1. Bendigo Writers Festival is on this weekend. I'm seeing a stream of tweets in my feed. Looks like some good sessions, but what I've really noticed are the staging and flower arrangements. Gorgeous. One day I'll get up there for the festival. 2. And on aesthetics, here is an article from today about [...]
Category: Festivals
Willy Lit Fest 2017
It was a good couple of days. Saturday I saw Leah Kaminsky, Rachael Guy and Andy Jackson talking poetry, the body, chronic illness and disability. It was interesting and moving. All smart people with brilliant things to say, and all gorgeous readers of their own - and other - work. Then it was my [...]
Willy Literary Festival 2017
I've never been to this festival (talk about being a bad Melburnian writer) but it's on next weekend and I am doing two things and really excited about being there. First is The Age of Experience on Saturday 17 June, 3.30-4.30pm where Christy Collins, Paul Dalgarno and I talk to Jane Rawson about being debut [...]
Back from my fishing trip aka The Ubud Writers and Readers Festival 2015
It was really good and while the added six days were kind of not good, they were also good. Good. Here are some photos from my launch, which was held at the divine Sri Ratih Cottages in Ubud, which was also where I stayed. It was really fun doing a launch with a different format. First, [...]
Chigozie Obioma and the case for ‘audacious prose’
This week, Chigozie Obioma's debut novel The Fishermen was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize. Obioma was already on my radar, first because I'd been hearing about the book, and then because I booked into a workshop he's running at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival next month. I booked into it so fast, it was like [...]
Things of interest (to me anyway)
Once more I have a raft of open browser windows across the top of my screen. I haven't made much progress on the footy scarf I'm knitting for my husband's boy. Luckily I told him it would probably be ready for next season. The reason why I'm going slowly with this project is mainly because [...]
Dave Eggers | Closing at MWF14
Look how gorgeous the sky is through the glass of whatever it is they are calling that space now. ¤ I know, I know, I'm late with this but better late than... you know. Eggers opened with reading a piece, something he's been playing with, that he's never read before, that he thinks might become [...]
Salman ‘Let’s drop the Sir shit’ Rushdie, at MWF 2014 (28 August)
Rushdie, sans zoom Almost done with my catch-up posts. I went to see Salman Rushdie speak at what I call Dallas Brooks Hall but which I think now has another name. I can't move with the times which is why it's always 'Spencer Street Station', 'Telstra Dome' and 'Kardinia Park'. I had a good [...]
Helen Garner’s opening at the 2014 Melbourne Writers Festival
I went along to the Melbourne Town Hall to see Helen Garner talking to Romana Koval. it was a buzzy night, lots of people, and I'd booked my ticket using the 'select seat yourself' button, instead of the 'best available.' This meant I got a ticket in the first row and as I walked [...]
MWF14 catch-up post MORNING READ W/ THUY ON, & Philip Hensher
Thuy On with novelist Mark Henshaw I first met Thuy when The Big Issue published my story 'Dead Man's Cake' last year. I perched awkwardly at the team's table in the Optic bar after the launch. To be fair, they called me over, and I was introduced to everyone else. Thuy said she really liked [...]
MWF14 – MEG WOLITZER & JOAN LONDON
MEG WOLITZER TALKS TO JANE SULLIVAN, Saturday 23 August Sullivan introduced Wolitzer, an author whose book The Interestings has been on my list for a long time, saying she's written seven novels, and is admired and enjoyed in equal measure. Wolitzer grew up with a mother who wrote, and still writes in her eighties, her [...]
Melbourne Writers Festival 2014, let’s call it an Early Friday wrap, with lettuce
Well it's upon us, and has been for a week now. But it really cranks up for me tomorrow. Thus far the highlights have been Meg Wolitzer (last Saturday), Joan London (last night) and Salman Rushdie (tonight). I'm not going to be able to do what I did last year, which was post long recounts [...]
A day in bed a week
Edith Sitwell said something like a woman needs a day in bed a week. I've been trying this out (when practicable) and yesterday I had a day. I read (Patti Smith's memoir about her and Robert Mapplethorpe's relationship, Just Kids) and looked at my phone, and read, and looked at my phone. Went to to [...]
The Writer as Editor, with Christina Thompson, Alice Pung & blow-in Gideon Haigh
Chris Wallace-Crabbe moderated this panel, and the first note I have written was something he said: Editing is almost everything. He introduced the panel, saying they'd asked Gideon along even though he wasn't on the program. Christina spoke for a while, giving her background. She worked for Peter Craven on Scripsi, the lit mag he [...]
