In November this year, 'the animals are taking over the zoo' at The Old 505 Theatre, just near Sydney's Central Station. NovemberISM is a month long festival of playwrights, run by ISM, a collective of award-winning writers including Tamara Asmar, Kit Brookman, Rebecca Clarke, Tahli Corin, Jo Erskine and Rick Viede.

"The idea for NovemberISM sparked when we were on a writing retreat in Albury Wodonga. Every night, we'd huddle around a gas heater and start dreaming. Maybe it was the fresh air, maybe it was the wine, but anything seemed possible for a moment. One idea was to have a space where we could put on our own shows, and where we could hang out and create with other artists. NovemberISM is that dream in action; we've carved out a space and time where artists and audiences can gather for workshops, forums, readings and development and hopefully a whole lot of random fun," says Tahli Corin, who founded ISM in 2010 when she was working for B Sharp at Belvoir.