on the horizon for Renee. While we may be a little biased, it’s quite clear Renee’s passion and drive will ensure she has many fantastic opportunities ahead.
“I definitely want to look into freelancing and maybe apply for jobs and see what’s out there,” she says.
“I hadn’t given myself permission to explore job possibilities and I feel like now I advocate for myself.
“Also, I’ll be returning to my own creative writing because I’ve just been focusing on this [residency] and I do miss it. I’m not in a huge rush, just exploring things.”
The Mill’s Writer in Residence program is delivered in partnership with Citymag
The next residency call-out will be November 2022.
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Words and photos: Chloe Metcalfe
