I'm now reading "Personal Score" by Ellen van Neerven and it's magnificent. The writing style, the approach to the often challenging subject matter... It was no surprise to learn that van Neerven is a poet.

The book's very topical following the World Cup, since it centres on the author's relationship to soccer. As well as their experience growing up First Nations in Meanjin.

#AmReading #bookstodon #memoir #TransLit #QueerLit #AusLit #soccer #football #Brisbane #PersonalScore #EllenVanNeerven

Got my hands on a copy of Dr Melissa Kang & Yumi Stynes' Welcome to Sex from the library and I'm embarrassed at how informative I'm finding it. Many things I had a vague idea about, but nothing so concrete as a drawing on the page (female condoms, anyone?)

Some sections seemed a bit too female-centric for a book aimed at all teens (e.g., on relationships), but I suppose there's only so much a single book can cover!

#bookstodon #WelcomeToSex #MelissaKang #YumiStynes #AusLit #SexEd #SexEducation

I've begun reading Caught In The Act by Shane Jenek AKA Courtney Act.

I should mention that I've been getting all these queer books through Brisbane City Council Libraries - can't praise them enough!

Courtney Act was Brisbane born who, like so many of us, headed south the moment high school finished. Going by the intro, this one should be a hoot!

#AmReading #bookstodon #memoir #TransLit #QueerLit #AusLit #Brisbane #BrisbaneLibraries #libraries #CourtneyAct #ShaneJenek #CaughtInTheAct

Do you work in #publishing #AusLit #OzLit #BookPublishingIndustry #BookPublishing? Then you are probably doing unpaid overtime, facing structural barriers to success and earning less than you’re worth!

@meaa is collecting data on pay & conditions in the book industry, have your say here:

https://meaa-bookindustry.carrd.co

(Not for authors - posting in #solidarity 🖤 & shared frustration)
#union #JoinTheUnion

Full program for Byron Writers Festival 2023 announced today - amazing lineup! I'm doing a marketing for authors workshop on the Thursday and then sitting back to soak in the words of some amazing writers and thinkers. Full program is here: https://byronwritersfestival.com/festival/

#Australia #writingcommunity #Byron #ByronBay #NSW #AusAuthors #writersfestivals #AusLit #books #authors

Congratulations to all the Aurealis Awards winners, including @spacerookie @amandakool!

https://locusmag.com/2023/06/2022-aurealis-awards-winners/

#Books #Bookstodon #ScienceFiction #SciFi #Fantasy #SpecFic #SpeculativeFiction #Australia #OzLit #AusLit

If you're a South Australian based writer/writing group looking at funds for your next creative project, I'm presenting a grant application workshop for Writers SA on Sunday 28 May.

Tip: sign up for Writers SA membership first and get a big discount on the workshop. And other membership benefits.

More details here >
https://writerssa.org.au/event-registration-civicrm/?id=225

@auslit #AusLit #AmWriting #WritersNeedToEatToo

“to be a poet in Australia | is the ultimate commitment”
– Michael Dransfield, ‘Like this for years’

In memory of the revolutionary #Australian #poet, Michael #Dransfield, who passed away on this day, 20 April, fifty years ago, in 1973, aged twenty-four.

He left us much, including one of the most intimate love poems in the English language: ‘Loft’ (see attachment)

For those in #Australia that write after Michael, the debt is incalculable: we are all – whether we want to be or not – his terrible children. I feel that Michael would appreciate this aspect of his legacy, for as he dryly writes in his famous poem ‘flying’:

i was flying over sydney
in a giant dog

things looked bad

Where, we might ask, is appreciation for an Australian poetics of commitment today?

The photograph of Michael at “Marchpane”, #Cobargo (attached) is from Patricia Dobrez’s Michael Dransfield’s Lives: A Sixties Biography. I count myself as being extremely fortunate to have been taught by Dobrez’s husband, Livio Dobrez (who also wrote a book on Michael - Parnassus Mad Ward: Michael Dransfield and the New Australian Poetry). Michael’s Cobargo house “Marchpane” is now known by another name, but survived the catastrophic New Year’s Eve fire.

@auslit #AusLit #PoetryCommunity #WritingCommunity

Book 24 for the year.

The Tilt.
Chris Hammer.

OMG I love this writer.

The landscape is always part of his stories.
You are right there, hearing the birds, seeing the wallabies, smelling the forest, experiencing the thunderstorms and the heatwaves.

This novel is set in 1943, 1973, and the present.
It's a love story, a murder mystery, and a family saga, with an ending as happy as possible, given that they've solved a long standing cold case.

You can tell how much I like a book by the number of hashtags I use, and if I photograph the cover.

#book #bookstodon #auslit
#TheTilt #ChrisHammer

@tchambers @feditips

Some important Australian hashtags:

#VoiceToParliament and #AusReferendum Especially if you are not an Indigenous Australian, please use these hashtags (ideally with a cover warning) when discussing the Voice To Parliament referendum.

