Viktoria Rendes
Write daily…
Stories unite us. We try to make sense of the world through stories, we tell our children stories and it is the stories we tell ourselves that shape who we become.
I have grown up with stories told by my Hungarian parents. Their stories told of oppression, displacement and hardship but also of love of their mother tongue and home country. I often found it difficult to identify with them as I was born elsewhere, bare rooted, still awaiting that fertile soil in which to grow.
My parents, uprooted, tried in vain to find a place to settle and call home. As refugees, they finally arrived in Melbourne in 1971, only to discover that the promise of a new start could not save their marriage. I remained with my father and learnt to negotiate my way in this new land. Despite setbacks and tragedies, I completed my schooling and finally left my statelessness behind when I accepted Australian citizenship in 1979.
Since then I have completed several degrees and have worked at Universities in NSW, become a primary school teacher, then a principal and I am currently a Literacy and Numeracy Advisor with the NSW Department of Education.
My passion is reading memoirs. They are the stories of everyday people, much like myself, who are grappling with what life has dealt them, often with raw honesty. I am always grateful for the new perspectives they offer.
I have a deep desire to tell my own story. I want to identify the threads that have given my life shape and colour, to stand back and see the picture emerge. I want to record the everyday, honour the lives of people who have walked along the path with me and acknowledge the marks they have left.
My love of writing started early in life. I have attended several writing courses and have engaged in monthly mentoring sessions on my memoir with Dr Rosie Dub since January 2019.
I have also completed a range of writing courses through the Australian Writers’ Centre, Creative Non-Fiction (US) and the University of Sydney run by established writers such as Mark Tredinnick, Kim Kelly and Lesley Gibbes.
My writing has been published in journals and magazines in Australia and the US including Live Central West, Mindfulness Bell and Grieve 2017.
I currently live and work on Wiradjuri land in Millthorpe, a picturesque village in the Central West of NSW.
To listen to this post click below: https://anchor.fm/viktoria-rendes/episodes/About-me-e14vvss
From Quill to Quote 