Mon 3 Nov - blog posted Sudeep's pics before work. Rode bike to work (environmentally friendly). Quiet office on the day before Melbourne Cup. Sweat at the gym after! Finished reading Ian Rankin's Doors Open (will review at some stage). Jumped on the email and there was lots of great feedback from Nam Le blog post. Flatmate's … Continue reading A Week in the Life of Miss LiteraryMinded
Commentary
'So, How Was the National Young Writers' Festival?'
Unfortunately I didn't make it to NYWF this year, an annual literary alchoholic-ginger-beer-fuelled fest held in Newcastle as part of This is Not Art (TiNA). So I asked a few friends to share an experience or two of their weekend in early October. Amy Vought Barker: Our remix masterclass was great. We did cut ups … Continue reading 'So, How Was the National Young Writers' Festival?'
Page Seventeen Launch – November 8, 2008
Come and see me shimmer (due to nervous shakiness) on stage, reading from my shortlisted short story 'Mentioning Ben' which features dinosaur bones and ghosts of marriages past... I would love to meet some of my Vic readers. And I know at least three people on my blogroll will be there if you've been enjoying them too! … Continue reading Page Seventeen Launch – November 8, 2008
I'm Terribly Afraid I Might Spontaneously Combust
Never have I felt this burning, scorching, bubbling of my insides so intensely before. I have previously likened the process of idea and inspiration for a story as being like a 'brew'. The ingredients begin to react together inside your mind and pop and spit until it spills over onto the page as a draft. But this time... I … Continue reading I'm Terribly Afraid I Might Spontaneously Combust
Man Booker Prize Winner Aravind Adiga Survived the HSC
See, William? Those difficult, long-winded questions in the HSC English exam might actually nourish talent or passion in a writer, and s/he could go on to won one of literature's most prestigious prizes! For those of you who have been hiding under a rock or doona today (it's always a good idea every now and … Continue reading Man Booker Prize Winner Aravind Adiga Survived the HSC
Two Short Stories I Like
I came across this wonderful story by Charlotte Wood on her website, after reading The Children, called 'Honeymoon' And winner of the BNZ Katherine Mansfield Novice Writers Award - Joseph Ryan's 'Stranger Than Beautiful'
Janet Frame's 'Gorse is Not People', Mad Hatters and Confession Files.
Janet Frame's amazing short story, posthumously published in The New Yorker: 'Gorse is Not People' - Take some time to click and read. I was alerted to this story by Bookman Beattie and it has become one of my favourites. I recently got to meet Frame's niece Pamela Gordon at the launch of The Goose Bath: Poems (review … Continue reading Janet Frame's 'Gorse is Not People', Mad Hatters and Confession Files.
But in a Fiction, in a Dream of Passion
Last night I went to that gorgeous old theatre The Astor to see the full-length version of Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet. I will soon be doing a discussion piece about this version and John Marsden's recent novel adaptation (and express my enthusiasm for Shakespeare in more detail). For now, out of so many powerful scenes, I'll share … Continue reading But in a Fiction, in a Dream of Passion
A few moments of history, horror, and Kafka in Prague
This is an edited extract from an essay I am working on about my trip to Europe early this year. I have never seen buildings so old. The aged stone of Edinburgh or Venice, the disturbingly mismatched architecture of London, Oslo and Berlin. Ancient blackened churches rise out of the steel, gripping defiantly to tradition. The … Continue reading A few moments of history, horror, and Kafka in Prague
From Unpublished to Published
How satisfying it is to be right about a book! Amy Vought Barker has been awarded the Queensland Premier’s Award for Best Unpublished Manuscript for Omega Park. You might remember Amy from my series of 'Best Unpublished Books' posts, and my strong support for her creative, experimental project Remix My Lit, which is still up … Continue reading From Unpublished to Published
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