The last three days just slipped by. I thought I felt the Earth rotating beneath my feet on Monday night as I watched the sun set on Cottesloe Beach. My first sunset. A pink ribbon with little ships in it. Some people paused and others continued splashing and squawking like the rainbow birds. On the University campus, … Continue reading Perth Writers Festival 2010 diary, part three: ‘I have just three questions…’
Perth Writers Fest 2010 diary, part two: re-reading Alex Miller’s Prochownik’s Dream
Yesterday was my Q&A with Alex Miller, mainly focusing on his new novel Lovesong. I'm happy to report the session (where we actually covered a lot of ground, and got some great audience questions) will be available as a podcast on 720 ABC Perth. Watch this space. I'll write more about my sessions and general … Continue reading Perth Writers Fest 2010 diary, part two: re-reading Alex Miller’s Prochownik’s Dream
From my iPhone
Having internet issues in the tiny window available for blogging! Updates on the Perth Writers Festival, including peacocks, podcasts and polevaulting, as soon as I get a chance. My last session is this afternoon, then I'm going to see at least one West-side beach before I go home...
Perth Writers Festival 2010 diary, part one: ‘mint’ ideas
We live 'by and through and for ideas' said AC Grayling at last night's opening address. But the majority of ideas that we possess, that have shaped us - the way we see and react to the world - are unconscious or at least unexamined. Spinoza said that freedom came from making the 'inadequate' ideas 'adequate', that … Continue reading Perth Writers Festival 2010 diary, part one: ‘mint’ ideas
One of those weeks
With the frantic busyness of work, and the preparations for both Perth Writers Festival (this week) and the Format Festival Academy of Words (in Adelaide, in a few weeks) I’m a bit behind in Blogland. I've been reading plenty but have had no time to write up reviews, and I haven’t sent out much to guest reviewers, … Continue reading One of those weeks
Soul-scorching voyage (bring it on!)
This is absolutely the best article I’ve read for a while on contemporary issues in writing – the way it’s talked about, taught, and so on: ‘A Writing Career Becomes Harder to Scale’, by Dani Shapiro. Shapiro says: ‘the decisive factor is what I call endurability: that is, the ability to deal effectively with uncertainty, … Continue reading Soul-scorching voyage (bring it on!)
A few sessions at Writers at the Convent, 2010
I caught three sessions at Writers at the Convent last weekend – run by Reader’s Feast Bookstore, held at the gorgeous Abbotsford Convent. The session ‘We’ll always have Paris’ featured chef Shannon Bennett (Shannon Bennett’s Paris) and Elizabeth Bard (Lunch in Paris) who is a New Yorker living in that magical city. Bennett is a Melbourne-based chef/restaurateur … Continue reading A few sessions at Writers at the Convent, 2010
A Valentine to writing (and the moment)
I want to say: don't make yourself small. Then, the temptation to make your world bigger when it should be honed. Other people's pain that will become stories. Pain to come. People picking things off you, and censorship (it's not about you). (We will always make it about ourselves - that writer has seen behind the … Continue reading A Valentine to writing (and the moment)
Guest review: Lyndon Riggall on Stephen King’s Under the Dome
9780340992579 Hodder 2009 (Aus, US) I sometimes wonder when Stephen King will stop. Having published more than 150 books, it’s hard not to wonder when the ideas will dry up. What’s next Stephen, a killer broom monster? A giant ribbon that wraps itself around its victims and strangles them of life? A giant dome that … Continue reading Guest review: Lyndon Riggall on Stephen King’s Under the Dome
David Carlin’s Our Father Who Wasn’t There
Scribe February 2010 9781921640254 (Aus, US) David Carlin was six months old when his father, Brian, ‘went to sleep and never woke up’. His mother kept a photo of him on the bedside table, but otherwise, not much was spoken of his existence to David and his two older siblings, until they were much older. … Continue reading David Carlin’s Our Father Who Wasn’t There
LiteraryMinded 