Category Archives: Events

April 17, 2023 · 4:11 pm

In concert

I love the way artists of different artforms and genres draw inspiration from each other in the creation of new works, adaptations, reinventions, collaborations. Think of the many paintings inspired by Tennyson’s poem (itself drawn from Arthurian legend) ‘The Lady of Shallot’; a print of probably the most famous, by John William Waterhouse, adorns the wall of my studio. My car playlist includes a musical interpretation by Loreena McKennitt. And there is a potent intertextuality, at the levels of direct reference, metaphor and theme, between the poem and one of my favourite novels, Tirra Lirra by the River by Jessica Anderson.

Art, sculpture, dance, music, poetry and film have fed into my own writing in various ways, and I have been thrilled on the occasions when something I have written has influenced the creation of new art by others. The Sinkings, for example, inspired an art installation by South West artist Annette Davis. Film company Factor 30 has optioned the novel for development as a six-part TV series, so it might find its way to the screen someday.

The story ‘Paris bled into the Indian Ocean’ (published in Inherited), inspired by the brilliant impressionist artist Kathleen (Kate) O’Connor, gave its name to a spectacular exhibition of paintings by Fremantle artist Jo Darvall, which in turn, in a circuitous way, led to my work of creative non-fiction, Kathleen O’Connor of Paris.

And now, I’m beyond excited that Perth Symphony Orchestra is staging a concert featuring music reflecting Kate’s life and times, interspersed with extracts from Kathleen O’Connor of Paris and images of Kate’s work.

I can’t help thinking that Kate, so enchanted with artistic culture of all kinds, would love this kind of collaboration.

Art & Music: The Life & Art of Kathleen O’Connor will be presented at the Art Gallery of Western Australia on 30 June and 1 July, 7.30pm. Tickets available here.

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October 4, 2022 · 12:23 pm

The short and the short of it

What a year 2022 has been for short stories. I began my reading year with Rashida Murphy’s powerful collection The Bonesetter’s Fee (Spineless Wonders), and since then I’ve had the pleasure of reading another two outstanding collections: Mirandi Riwoe’s The Burnished Sun (UQP) and Fiona Robertson’s If You’re Happy (UQP). I’m now reading (I like to have more than one on the desk!) Andrew Roff’s The Teeth of a Slow Machine (Wakefield Press) and Ben Walter’s What Fear Was (Puncher & Wattmann)—brilliant, both of them.

I’ve also just finished Susan Midalia’s collection of very short stories, appropriately entitled Miniatures (Night Parrot Press). Having experienced a personally challenging few months, I found this volume of more than 100 stories a joy to read: many of them had me laughing out loud—usually having been taken by surprise. One consists of nothing but a title! I’ve often said that Susan is one of the wittiest people I know.

Miniatures also reflects other qualities I associate with the author: empathy, a preoccupation with language and what it can do, and a strong interest in compassionate politics and the environment.

Susan Midalia happens to be the director of the 2022 Australian Short Story Festival, which is being held this year in Western Australia, at the Fremantle Arts Centre, 28–30 October. Among the participants are visitors Fiona Robertson, Andrew Roff and Ben Walter, as well and Rashida Murphy and Susan Midalia, mentioned above, but do take a look at the full list of writers. I’m delighted to be taking part in a session on ‘Writing Fremantle’ with fellow writers Rita Tognini and Josephine Clarke.

The festival is extremely reasonably priced, at $20 per day for Saturday and Sunday. The full program is here.

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July 22, 2022 · 1:20 pm

Bonesetting…

Well, not quite, but I love the word, and The Bonesetter’s Fee is the name of Rashida Murphy’s 2022 collection of short and flash fiction. I began this year’s posts by talking about this one, and soon I have the great good fortune to be talking about it with Rashida in person, at Bull Creek Library.

If you’re interested in memory, absences and heritage, in stories of migration, in writing and publishing, in watching the world, then please do join us—we’d love to see you there.

Author talk with Rashida Murphy
Thursday 4 August 2022
6.45 (refreshments) for 7.00pm
Bull Creek Library, 24 Leichhardt Street, Bull Creek
Entry $5
Bookings essential

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June 27, 2022 · 4:23 pm

WA Premier’s Book Awards winners

Congratulations to the winners of the WA Premier’s Book Awards:

  • Premier’s Prize for an Emerging Writer: Elfie Shiosaki, Homecoming (Magabala Press)
  • Premier’s Prize for Writing for Children: Shirley Marr, A Glasshouse of Stars (Penguin Random House)
  • Daisy Utemorrah Award for Unpublished Indigenous Junior/YA Fiction: Mariah Sweetman, Robert Runs
  • WA Writer’s Fellowship: Nandi Chinna
L to R: Shirley Marr, Nandi Chinna, Elfie Shiosaki, Mariah Sweetman

And to all of the wonderful writers who were shortlisted: congratulations on your achievements, too. You probably made the judges’ task of deciding winners very difficult.

