The Hodgepodge, a writer’s journal
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Continuum Convention 13 – the first course.
I attended the very first Continuum held in Melbourne and loved the immersion into a completely different world. I went because I was writing a dystopian novel at the time, The Airdancer of Glass, and it was professional development for me. I thought. Instead it was this wild ride into different worlds – some familiar ...
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Nostaligia
I was thinking the other day it would be fun to teach a class that explored the fiction of nostalgia. It’s because I’m reading Sophie Hannah’s latest Poirot book, The Closed Casket. It’s taking me an inordinate amount of time to read – not because of the book, I hasten to add – but because ...
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Me and John Berryman
At my regular Exploring Poetry gig at The Avenue Neighbourhood House in South Blackburn we’ve been looking at the work of John Berryman – beginning with his ambitious work ‘Homage to Mistress Bradstreet’. In preparation for this dive into Berryman’s work, I read Paul Mariani’s biography of the poet. I was intrigued to learn that ...
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Beautiful Failures.
What can I say? I’m deep in revision. I’m in over my head and often I feel disorientated by the shifts and changes I’m making. Is it working? If I change that, what happens to the next bit? I find it harder to trust aspects of revision. Or, I think I do. But perhaps I’ve ...
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2017 – Resolutions
I’m a sucker for resolutions. I love making lists. I love the idea that I get to start all over again in the bright new shiny year and leave last year’s faltering steps behind. I love assessing what went right, what went wrong and what just went as usual. I love the promise of a ...
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Field Trips
I went to The Writers Patch last night. This is a songwriters gathering at a local bar, The Skylark Room at the Burrinja Cultural Centre, organised to showcase the art of song writing, encourage audience interaction and feature local Hills’ musicians. I went because I’ve accidentally become interested in song writing again. I wrote some ...
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Re-imagining Yourself
Re-imagining Yourself I wrote this in Geraldton a few weeks ago – before NaNoWriMo swallowed me whole! I like being in slightly different timezone. I’m writing this in Geraldton, Western Australia and it’s not even 6.00 in the morning. This makes me a morning person! I’m the kind of relentlessly cheerful person everyone who has ...
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Revision tips.
I’m posting some revision tips for poetry here – mainly because I promised I would. Poets can revise their work for decades – sometimes to the detriment of the original work! Anyone who has ever been involved in a poetry workshop group can attest to the frustrating challenges of revision – from both sides of ...
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Tea and Empathy
I meet a writer-visual artist friend of mine and over a lengthy cup of chai tea we discuss being artists, the perils and the joys. I think about this so much – probably too much. In my darkest moments I’m all about the perils – the lack of economic certainty and respect, the self-doubt and ...
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The Memoir Salon
Last night I attended the inaugural Memoir Salon, hosted and dreamt up by Josiane Behmoiras. Traditionally a salon is a gathering of people meeting to discuss ideas as a form of both education and entertainment. Salon hosts – or more often, hostesses – chose the company carefully for both compatibility and contrasting opinions, intellectual breadth, ...