Alex Miller & Helen Garner at Mildura, 18 July 2014
I saw Helen Garner at two events in the last week. It's a bit exciting because before that, I'd never seen her and I'm not sure I'd even heard her voice. So it was interesting. This session at Mildura was billed as a reading, and both writers read. Apparently they arm wrestled (really?) and Helen [...]
Ssssh, don’t tell anyone. Let’s keep it secret.
I'm serious. I was in two minds about blogging about the Mildura Writers Festival. (Some print material had the apostrophe, some didn't. I'm making a call and going without. Just because then I don't have to slow down to put it in.) Imagine I'm whispering all of the following to you. We're in a cafe, [...]
Melbourne Jewish Writers Festival 2014
On Saturday night I went to the gala opening of the inaugural MJWF, held at the Glen Eira Town Hall. Hosted by comedian Rachel Berger, and with appearances by some of the featured writers from the festival, it was a fun entrée to the next days of the festival (sessions ran yesterday and continue today.) [...]
FINAL PWF2014 catch-up post. Bloody hell, it’s taken ages
Richard Flanagan's closing address ON LOVE STORIES Flanagan was introduced by the festival director Emily and he kissed her after her opening comments. When he did this he lifted his foot back and it was a very cute beginning to his talk on love. I confess I've only read one Richard Flanagan book, no make [...]
PWF14 catch-up post, Paper & Glass. On indigenous story-telling.
This is the second-last catch-up post for the festival. Sorry it's taking me so long, I just need to fit it in around all the other important things in my life like going to the opera and lying in bed during the day reading Game of Thrones. You know how it is. Oh, and writing. [...]
PWF catch-up: Saints & Sinners: Faith, Abuse & George Pell, with David Marr
Continuing my series of catch-up posts on the recent (and getting not-so-recent) Perth Writers Festival in March, this session was pretty amazing and anyone who's seen David Marr in full swing will know what I mean. Although I did once meet a man in a second-hand bookshop in Euroa who said he didn't like Marr. [...]
PWF2014 catch-up post. OK. This one is weird but IT WASN’T MY FAULT
So I see an event listed. It's free. It falls into a slot where I have nothing to see. It's in a location that I know, ie I don't need to look at the map to get there. And it's got 'culture' in the title. The Lucky Culture, with Nick Cater, columnist with The Australian [...]
PWF14 catch-up post, Intelligent Design with Margaret Drabble, Eleanor Catton and Jeet Thayil
INSERT NOTE HERE: THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THE COMMENT SECTION NOW, ABOUT THE LUMINARIES. JUST SAYING. The first note I have written here is: 'Margaret Drabble's pearls.' They were beautiful. I'm noticing pearls, and wearing them a bit more this year. A writerly friend and I have decided 2014 is 'the year of the [...]
PWF14 catch-up: Intelligent Design with Eleanor Catton, Margaret Drabble and Jeet Thayil
The first note I have written here is: 'Margaret Drabble's pearls.' They were beautiful. I'm noticing pearls, and wearing them a bit more this year. A writerly friend and I have decided 2014 is 'the year of the pearls.' We are trying to bring them back, and it was good to see Drabble is on [...]
PWF14 catch-up: Martin Amis talks to Tony Jones
The young Martin Amis with stepmother, author Elizabeth Jane Howard, and father, author Kingsley Amis. On the Saturday night I went to the Perth Concert Hall to see Martin Amis talk to Tony Jones. I walked there from my accommodations, sculled a champagne and then counted the number of Amis titles for sale at the [...]
PWF14 catch-up: Fallen Women with Hannah Kent, Evie Wyld & Annabel Smith
What a line-up! This session started with Annabel-tech-guru-Smith encouraging the audience to live tweet, and gives us the panel members twitter handles. (@HannahFKent and @eviewyld if you're interested. Annabel's is @AnnabelSmithAUS.) Hannah spoke first about Agnes, the protagonist in her dark, evocative Burial Rites. Hannah said she wrestled with the idea of whether Agnes was [...]
PWF2014 catch-up: The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton speaks with Susan Wyndham
On the Saturday (22 Feb) I went to listen to Eleanor Catton talk with Susan Wyndham about The Luminaries. I think this was the day I wore my new navy skirt I had bought in the op-shop at Freo the day before, when we went to find the Eyrie building. This is a skirt which [...]