I generally don’t like having my photo taken, but here is one from the awards night that is possibly my favourite ever: buying books, not facing the camera…

Photo credits: Sally Kelso, State Library of WA

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January 28, 2022 · 10:02 am

Perth Festival Writers Weekend 2022

This year’s Perth Festival Writers Weekend program is out! Festival curator Gillian O’Shaughnessy has put together an exciting lineup of Western Australian writers, and those from further afield appearing in person or via live stream.

I love this quote from the program:

When we read, we aren’t simply informed and entertained, our world is made larger. Stories allow us to see new possibilities, to reflect and absorb challenging ideas and to lose ourselves in wonder. When we read, we are transformed. In keeping with Perth Festival’s 2022 theme of Wardan, Writers Weekend will dive into this idea of connection; so that as we emerge from tumultuous times, we might consider our hearts and values through the lens of books, stories and words and their profound and magical ability to expand our consciousness.

Gillian O’Shaughnessy

The venue this year is the historic Fremantle Arts Centre, and wow, does that take me back! The centre was the venue for the first Perth Writers Festivals I ever attended, and I well remember sitting on the lawn, listening to amazing Australian and international authors—some, like Dorothy Porter, no longer with us.

I have the pleasure of moderating two sessions:

The Riviera House, with Natasha Lester, Sunday 27 February, 1pm, Inner Courtyard

Difficult Women, with Liz Byrski and Juliet Marillier, Sunday 27 February, 4pm, Inner Courtyard

All sessions are ‘pay what you can’ (suggested price $19).

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August 26, 2021 · 8:59 am

WA Premier’s Book Awards winners…

The WA Premier’s Book Awards for 2020 releases were announced last night at a lovely ceremony at the State Library of Western Australia.

WA Premier’s Award for an Emerging Writer: Rebecca Giggs, Fathoms: The World in the Whale (Scribe Publications)

WA Premier’s Award for Writing for Children: Meg McKinlay and Matt Ottley, How to Make a Bird (Walker Books)

Daisy Utemorrah Award for Unpublished Indigenous Junior and YA fiction: Carl Merrison and Hakea Hustler, Dirran

WA Writer’s Fellowship: Sisonke Msimang

Congratulations to the winners, and also to the wonderful shortlisted authors (a full list of those shortlisted is on the State Library’s website).

Before the announcement, A.J. Betts and I, as previous Fellowship winners, took part in a discussion about the impact of the Fellowship with Jo Trilling (ABC Perth). The event was streamed live on the State Library’s YouTube channel.

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August 23, 2021 · 10:49 am

Something new—the York Writers Festival…

I love regional festivals, and they hold a special place in my heart: the very first festival I took part in as a writer was one (sadly now defunct) in Albany, where I discussed my debut novel, The Sinkings. The historic murder that is at the centre of Little Jock’s story in The Sinkings took place at a lonely campsite near Albany, and one of the thrills of my writing life was when several Albany residents introduced themselves to me at the festival as descendants of the real people who feature in the novel.

The York Festival—a diverse, family-friendly multi-arts festival held in the historic town of York—has been running for many years. But this year its program includes a one-day writers festival, curated by the wonderful William Yeoman and featuring some fabulous Western Australian writers—many of them introducing new books.

The writers festival, to be held on Saturday 2 October, is divided into several sets:

The Fiction Set: Skyglow by Leslie Thiele, Wherever You Go by Monique Mulligan and Locust Summer by David Allan-Petale, with a discussion on Truth in Fiction

The Crime Set: The River Mouth by Karen Herbert and Death Leaves the Station by Alexander Thorpe, and a panel on Criminal Speculations

The Non-Fiction Set: Isolation by Stephen Scourfield and Many Maps by Bill and Jenny Bunbury, with what sounds like a fascinating conversation entitled Westralia Triumphant?

The Children’s Set: Beneath the Trees by Cristy Burne, The Wrecker’s Curse by Norman Jorgensen and Where Do Stars Go? by Katie Stewart, and a panel on Writing for Children

The Poetry Set: John Kinsella, Caitlin Maling, Fr Robert Nixon and Rose van Son, and a discussion on Wordmusic

There’s also a Long Table Breakfast, featuring Stephen Scourfield and Will Yeoman, with proceeds going to the local River Conservation Society.

Details and bookings here (check the ‘Writers’ box).

