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…
Jane Rawson
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…
Under the pohutakawa
Lately I’ve been keeping a low profile, online and in real life. On 1 January this year I officially became a full-time writer — if only for six months — thanks to a CreativeNZ grant. In November last year, when I was looking ahead, imagining this time, I wrote about being hunched at my writing … Read more…
The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt shortlisted for 2014 Barbara Jefferis Award
Like Jane Rawson, for me there are some days and weeks when this authoring business feels like an awful lot of hard work, and I cry into my porridge in despair that anyone will ever read – let alone see merit in – a thing I write. And then there are weeks like this. So, I hope you’ll forgive some skiting and own-trumpet-blowing. There’ve … Read more…