Writing for 2007 got off to a flying starton February 15 with Olly conducting a very thought-provoking evening based on the writings of 19th century writer Wilkie Collins

We welcomed back Wal and new resident Michelle Todd was given a warm welcome to the group. Michelle has moved with her husband and children from Dorrigo to a waterfront Cove Boulevarde home. She told everyone she has an enormous love of words, sci-fi fantasy is her favourite genre of writing and avidly jots down her everyday experiences in a journal. Her obvious talent came to the fore when she read her St Valentine’s Day poem!

Apologies were received from Moira recovering after a recent motor vehicle accident; Gerry isn’t the best at present (our best wishes to you, Gerry); our condolences to Elizabeth and Colin on the tragic loss of son-in-law Tim, killed in a motorbike accident at Bungendore.

 Wilkie Collins was born in London on January 8, 1824, the son of a well-known landscape artist, William Collins. He left school at 17 and was apprenticed to a firm of tea merchants but after five unhappy years, he entered Lincoln’s Inn to study law. In 1850 his career as a writer began with the publication of Antonina.

In 1851 he was introduced to Charles Dickens and they became lifelong friends. Collins suffered from a form of

arthritis known as rheumatic gout and became severely addicted to the opium he took (in the form of laudanum) to relieve the pain. As a result he experienced paranoid delusions, the most notable being his conviction he was constantly accompanied by a doppelganger he dubbed ‘Ghost Wilkie.’His novel, The Moonstone, published in 1868, prominently features the effects of opium and opium addiction.

His works were classified at the time as ‘sensation novels,’ a genre seen nowadays as the precursor to detective and suspense fiction. He also wrote penetratingly on the plight of women and on the social and domestic issues of his time.

His novels were serialised in magazines, creating suspense to keep his audience reading from week to week and he enjoyed ten years of great success following publication of The Woman in White.

Collins never married, but lived on and off from 1858 with widow Mrs Caroline Graves and her daughter. He also fathered three children by an other woman, Martha Rudd, whom he met after Mrs Graves left him in 1868.Mrs Graves returned to Collins after two years, and he continued both relationships until his death in 1889.

In those 65 years he wrote 27 novels, more than 50 short stories, at least 15 plays and more than 100 non-fiction pieces.He is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery, West London.