Archive for the ‘Latest news’ Category
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Jane Eyre in 5 bites
Why read Jane Eyre? 1. For Jane herself – a rebellious woman From the opening of Charlotte Bronte’s famous novel, we’re batting for Jane. We first see her, an outsider to the group of ‘contented, happy little children’ grouped winningly around their mamma, sounding like a Victorian family portrait exuding virtue – Jane, the ...
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Books in 5 Bites – a series on books you should read and the reasons why.
What are the hallmarks of gothic fiction? 1. Ghosts and grief 2. Horror and hauntings 3. Portents and powerlessness 4. Real estate and remorse 5. Secrets and sexual awakening Gothic fiction offers both readers and writers a chance to dig into the subconsciousness, to revel in symbolism and venture into the darker side of the ...
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What I’m reading…
I heard Emily St John Mandel talking on one of the digital sessions of the Melbourne Writers Festival – and congrats, MWF for keeping these going post-Lockdowns. I hope they continue! I ended up with small pile of books by the authors I’d heard online, including Station 11. This pandemic novel was written in 2014 ...
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From Saint-Hilaire to Snow Daisy-bushes, Proust Project 2
How well do you think you know a given building? I would have thought that my recall of the State Libraries of Queensland – the old one and the new – and of various libraries in Victoria would be pretty good. Over the years I’ve spent a lot of time reading, writing and researching in ...
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Trouser suits and infashuation.
Trouser suits are back. I suppose they never really went away, but they’ve made a resurgence in the sewing world and it’s enticing to imagine that I could sew one – using the Heather Blazer and perhaps the Chandlers trousers also by The Friday Pattern Company. It feels as though this could be an ambitious ...
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Staying the distance
The route to certain books is serendipitous. At TAFE we’ve set Kate Spicer’s beautifully crafted memoir, Lost Dog; a Love Story as a set text for Write Creative Nonfiction. This is the first year for ages that we’ve set a text, but the book is so well-written and we thought the story would appeal to ...
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Monsieur Proust, Memory and the Truffle
I’ve ordered a black truffle for my birthday. It was done in a post-Moderna-vaccinatin haze of fatigue and, admittedly, my birthday has past but still. It’s a seasonal culinary experience and as the household person who does a good ninety percent of the cooking, I figure I deserved it. ‘It’s your money,’ my husband said ...
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Me Made May
Over May, sewists all over the world, (often) post their makes on Insta, vlogs, blogs and other social media platforms and (usually) pledge something about their making practice, even if that is simply to wear one handmade or refashioned item a day. It was a challenge started by a sewist in 2010 – you can ...
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Raining outside and in
Oh my goodness, we’ve had a blast of winter weather here in Melbourne. We have woken up to mist so dense we’ve not been able to see our back hedge and we’re back to wiping Winter’s paws before we let her inside. That’s Winter the dog, not the season. It is an odd name for ...
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Serendipity
is one of my favourite words. And my life was enriched by a serendipitous event last week. I’d been trawling through the Writers Victoria website looking for useful online courses to do – something that could be beneficial to me as a writer but, full admission, that I could also use for my vocational currency. ...