After Ruby J Murray's On Writing in the World: Ten Things About Ubud Writers and Readers Festival 2009. 1. Flying over the top end - veiny, crater-filled land, mercury lakes and billabongs. The corny sea creature carpet at Darwin airport where there's a smoking area and men in matching shirts drinking VB. Realising in the … Continue reading 10 things about Ubud Writers and Readers Festival 2009
consumerism
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
Capitalism is funny – a review of Max Barry's Company
Company, Max Barry, Scribe, 9781921215643, 2008 (Aus, US) Jones joins Zephyr as an enthusiastic employee, without even knowing what the company does. This doesn't seem to be an odd thing at Zephyr, where Jones' coworkers in the Training Sales department just accept that Zephyr is a ‘holdings' company, and get on with their menial, perpetual … Continue reading Capitalism is funny – a review of Max Barry's Company
Dana Spiotta – Interview
See my review of Eat the Document by Dana Spiotta, Picador, 2008, 9780330448291 (Aus, US) What was the initial inspiration for Eat the Document? I met Alger Hiss' widow, Isabel Johnson. And I wondered about her marriage. If you were a spy, would you tell your wife? What would it be like to have … Continue reading Dana Spiotta – Interview
Eat the Document by Dana Spiotta
Picador, 2008, 9780330448291 (Aus, US) Mary sits in a dingy motel room in 1972 trying to figure out who she’s going to be. It is difficult to choose a name. She needs to be faceless, to blend. She needs to appear bland, harmless. No that she had meant to do any harm. In 1998 Jason … Continue reading Eat the Document by Dana Spiotta
Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy
What happened to feminism? Ariel Levy asks. Her book explores how a predominant culture of ‘surfaces’ has produced women who admire ‘sexiness’ without necessarily being sexual. What happened to pleasure?The interviews Levy presents and the sub-cultures (eg. ‘Girls Gone Wild’) she immerses herself in are disturbing, in that most of these women feel lost and … Continue reading Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy
I’m Afraid of the Five-Blade Razor – Book Review and Commentary
Affluenza: When Too Much is Never Enough - Clive Hamilton and Richard Denniss. Allen & Unwin, 2005, 9781741146714 (Aus, US/Kindle) Three years ago Clive Hamilton half-jokingly referred to the possibility of the five-blade razor. It comes as no surprise that his prediction has come true, and emphasises why Affluenza continues to be an extremely relevant … Continue reading I’m Afraid of the Five-Blade Razor – Book Review and Commentary
Dead Women
My short story Dead Women has been published in the latest Hecate (Vol. 33, No. 1). Here is an extract: Lily woke up one morning to find Virginia Woolf sitting on the end of her bed. She instantly recognised the thin, protuberant cheekbones and phosphorescent eyes. She liked the way the dark morbid floral pattern … Continue reading Dead Women
Baudrillard's Beach – a Poem
Peering over the topof the cereal box -some generic headlandocean:70s eyeshadow gradationbleached beach, fingernail curve(manicured)board-wax chestssandcastle:silicon animorphised.A print on my wallor a window, you ask?Baudrillard’s beachif eitherthe printon my retinahas been cast. digg_url = 'WEBSITE_URL'; digg_bgcolor = '#ff9900'; digg_skin = 'compact'; digg_window = 'new';
The World According to Y – Rebecca Huntley
2006, Allen & Unwin, ISBN: 9781741148459 (Aus, US & Kindle) It’s strange, this book was only published last year but already there is one major change in what my generation might consider a priority. There is absolutely no mention of Gen Y being conscious of climate change. It just shows what a wonderful thing a … Continue reading The World According to Y – Rebecca Huntley
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