Once upon a time a god called Dionysus believed that he could save an ancient city from ruin by bringing a dead poet back to life. And now the need has again arisen. Our world, our city, our neighbourhood is in need of poetry and a great poet – a leader, an inspirer, an orator, […]
HOW TO PUBLISH A BOOK IN ELEVEN DAYS … Congratulations to the three bloggers who have taken up the Blurb Blog to Book challenge to design and publish a book based on their blog-writings, from cover to cover, all during the eleven days of the Festival. Karys McEwen The Something Fine Project @karysrhiann “I feel […]
Set in the ACMI Cube, Indigenous Writing Now was a great chance for patrons to come and basically sit in on a wonderful yarn between Tony Birch, John Harding and the recipient of the Scanlon Prize for Indigenous Writing, Brenda Saunders. The session opened with Brenda reading one of her poems titled Looking for Bullan […]
As a new writer, I’m wanting to shed the editor coat and explore a whole heap of events during the Festival, listening to the many great minds in attendance and learn of their views and creative processes. Being an Indigenous artist, I’m especially excited about Indigenous Writing Now (Fri 22 Aug, 1pm), where we’ll get a chance […]
Looking at the list of events I’ll be covering for Melbourne Writers Festival, I can’t help but notice that most of them fall under the stream The Agenda. There is the smell of urgency and officialese kneaded into merely glancing at a pair of words like The Agenda. Tell me if you don’t see a […]
One of the great joys in life is a good book, with quiet time to sit and read. I find that with limited time I get most of my reading done on the train; from fiction to gay writings and anything in between. During my shows on JOY 94.9 I have reviewed many books and […]
Why yes, I do call myself a feminist. Even though I took my husband’s surname when I married and sometimes shave my armpits, I own the title. And look here darlings: you don’t have to march at Slutwalk to be a feminist; it’s about believing women should be treated with equal respect to men. With that terribly […]
What can I say? Spoilt for choice. I’d love a Festival 50 pack – but if has to be five, and only five, then here, after much agonising, are the five I’d select… Voice: Language in Literature I was pleased to present Melbourne writer and slam poet Maxine Beneba Clark with the 2013 Victorian Premier’s […]
They say writing’s a solitary pursuit, but as a writer I find little more valuable than sharing and collaboration. That’s why I’m so excited that this year’s Melbourne Writers Festival is all about getting involved, and I reckon I’ve picked a bunch of events that’ll have you bursting with inspiration from the beginning of the […]
What an amazing festival. It’s an embarrassment of riches. My top five? Here we go: Handwriting with Philip Hensher There is something so compelling, personal and intimate in handwriting. I’ve seen some amazing handwritten documents at the State Library. Most recently Les Misérables in Victor Hugo’s own hand and the quills that he used to […]
These days, Young Adult titles are not always just for teenagers (In fact, 55% of YA titles are bought by adults). Here are some of the MWF team’s favourite books they read as teenagers that they still love today. On Fortune’s Wheel by Cynthia Voigt As a teen I loved On Fortune’s Wheel by Cynthia […]
Ever since I was a little girl and started poking and prodding the world with my infernal curiosity for historical detail, my mum has had one answer to almost all of my questions. Me: How old were you when you bought your first bra, Mum? What did you wear to your Prom? Did your date […]