June, 2011

I recently attended a Gloriana concert where the highlight was Ariel Ramirez’ wonderful “iconic” Misa Criolla. It was just fantastic and we, the people, forced the choir into a gratifying encore of the “Gloria”. I was just sufficiently conscious to switch on my kneecam. I was familiar with this piece in a recording where the [...]

An official announcement happens tonight, but I can reveal my result* now. The winner of the Mens’ Franklin Award for 2011 is: Chris Womersley for Bereft.  [update below] Congratulations, Chris, for a great effort, and only your second novel! (*A note on the methodology: This decision is based on the principle of the recently institution-sanctioned [...]

My calendar had the evening pencilled in for Rai Gaita’s lecture in his Wednesday series (see here), but my heart said, go see T.J. Clark talking about art. So I turned up at the Wheeler Centre along with about 100 other folk — which surprised me because he doesn’t seem very well known here. In [...]

It’s well past the point of the political cycle that, when certain politicians speak on radio, I reach over and turn it off. That mostly means Julia et Tony; on TV if I can see it’s a pollie I’m off surfing. How did I get so intolerant, my resistance so low? I’m cultivating a slow [...]

Dear Complaints Dept, I don’t know what the publicists for the Miles Franklin organisation are doing, but they didn’t do much for last night’s event — which was the occasion of the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award Oration, held at a Melbourne Uni lecture hall. Instead of being packed with several hundred, there was a [...]

I wrote this post nearly three weeks ago and I can’t remember why I held it back, so I’m setting it free. (Nights in white satin, never reaching the end / Letters I’ve written, never meaning to send.) British author Geoff Dyer writes, “I find it increasingly difficult to read. This year I read fewer [...]

So I had my little audio intercourse with the Breakfasters at RRR. Radio is fascinating; but watching broadcasters at work it’s clear one has to be wired to fill the allocated time — to sound relaxed is a performance. In radio, a problem second can feel an eternity — will someone find their tongue? Has [...]

Just a quick note to say I’ll be interviewed by the Breakfasters at RRR this Friday 3 June at 8:15 am. Keen to fit in with their style I’ve been swotting up on poetry and religion, though producer Michelle Bennett has mildly hinted they may want to talk about book design and blogging. They’re a [...]

Speaking for myself, a personal editor by my side would save me a lot of grief, but we won’t go there. This is the text of a talk given by the Text Publishing editor, Mandy Brett. She delivered this at Melbourne’s Wheeler Centre last week — you can also watch it on their video page. [...]