Critical examination of bookish events, news and debate.
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…
Launch: ‘Portrait’ Yay! The ‘Portrait’ anthology has been launched! Created from the 2020 ‘Art & Words Project’ – a collaboration between myself, the Northern Beaches Libraries and Manly Art Gallery & Museum – it features 12 writers and poets, and 12 artists, in a themed collaboration devised and edited by…
Every month I donate time to helping others further behind me in their writing journeys. Most recently this has involved judging the Mosman Youth Awards in Literature, for which I not only read the entries and selected the winners, but also offered a detailed judge’s report. This year the award…
Today is the last day of Women’s History Month, and to celebrate I’m over on the wonderful Gillian Polack’s blog talking about the importance of visibility, especially for writers. In it, I discuss winning awards, getting reviews, reading in a gender vacuum, and disappearing from history… Click here to read…
