Critical examination of bookish events, news and debate.
Wow, what an exciting month it’s been reading all the entries for the inaugural Northern Beaches Writers’ Competition! As the 2022 Northern Beaches ‘Art & Words Project’, the competition invited writers to submit both a written entry of up to 2,500 words on the theme of ‘tree’, and an image…
‘Library Lovers Day’ is next week, and so the good people at Australia Reads (where I am honoured to be an ambassador), sent me a text meme to celebrate. It made me think: why do I love libraries? A deluge of memories flooded into a list of 18 reasons I…
Visibility is a key component of any business – including cultural and creative ones! So my fabulous local council has created a map of the local area, pinpointing all things creative and cultural on the Northern Beaches: ‘Culture Map Live‘. I’m thrilled to be included on the map as an author,…
According to the Australian Publishers Association, reading changes lives! Reading affects personal and social development, happiness, behaviour, relationships, education, employment, financial well-being, health, and community and cultural participation. Improvements in literacy, at any point in life, can have a profound effect on an individual; and yet research reveals that the…
Today I was supposed to be heading to Mosman’s Barry O’Keefe Library for a ceremony celebrating the 2021 Mosman Youth Awards in Literature, for which I judged the short story entries, selected the winners for the Senior Prose section, and wrote a detailed judge’s report. Since Sydney is in complete…
Yay! Earlier this week the ‘Remembering When’ anthology I edited was finally launched after months of planning, editing, text and book cover layout, and printing. Woot, woot! The idea for the book came from a conversation with Fiona Russell who, while working at Mosman Seniors Centre, was inspired to help…
Last month I was invited to participate in a brainstorming ‘co-design’ day with my local council to develop a social sustainability strategy – how to be ‘Better Together’ by 2041. It was really fun and thought-provoking, covering topics like feeling safe, included and connected. I was able to share real life…