Monuments to Love, PWF session w/ Andrea Goldsmith & Aviva Tuffield
Novelist Andrea Goldsmith spoke with publisher and editor Aviva Tuffield (Affirm Press.) First up, Andrea gave a great explanation of her recent novel The Memory Trap. She introduced the characters and told the audience something about them. Andrea is a skilled presenter, no, really, she goes beyond skill into gift territory. She clearly enjoys it [...]
PWF Day 1, Publishers Seminar, Session 5. THE PITCH.
What we've all been waiting for, and on the day, the Pitch session was mentioned throughout, with info about how it would work. This is how it worked:People were invited to put their names into a box and we were told they'd be pulled at random, and possibly up to ten or so would be [...]
PWF Day 1, Sessions 3 & 4
SESSION 3, THE COMPETITIVE EDGEThis was a session with a panel as follows: Rose Michael, commissioning editor at Hardie-Grant; Robert Watkins, commissioning editor at Hachette Australia; Penny Hueston, senior editor at Text Publishing and Inga Simpson, author of Mr Wigg and Hachette/QWC Manuscript Development Program alumna.)The questions to spark this session's conversations were: What are today’s [...]
PWF catch-up, Day 1, Session 2, LOST in the AMAZON
This was the blurb for this session: Given the range of print and digital publication options available today, which is the best medium for your book? With Aviva Tuffield (publisher, Affirm Press), Michael Heyward (publisher, Text Publishing), Chris Allen (author, Momentum Books) and Terri-ann White (director, UWA Publishing). My notes: Terri-ann started by saying that 'we need more readers.' She asked for a [...]
PWF14 – Publishing Seminar Day 1, Session 1 (Thurs 20 Feb)
This was a great day. I've been to 'meet the publisher/editor/agent' before but this all-in-one session, featuring the DELIGHTFUL and COHESIVE and FUN team at Fremantle Press, was a joy to watch and listen to. MEET THE PRESS 'Narrated' by author Deb Fitzpatrick, we ran through the stages of publication, from manuscript submission to sales [...]
Perth Writers Festival and beyond
I'm back from the west and what a trip it was. I did a lot of driving, listening to writers, eating, swimming and walking. Fabulous stuff. I'll do a series of catch ups here over the next week, but for now I'm going back to bed with EYRIE to re-read after seeing what HAS to [...]
Gone fishing
Heading West today for some of the following: Also publishers, editors, other writers, readers. And that. Also maybe this: certainly this and for sure a drop or two from somewhere like here Back end of next week, chickens.
Och aye
So next is Perth Writers Festival. I've booked into lots of sessions. This is some of what I'm excited about: Lionel Shriver on literature and religion Martin Amis in conversation Richard Flanagan on love stories An all-day publishing thing on the novel, with a series of sessions. Can't wait for that one, including watching people [...]
Colm Tóibín workshop – Melbourne Writers Festival 2013
UPDATE: It was announced yesterday that Tóibín's The Testament of Mary has been shortlisted for this year's Man Booker Prize. I haven't read it but it's 'on the list.'*It's a writing day today. I'm lucky to have taught my last session for term last Wednesday and so have been burrowing into my manuscript, wrangling with [...]
The Big Issue Fiction Edition launch – MWF13
Today was the launch for the Big Issue annual fiction edition. It was held at the Cube at ACMI and there was a panel which included editors Alan Attwood, and Thuy On and Rochelle Siemienowicz who worked through the initial pile of submissions and produced the shortlist of 28 stories. I'm thrilled that I made [...]
Workshop with MJ Hyland at the Melbourne Writers Festival
MJ Hyland has written three novels and I enjoyed all of them, particularly the second (Carry Me Down) and third (This is How). Her stripped-back prose and clever, clever management of points of view I find exciting. In an earlier writing course I did, in 2009, in between meetings every two months we read books [...]
Laurent Binet and HHhH
I read a bit more of HHhH last night, but I was so whacked I couldn't read much. (Twitter does seem a little quiet today, I think people are catching their collective breath after an amazing first few days.) The voice of HHhH is easy to read I find; the narrator, purportedly Binet himself, cast [...]
Melbourne Writers Festival 2013
Two days spent at the festival and any ONE of the following sessions would have been amazing. I've taken notes and will regurgitate later, but for now, let me tell you about what I've seen. Yesterday I went to: 1. An In Conversation with Laurent Binet. His first novel HHhH (which I just started reading [...]
Excited about MWF13
I haven't been this excited about the Melbourne Writers Festival in like, forever, and I haven't been to anything at any festival for ages. No offence to previous organisers, but this year is pretty dang fabulous and I've diarised a total of 16 spots. This is what caught my interest this year: There are various [...]
SERAGLIO 