Six minutes with Stella Glorie
This interview was so much fun: in only six minutes we discuss truth, books and Dolly Parton! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJuzlPz_nTg
Online Writing Workshop
Still a couple of places left in this one-day workshop (Sat 9 Oct, 2021). I'd be super grateful if you could spread the word! Book here. Last time I ran it we had a terrific time - great discussions, and lots of laughter. Interstate peeps and non-members of Writers Vic are very welcome too. Suits writers at all levels. Sometimes the most compelling stories are about other people. Whether you’re writing biography, interested in ghost writing, drawing together your family or local history, or even thinking about feature interviews–if you [...]
Keynote Panel: The hidden history of women
I was SO looking forward to participating in this panel, in real life. I wanted to meet the other speakers, catch up with the awesome facilitator, chat with audience members afterwards. But one of the few benefits of being forced by COVID-19 to pivot to an online format is this: what turned out to be a fascinating discussion is preserved, via Zoom, for (hopefully) a wider audience. Join facilitator Kelly Gardiner (author and host of the podcast Unladylike) and panellists Mirranda Burton (author of Underground: Marsupial Outlaws and Other Rebels of [...]
Port Fairy Literary Weekend
Next weekend you'll find me in Port Fairy, enjoying and talking about all things bookish. Even The Husband will be there (although it's possible he'll spend most of his time fishing...) Why don't you join us, at the Port Fairy Literary Weekend? I'm on a panel with debut novelist Nicole Kelly (her book Lament is a re-imagining of the Ned Kelly story) and we'll be talking about history and its gendered gaze. But there are so many other excellent writers and speakers on the program that you'll be spoilt for [...]
Literary Grants: how to win them
You’ve volunteered to be a member of a grant assessment panel. The submissions have all been sent through, and you’re looking at the vast pile of proposals in horror. There are so many, and the pot of money you can distribute is so small. So you pour yourself a cuppa, and settle in to read and take notes. And all the while, as you look through each proposal, you’re sorting them out in your mind (or, better, on a spreadsheet). In this first read-through, though, you’re probably just skim-reading, and [...]
Book Review: Sea People
I can’t even begin to tell you how good this book is, but let's see how I go. Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia is, as author Christina Thompson admits in the prologue, as "much a story about what happened as a story about what we know." In charting the story of Polynesian settlement in the Pacific, Thompson also charts the way Europeans have collected knowledge about the region, and have made meaning from it. Some of the European observers are well known - James Cook, Joseph Banks, Thor Heyerdahl [...]
Podcasts: my bookish faves
Full confession: I've fallen in love with podcasts. And I think it's going to be a lasting relationship. For the uninitiated, a podcast is like your favourite radio program, only there are usually multiple episodes and you can play it whenever you like. In fact most popular radio programs also are available in podcast form. Like Netflix, except for your ears. I use an app on my phone, called Pocketcasts, to listen. At first I listened only in the car, usually on the long commute to and from work. Then [...]
Rewild Your Words – join me in a new writing workshop
Most writing happens at the desk, but sometimes we find the heartbeat in our work when we are moving in the world—especially the natural world. Immersion in natural places can oxygenate our thinking, switch on our senses, enliven our creativity and ignite our imagination. Join Ilka Tampke and me for a one-day workshop where we will learn how to bring the natural world to life on the page and hear the stories it wants us to tell. The day will begin in a private room at the historic Mt Macedon [...]
So I’ve had some interesting news…
I've been working on my next book, now, for over a year. For most of that time I wasn't entirely sure if it would go ahead. But I knew there was a terrific story there, and I knew it was an important one, and I knew that the time was right to be telling it. I just wasn't sure whether there was a publisher out there who might agree. Reader, there was. MEDIA RELEASE PANTERA PRESS ACQUIRES DEBUT MEMOIR BY AARON FA’AOSO IN SIX FIGURE DEAL Pantera Press has bought [...]
Shortlisted! Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship
In exciting news, I've been shortlisted for the 2021 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship, worth $15,000. The shortlisting is for a project I've been quietly working on for a while - I'm (ghost) writing a memoir for Aaron Fa’Aoso, Torres Strait Islander actor, film and television writer, director and producer. You can read more about my newest project here. And stay tuned, there is even more exciting news to come! The Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship was established by the family and friends of Hazel Rowley, one of the world’s leading biographers, to [...]