In Mildura Living Magazine‘s Winter 2016 issue, Rebecca Butterworth’s interview with Tracy Farr touches on food, writing, family history, and inspiration from landscape and people. …the striking intimacy and sense of community of the festival itself; delightful and surprising resonances, and support not just from everyone there for the weekend of the festival, but from the Mildura arts and wider … Read more…
The Hope Fault
Lena Gaunt by any other name
Names are funny things, important things, and they fascinate me; indeed, my second novel, The Hope Fault, is at least partly about names and naming. I spend a lot of (aka too much) time mulling over character names in my writing. I love to name my chapters, too, title them rather than just giving them numbers … Read more…
The merry month of May
O, the month of May, the merry month of May, So frolic, so gay, and so green, so green, so green! ‘The Merry Month of May’ by Thomas Dekker (1599) The month just past (So frolic. Much gay. Many green. Wow.) would’ve warranted a celebratory skip around the maypole, if it hadn’t been a bit chilly … 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…
A six-month hunch: CreativeNZ Arts Grant funding
It’s taken me a week to post this, a week in which “t”s have been being crossed, and “i”s dotted (aka six months leave from the day job negotiated). I’ve been awarded an Arts Grant (Literature) by Creative New Zealand. The grant will fund me to write full-time for the first six months of 2015. What … Read more…
Awarded Varuna Second Book Fellowship for 2015
I’ve been awarded one of four two-week Varuna Second Book Fellowships to work on my second novel, The Hope Fault. I’ve been working on the first draft of the novel this year — there are some loose links and hints to it in my blog post from my residency at NZ Pacific Studio earlier this year, … Read more…
‘music to your ears’ interview, CAPITAL magazine
Anna Jackson-Scott interviewed Tracy Farr for Wellington magazine CAPITAL following the shortlisting of The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt for the 2014 WA Premier’s Book Awards. The article, titled ‘Music to your ears’, touches on the influences of a career in science on writing fiction. Read ‘Music to your ears’ (CAPITAL, September 2014) online
Time was on my side
I’d forgotten the gift of having time on my side. When I arrived at New Zealand Pacific Studio on 5 April, time stretched out before me. Three weeks seemed such a luxury. So I took my time: I unpacked my clothes; I stacked food on my shelf (“MASON”) in the pantry; I set up my … Read more…
A room of my own (for three weeks) – inaugural RAK Mason Writers Fellowship
A week or so before Christmas, I was delighted to find out that I’ve been awarded the inaugural R.A.K. Mason Writer’s Fellowship. This’ll give me a room to live and write in for three weeks in April 2014. The new fellowship is offered by New Zealand Pacific Studio, Mt Bruce, Wairarapa. The call-out stated “the … Read more…