Instead of doing this session by session (as the last two days are a blur) I'll just write it as it comes out. * First of all, Why Australian Literature? looked at our national literature and it's current 'crisis', that of globalisation and the possible 'swamping' of other voices and literatures. The panel featured Peter … Continue reading Melbourne Writers Festival 2009 diary part eight: why Australian literature?
Month: August 2009
Melbourne Writers Festival 2009 diary part seven: debuts, exquisite short fiction, the bleak outsider, and erotic celebration
Friday 28/8 Debut With Style was chaired by Mr McSweeney's, Eli Horowitz, and on the panel were Evie Wyld, Reif Larsen, Hitomi Kanehara (pictured below) and Lisa Unger. All had a different experience of 'debuting'. Larsen had a 'burning desire' to write The Collected Works of TS Spivetand the publication was almost a bonus. Unger wrote … Continue reading Melbourne Writers Festival 2009 diary part seven: debuts, exquisite short fiction, the bleak outsider, and erotic celebration
Melbourne Writers Festival diary 2009 part six: like a mother to a son
'We were all feeling a bit shagged and fagged and fashed, it being a night of no small expenditure.' - Alex, A Clockwork Orange (film version). I slept in and I'm running late for things but I would never forget about ye, droogs. Wednesday night I hosted cocktails at Match Bar in the city. We … Continue reading Melbourne Writers Festival diary 2009 part six: like a mother to a son
Melbourne Writers Festival 2009 diary part five: words like triangles (a further experiment in the confessional)
This post is a creative, experimental mash-up of personal experience plus one of the poems Bernhard Schlink read on Sunday 23 August in RMIT Capitol Theatre, in a session called 'Pleasure and Pain: Poetry and the Body' at Melbourne Writers Festival. The poem is called 'Ballad of the Outer Life' or 'Ballade des auBeren Lebens', and is by … Continue reading Melbourne Writers Festival 2009 diary part five: words like triangles (a further experiment in the confessional)
Melbourne Writers Festival 2009 diary part four: finding meaning in the media
...in which the audience gasps audibly at the mention of Twitter! Official festival blogger Estelle and I are aptly blogging this morning's session laptop by laptop, sandwich by sandwich, in a cafe overlooking one of the festival venues. Jeff Sparrow spoke to Margaret Simons about Finding Meaning in the Media. Simons is a fellow Crikey blogger, and … Continue reading Melbourne Writers Festival 2009 diary part four: finding meaning in the media
Melbourne Writers Festival 2009 diary part three: future cities, beautiful rhythms and a literal ending
'I just blogged' I said to my friends when I ran into them, flustered, between sessions. Chris Flynn looked at me and said 'that sounds dirty', like 'I just did a blog', 'I just dropped one' and other variations. And now, the word blog is RUINED for me. But I was enlightened by two things: … Continue reading Melbourne Writers Festival 2009 diary part three: future cities, beautiful rhythms and a literal ending
Melbourne Writers Festival 2009 diary part two: Grenville, Michaels and the 'engine of curiosity'
Stories everywhere: The guy in the ACMI cafe shares my love of David Bowie, and they make a mean ham toastie. The title of the session Oranges are the Only Fruit alludes the the Orange Prize, which guests Anne Michaels and Kate Grenville have both won. Peter Clarke was a generous and intelligent chair, steering … Continue reading Melbourne Writers Festival 2009 diary part two: Grenville, Michaels and the 'engine of curiosity'
It begins! Melbourne Writers Festival 2009 diary part one: champagne, the city, Mieville's guns, Amsterdam's awards and Schlink's guilt
Thursday 20/8 The elevator ride up to the Text Publishing par-tay on Thursday evening was devastatingly long (I'm a semi-claustrophobe, to add to my other semi-disorders). I met up with Kathy Charles beforehand (a Text author) to discuss my launching of her book, Hollywood Ending. The champagne flowed, the conversations were half-chewed like the piece … Continue reading It begins! Melbourne Writers Festival 2009 diary part one: champagne, the city, Mieville's guns, Amsterdam's awards and Schlink's guilt
Queensland Poetry Festival special: Elizabeth Bachinsky
The Queensland Poetry Festival runs from 21 to 23 August. Graham Nunn has helped me to select three poets to feature on LiteraryMinded in the weeks leading up to the festival. Revisit number one, A.F. Harrold; or number two, Hinemoana Baker, if you like. Enjoy! Elizabeth Bachinsky is the author of three collections of poetry, Curio … Continue reading Queensland Poetry Festival special: Elizabeth Bachinsky
The real possibility of joy: an interview with Josephine Emery
Josephine Emery's The Real Possibility of Joy: A Personal Journey from Man to Woman is released in September from Pier 9. It's a compelling, poignant, fascinating, honest memoir. And as a writer, screenwriter and former director of the literature board at the Australia Council for the Arts, Josephine Emery really knows how to write. I … Continue reading The real possibility of joy: an interview with Josephine Emery
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