I’m thrilled to be taking part in the festival, chairing sessions with Monique Mulligan (10.30am), Cristy Burne (11.30am) and Rose van Son (4.30pm). In this episode of the festival’s Pod Fiction podcast, Will Yeoman and I talk about these sessions and the festival in general.

York, situated on Ballardong Nyoongar land, is 98 kilometres east of Perth—a short drive for Perth residents. It is the oldest inland town in the state (established 1835), and really worth visiting, with its heritage buildings and vibrant arts scene.

I’d love to see you there.

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April 16, 2021 · 6:11 pm

Coming up: Margaret River Readers & Writers Festival

At the moment, with so many places locked down around the world, it seems a great privilege to be able to attend a writers festival in person. I always look forward to the Margaret River Readers & Writers Festival, in our beautiful South West wine region, but this year more than ever.

The festival will run from Friday 14 to Sunday 16 May, in venues in and around Margaret River but primarily at Margaret River HEART, the region’s new entertainment hub in the centre of town.

Congratulations to new festival director Sian Baker, who has put together an ambitious program of events. Among the many authors taking part are Julia Baird, Kate Mildenhall, Pip Williams, Karen Wyld, Chris Flynn, Bob Brown, Craig Silvey, Donna Mazza, Elizabeth Tan, Brigid Lowry, David Whish-Wilson, Natasha Lester and Emily Sun. The full program is here.

If you’re keen to ‘attend’ from afar, there’s also a Three-Day Virtual Pass available.

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March 5, 2021 · 11:43 am

Coming up: masterclass series at Centre for Stories

If you’re an emerging or established writer in the Perth metropolitan area, you might be interested in a series of six masterclasses being presented over April and May at the Centre for Stories in Northbridge. The series consists of the following three-hour masterclasses presented by six award-winning writers:

17 April  The Narrative Landscape with Portland Jones

24 April  The Hybrid (Decolonised) Narrative with Rashida Murphy

1 May Science in Story and Imagination with Vivienne Glance

8 May Politics and Creative Writing with Susan Midalia

22 May The Researched Imagination with Annamaria Weldon

29 May Editing Your Own Work with Amanda Curtin

You can book individual sessions, but there is a great offer available for those interested in attending all six.

I’m delighted to be taking part in this series alongside writers whose work I love and respect, and I might even book a few sessions myself.

The editing masterclass I’m presenting is designed to assist writers look at their manuscript objectively, examine the prose, architecture and effects of the work, and polish it to the highest level within their capability prior to submission. If that sounds like something for you, there are more details on the link above.

I’d love to see you there!

The Centre for Stories is located at 100 Aberdeen Street, Northbridge,
and each masterclass is run on a Saturday afternoon, 1–4pm.

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February 19, 2021 · 9:14 pm

At the heart of writers festivals…

I saw a comment on Facebook recently that made me think. A writer was bemoaning the lack, in this year’s Perth Literature and Ideas Festival program, of sessions bringing authors together to discuss particular topics, in favour of sessions where authors were just discussing their books. I have, of course, no problem with this writer expressing their opinion; it just prompted some thought about what writers festivals mean to me.

I’ve certainly enjoyed many of the issues-based panels I’ve attended over many years of festival-going, but I have to confess that those I’m most drawn to are one-on-one author interviews, or panels of two or three authors, usually loosely connected, talking about their books. Issues and ideas, as well as aspects of writing and publishing, fall very naturally into sessions like these, and it’s not often that I come away without feeling I’ve learned something.

I was dismayed a few years ago when I scoured the program of a highly regarded writers festival and struggled to find a single session in which an author talked about a book. I know that festival directors have a formidable task in trying to satisfy competing interests, wanting to honour their traditional audiences, needing to grow their audience base and especially to attract younger members. But the core elements of a writers festival are surely books and authors, and I applaud the directors who put these elements front and centre while finding interesting ways to present them.

Since Covid rushed in and took over our lives, hats off to every festival director in the country for navigating their way around restrictions and uncertainty and new technologies to keep their festivals alive. And congratulations in particular to Sisonke Msimang, director of this weekend’s Perth festival.

Due to other commitments, I’ll only be attending two live sessions, as well as two ‘watch-at-homes’, and look forward to the opportunity to listen to Susan Midalia, Josephine Taylor, Lucy Peach, Bron Bateman, Julia Gillard, Britt Bennett, Donna Mazza and Laura Jean McKay. If you‘re going, I wish you a happy and fulfilling weekend. If you haven’t booked anything yet, there may still be a few tickets left. And for anyone distant from Perth, there are some great ‘watch-at home’ sessions. You can check the program here.

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