'I’m compelled to write about the whisky bar. One reason is that my job as a commissioning editor is still so new and exciting, I’m learning so much, and I think I can write about that better down the track. Another reason is that I won’t have the bar job forever, and I want to … Continue reading Whisky nights
writers
Bodies, effort, straws: The Special by David Stavanger
I had the pleasure last night of launching The Special by David Stavanger, winner of the 2013 Thomas Shapcott Prize. The book is published by UQP and available now. David and I didn't know each other beforehand, but connected through words (in emails, but mainly through our work) and it was a wonderful night, with much warmth. … Continue reading Bodies, effort, straws: The Special by David Stavanger
#555writers: Lismore to Coffs
With limited time, these blog posts just have to flow from my head onto the screen. Please forgive all unfiltered thoughts, badly chosen words, grammatical errors and digressions of narrative and theme... I want to start with what just happened. I invited the five writers Zac, Craig, Ash, Sam and Nick, and filmmaker Tim, into my … Continue reading #555writers: Lismore to Coffs
Fear, failure and fraudulence at the Wheeler Centre blog
I was very happy to be asked to springboard off my recent post Stella, and a digression on envy, work, inadequacy for the Wheeler Centre blog. Authors Krissy Kneen, Alan Baxter, Max Barry and Mel Campbell kindly and honestly responded to my probing questions about writerly anxieties and feelings of inadequacy, and some of their responses … Continue reading Fear, failure and fraudulence at the Wheeler Centre blog
Writing on writing: guest post by Harry Bingham
I've been a professional writer for more than ten years, but it was only recently, when asked to produce a How to Write book by A&C Black/Bloomsbury, that I came to think systematically about this craft of ours. I mean 'systematically' in two different dimensions. First, there's the whole area of technique. How, precisely, … Continue reading Writing on writing: guest post by Harry Bingham
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!)
Express or Die? The Sensidictory Artist – an extract
Here is an extract from my piece in The Death Mook, being launched tomorrow night at Dante's in Fitzroy, Vic. Buy it here. In the full piece I discuss Sylvia Plath, Susanna Kaysen, and Elizabeth Wurtzel (in that order). As I'll be reading the Sylvia Plath section tomorrow night, I'm reproducing the introduction and the middle section … Continue reading Express or Die? The Sensidictory Artist – an extract
