Liz Byrski was interviewed recently on WritingWA‘s Cover to Cover, about her most recent book, In Love and War: Nursing Heroes. Cover to Cover host Meri Fatin described the process of writing In Love and War as “as almost like a piece of plastic surgery in itself”. In this short excerpt from the 40-minute interview, Liz talks about what she learned from … Read more…
About Tracy Farr
‘The Next Big Thing’ reading, The Wheeler Centre
I’m delighted to be part of The Wheeler Centre’s 2015 programme. The Next Big Thing — a session featuring readings from Geraldine Wooller, A.S. Patrić, Sam Prendergast and me — is on at The Moat (basement, 176 Little Lonsdale St, under the State Library) on Monday 27 July from 6.15pm. The event is free, but…unfortunately it’s already booked out. … Read more…
‘Meet Tracy Farr’ interview for WordMothers
Nicole Melanson is an Australian-based writer whose WordMothers blog is, in Nicole’s words: …dedicated to showcasing women’s work in the literary arts around the world. It features female author interviews and women in the book industry discussing what they’re really passionate about. Nicole invites women writers to discuss their writing process, their latest books, and other female wordsmiths, … Read more…
Midway in Mildura
My month as Writer in Residence in Mildura is already half over. How did that happen? Melbourne first The trip started with a 24-hour stopover in Melbourne. I spent much of the day working at the State Library of Victoria. What a treat to be able to waltz in, get a library card, request (and … Read more…
Mildura Writers Festival and Residency
Next month’s going to be all about Mildura, so I’m going to keep this post short and sweet, as a taste of what’s to come. I’ve been lucky enough to be awarded the inaugural Mildura Writers Festival Residency. The residency is an initiative of Arts Mildura and the Mildura Writers Festival. During the month (July 2015) … Read more…
Debut novel picked up by new UK imprint
The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt caught the ear and eye of UK publisher Scott Pack in November 2014, and he rated it #2 in his top ten reads of 2014, calling it: An incredible debut and a novel so believable that I wish it were true. In March 2015, Scott launched Aardvark Bureau, … Read more…
In praise of useless beauty
I’m not sure whether the 2000-odd-seat ASB Theatre was sold out for Tim Winton’s Auckland Writers Festival 2015 (AWF15) session last Sunday morning, but it was certainly close to packed, and there was a lot of love in the room for Winton. I was seated wa-a-aay up in the gods, which felt like an appropriate … Read more…
‘Loss and Love’ at 2015 Auckland Writers Festival
I’m looking forward to heading up to Auckland next month for Auckland Writers Festival. This’ll be my third time heading up to Auckland for the writers festival (I wrote about the 2014 festival here and here), but my first time on the programme. The festival has got bigger and better each year that I’ve been, … Read more…
The hissing swan in the manuscript drawer
I spent the first two weeks of March at Varuna, the Writers House in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, a two-hour train ride from Sydney. I was lucky enough during my Second Book Residential Fellowship to work in Eleanor Dark’s garden studio, a short enough walk from the back door of the main house that … Read more…
New Zealand Books reviews The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt
Elizabeth Heritage reviewed The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt for New Zealand Books (Issue 109, Autumn 2015) as one of ‘a trio of historical novels that, with varying degrees of success, bring characters and environments from our past (real and imagined to life)’. In her review, titled ‘Characters from the past’, Heritage describes The Life and Loves of … Read more…