#AusLit Australian literature

#AusBiz Australian business

#AFL Discussion of Aussie Rules football

#NRL Discussion of rugby league

#AusPol Australian politics

#NSWPol State politics in New South Wales

#VicPol Victorian state politics

#QldPol Queensland state politics

#TasPol Tasmanian state politics

#SAPol South Australian state politics

#WAPol West Australian state politics

#NTPol Northern Territory politics

#ACTPol ACT politics

Elsewhere on the Fediverse, there's an Australian discussion group on Lemmy here: https://lemmy.ml/c/australia

And for AFL football here: https://lemmy.ml/c/afl

You can follow both from Mastodon by following @afl and @australia .

Any posts where you tag @australia or @afl in the first post of the thread will automatically be added to those discussion groups.

Today we're driving to Warnambool for the weekend as @littleelfman is conducting a workshop as part of Q-Lit (and if the rain holds off I'll be photographing a part of the coast I've never seen before).

There's several workshops at the library over the Saturday, then later that night there is an artist showcase and open mic at The F Project.

If you happen to live in the area, come along - it's all totally free!

https://www.q-lit.com.au/warrnambool​

#writing #ausLit #QLit #writersOfMastodon #LGBTQIASB+

Tomorrow we're driving to Warnambool for the weekend as @littleelfman is conducting a workshop as part of Q-Lit.

There's several workshops at the library over the Saturday, then later that night there is an artist showcase and open mic at The F Project.

If you happen to live in the area, come along - it's all totally free!

https://www.q-lit.com.au/warrnambool

#writing #ausLit #QLit #writersOfMastodon #LGBTQIASB+

My pre-ordered copy of Alexis Wright's new novel Praiseworthy arrived today. Have started it, but it's not a book that can be rushed.
And it's over 700 pages :blob_cat_ohnoes:

Who else is reading Praiseworthy?

@indigenousauthors @auslit #AusLit

Tom Keneally is a really lovely person - he was even lovely that time he stole a volunteer's handbag in the Adelaide Writers Week green room last year.
But I'm really really struggling to get through his latest novel, Fanatic Heart.
I'll finish it eventually, because it's suitable research for the book I'm writing, and it's curing my insomnia......

@auslit #AusLit

Australian authors: Guess what opens for applications today? The EMDG Grant program! Have you ever applied for a creative, SME or book marketing grant before? I've been working with Amra Pajalic on a new course all about how to successfully find & apply.

https://annafeatherstone.com/grants-for-australian-writers-for-writing-and-creative-projects-book-marketing-author-business/

#Australia #AustralianWriters #AustralianAuthors #EMDG #writinggrants #writingcommunity #AuthorsofMastodon #AmraPajalic #literarygrants #AusLit #OzLit #AusWrites #AusWriters #amwriting #ampublishing #indieauthors #indieauthor #bookmarketing

Congrats to everyone on the Aurealis Awards shortlist, including @spacerookie tanaudel@wandering.shop @garthnix @AlanBaxter @ScottSteensma @Fordwalker !

https://aurealisawards.org/2023/03/09/2022-aurealis-awards-shortlist-announcement/

#AurealisAwards #OzLit #AusLit #AustralianAuthors #ScienceFiction #Fantasy #SFF #Books #Bookstodon

Great reminder from the Australian Society of Authors today about PLR & ELR 31 March deadline:

"Have you had a book published in the last 5 years? Is your print book held in public or educational libraries? Do not forget to submit your title claims to the Public and Educational Lending Right schemes via the Office for the Arts to have eligible books registered for inclusion before the 31 March deadline. Details about how to register your e-books and audiobooks will be released by the Office for the Arts shortly."

#Australia #AustralianWriters #AustralianAuthors #AusWrites #AusLit #WritingCommunity #PLR #ELR #CreativeAustralia

The Sun Walks Down, by Fiona McFarlane, is my nomination for the great Australian novel.

A boy is lost in the outback, and the town people, in their separate ways, think about finding him. People come from afar to help.

The people aren't important to the plot. They exist, and don't have to justify their existence unless it's to themselves.

The landscape is as much a character as any other.

Sunsets and sunrises are remarkable, and gods stride the countryside.

Genuinely, this is a beautiful book to read.

#bookstodon
#TheSunWalksDown
#auslit

Aussie writers!

Submissions are open for Black Inc.'s Growing Up Neurodivergent in Australia

It's open to all writers in Australia who have been diagnosed as neurodivergent.

(Why is a formal diagnosis required? See https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/news/statement-regarding-growing-neurodivergent-australia)

Submissions should be 1000-4000 words and will close 1 September 2023.

Find out more at https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/news/growing-neurodivergent-australia-call-submissions

@auslit #AusLit #neurodivergent #neurodiverse #ActuallyAutistic #WritingCommunity #Australia

working on my next novel today. Thought I was 2/3 done, but thinking more like 1/2. This one is going to be chonky :BlobHajMlem:

I was going to take scissors to the manuscript, but then remembered how a few readers said they'd wished my last novel was bigger. And how much I enjoy a big novel (400 - 550 pages) if the world-building and characters are engaging :blobhaj_md:

So, I think I'm writing a 500 page novel :welp:

(printers can alter book dimensions and font size, but IMHO 600+ pages and a novel gets a bit hard to hold. Dropping a book on your face, in the middle of the night, is not fun)

@auslit @indigenousauthors
#AmWriting #AusLit