I'm excited to be invited back to one of my favourite festivals, Perth Writers Festival, which runs from 20-23 Feb. I'm appearing in one event, chairing two others, and teaching a workshop on flash fiction. Hope to see some of you there? More details on my sessions: Sat 22 Feb 10 am Grand Allusions (free, … Continue reading Perth Writers Festival 2014
Perth Writers Festival
A mini-diary of Perth Writers Festival 2011
Thursday On the flight over I read Jonah Lehrer, watch Animal Planet and listen to Philip Glass and Emily Haines. Nathan Scolaro picks me up at the airport and on the drive we discuss some of the festival authors. Nathan asks if I've read Armistead Maupin and I say, unfortunately, no. He loves Tales Of … Continue reading A mini-diary of Perth Writers Festival 2011
Perth Writers Festival 2011: The A-Z of Publishing
Yesterday I chaired the 'A-Z of Publishing' day at Perth Writers Festival. Two-hundred people were in attendance. They heard Vintage/Knopf (Random House) publisher Meredith Curnow, senior editor at Text Publishing Mandy Brett and Fremantle Press Publisher Clive Newman speak on the topic 'Where on Earth Do You Start?' Then manuscript assessor John Harman and literary agent Lyn Tranter … Continue reading Perth Writers Festival 2011: The A-Z of Publishing
Recent reads: Perth Writers Festival special
The following three books are some of the new ones I've read in preparation for Perth Writers Festival (5 to 7 March). I'll be chairing panels featuring the authors. Find out more about those panels on this post. The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog and of His Friend Marilyn Monroe by Andrew O'Hagan Faber, 9780571215997 … Continue reading Recent reads: Perth Writers Festival special
From Miller to McKellen
A quick note to let you know the podcast of my conversation with Alex Miller is now up. You can find it at the 720 ABC Perth website, here, or you can search in the iTunes store and download it to your computer, or iPod/iPhone for listening on the go. If you get a chance, let … Continue reading From Miller to McKellen
Perth Writers Festival 2010 diary, part three: ‘I have just three questions…’
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 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
Eleanor Catton’s The Rehearsal
Granta 2009 (Aus/NZ, US) 9781847081162 All the world’s a stage… A novel as a performance, more – a novel as flirtation (the performance of flirting): self-conscious, inviting yet exclusive. The reader is all the roles, all the characters and all the actors – for in The Rehearsal there are layers of fictional existence – blended, … Continue reading Eleanor Catton’s The Rehearsal
Go west! Perth Writers Fest 2010 program released
I've never been to Western Australia. Isn't that nuts? I've been to Europe, I've been to the USA and I've been to Asia, but never the other side of my own country. Lucky for me, the lovely organisers of Perth Writers Festival have invited me along this year. Besides my sessions, I am expecting to catch … Continue reading Go west! Perth Writers Fest 2010 program released
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