'Yet the clock is time, and time is lost, is bankrupt before it begins'—from Owls do Cry, Janet Frame. Recently I made two early blog posts private. Many times I have gone to do this but never have. When I taught blogging I would tell my students that the blog itself formed an overall narrative. Mine … Continue reading Blog narrative
personal
A quick hello from Romania
I'm not feeling too well today. Isn't it dumb to be ailed and glum while travelling? Yesterday was an amazing day. From the magical city of Brasov, Gerard and I were driven through the Carpathians on what was advertised as a 'Dracula tour'. Basically, sites Vlad the Impaler inhabited (or just passed through). Vlad may … Continue reading A quick hello from Romania
'I want to read that, too!' Wanting to know and be everything (but then take my time with something)
The Christmas party season is in full swing. I've forgotten names, drank too much, jumped on a trampoline, been told secrets, held hands with sweaty strangers (swing dancing), stuttered (kinda a new one) and swapped WIP stories with emerging and published writers. There's a lot of pressure to be in the know. To have read … Continue reading 'I want to read that, too!' Wanting to know and be everything (but then take my time with something)
Guest review: Derek Motion on Tiggy Johnson’s First Taste
Page Seventeen, 2010 9780980813609 Reviewed by Derek Motion I often have to catch the bus out to the university, and from the stop near my house the journey takes around 15 minutes. This parcel of time is – if you get straight on to the task and don’t waste any time looking out the window … Continue reading Guest review: Derek Motion on Tiggy Johnson’s First Taste
1993—a pivotal year (with thanks to Mrs Grant)
Besides my Oma, the person who most encouraged my writing when I was a child was my year three teacher, Mrs Grant. She was an exchange teacher from Canada and we all grew to love her so much that it was devastating the day she left. She was so sweet that one time, when my best friend … Continue reading 1993—a pivotal year (with thanks to Mrs Grant)
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)
The inability to relax (an experiment in the confessional)
It's not often that I feel calm. I have supernovas going off in my head, squirmy things in my muscles and fingertips. I'm sore all the time because I exercise so much. It's one of the only ways to expend the energy, wear me down, expend the effort effort effort. And I love the zing … Continue reading The inability to relax (an experiment in the confessional)
