Sony Reader Pocket Edition (loaned to LiteraryMinded for two weeks) Visit the Sony website to check out the Readers available. US readers, see Amazon. There are about three reasons I haven’t bought an e-reader yet (actually, let’s remove the hyphen and call it an ereader - remember ‘e-mail’?). The first reason is that they’re expensive, but … Continue reading Test-driving the Sony Reader Pocket Edition
Commentary
Read and received lately
Read Freedom Jonathan Franzen Fourth Estate Of course you’ve heard of it. I liked it. I appreciated it, really. It took over me a little while I was reading it. I felt really blue. The characters get inside of you, because they’re so fully-formed, and there's much space for them. The opening reminded me of Richard … Continue reading Read and received lately
Moon dust will cover you: the story of David Bowie and me
After James Bradley’s 'Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)'. David Bowie was really the first artist I found on my own as a young adult. Bowie came to me in a humorous, intertextual way, through watching Zoolander at the age of about 16 at Birch, Carroll & Coyle Cinemas, Coffs Harbour. I worked there so movies … Continue reading Moon dust will cover you: the story of David Bowie and me
The Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2010
I attended the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards last night. I drank a lot of red wine, Casey Bennetto sang, awards were given, people got emotional, Peter Temple was hilarious, there was a dessert buffet, and Penguin CEO Gabrielle Coyne and I had a conversation about Michael Jackson. The Wheeler Centre, administering the awards for the first … Continue reading The Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2010
Some notes on the 'new world' of publishing
On the weekend I was a guest of the Write Around the Murray Festival in Albury. Besides giving a blogging/social media workshop, I was on a panel called The New World of Publishing alongside author Cate Kennedy, zinester Anna Poletti, self-published memoirist Melinda Marengo, and Barry Dorr and Jo Costello from JoJo Publishing. I thought I'd … Continue reading Some notes on the 'new world' of publishing
Writers for Burma, Wheeler Centre Program Three & other upcoming events
There are many events on the Melbourne literary calendar and mostly I'll track what looks interesting on Twitter, but there are a few coming up I'd like to devote a bit more space to... On October 3 is Writers for Burma, at the Bella Union Bar, Trades Hall, Carlton, from 2:30pm. MC and organiser Paul Mitchell … Continue reading Writers for Burma, Wheeler Centre Program Three & other upcoming events
‘What is a short story?’ Jon Bauer’s Sleepers Almanac and app launch speech
Last night, author Jon Bauer (Rocks in the Belly, Scribe) launched the sixth Sleepers Almanac and the new Sleepers literary app at the Bella Union Bar, Trades Hall, Melbourne. I thought his speech was wonderful, so with Jon's kind permission, here it is for you all to read: Have you ever had that moment on a … Continue reading ‘What is a short story?’ Jon Bauer’s Sleepers Almanac and app launch speech
Melbourne Writers Festival blog
Just a quick note to say I may not be updating over here quite as much over the next few weeks as I'll be full-on over at the Melbourne Writers Festival blog. You'll see I've been pretty busy over there already, asking some of the MWF guests to respond to random topics such as listening, … Continue reading Melbourne Writers Festival blog
Brass Monkey Books: a cultural exchange between Indian and Australian literature
When I was working at Bookseller+Publisher, Kabita Dhara wrote an article for us on her Asialink residency in India. In New Delhi, Kabita worked on literature that had been translated into English from India’s many regional languages, with a view to understanding the processes behind choosing a title for translation and assessing markets for it. Kabita, … Continue reading Brass Monkey Books: a cultural exchange between Indian and Australian literature
Byron Bay Writers Festival 2010 diary, part 3
A sun-drenched and possibly superficial series of blog posts On Saturday afternoon I chaired a panel on magic, and expanding our ideas of the conventional world, with speculative fiction author and astrologer Kim Falconer, and Dutch poet and Voodoo Priestess Maria van Daalen. There was such a great vibe to this panel. I went in … Continue reading Byron Bay Writers Festival 2010 diary, part 3
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