Going Down Swinging is launching their latest collection in Ballarat, Saturday October 23. Grab a v-line ticket, a great book and a coffee and travel up – the trip will be well worth it!
Author / Melissa Watts
Wheeler Centre – 175 years of Victoria
Last night I attended the Wheeler Centre’s Celebrating 175 years of Victoria event in Ballarat. It was fantastic to get some regional events from the Wheeler Centre after my usual approach of staying in Melbourne after work and getting home to Ballarat late (and cold). Continue reading →
Paul Kelly – How to Make Gravy
In his book In Sunshine or in Shadow, Martin Flanagan says of Paul Kelly:
The generation of singer-songwriters of which he is the best known member are to the 1980s and ‘90s what the Bulletin poets were a century before, the people who travelled this land, collecting its stories, and singing them into the consciousness of the people.
This comparison resonates with me, but I would go one step further. Continue reading →
Because I am a Girl
Last week I stumbled across Plan Australia’s Because I am a Girl program. To use their words:
‘Because I am a Girl’ is Plan’s global campaign designed to fight gender inequality, promote girls’ rights and lift millions of girls out of poverty. Across the globe, girls are at the bottom of the social ladder, deprived of the same opportunities as boys. For example,research has shown that girls are more likely to suffer from malnutrition; be forced into an early marriage; be subjected to violence or intimidation; be trafficked, sold or coerced into the sex trade; or become infected with HIV.
Take two minutes to watch this great video:
Here are two facts that motivated me to get involved:
- Girls are less likely that boys to survive to their first birthday.
- A woman or girl will reinvest 90% of her income into her family.
The other exciting news I was interested in this week was Kevin Rudd announcing that Australian has pledged $225 million dollars of foreign aid for women and children. This is great news and will be interesting to track how the UN’s “global strategy for women’s and children’s health” progresses over the next few years.
More than football – Melbourne’s History
This week I went to the book launch of Lisa Lang’s Utopian Man. It is a fictional re-imagining of the life of E.W. Cole, the creator of the wonderful Cole’s Book Arcade. The arcade began as a small second-hand book stall in the Eastern Market in 1865 and eventually became an Arcade from Bourke Street through to Collins Street, closing in 1931. Within that time the arcade included its own press, which produced the famous Cole’s Funny Picture Books, its own set of coins, a cage of monkeys and a Chinese tea salon to name just a few of wild and wonderful things. Continue reading →
New Publications
This month saw the launch of two new ezines from creators in Melbourne; Ricochet and Thelma. Continue reading →
The Best of the Fest – MWF
When I think of way to describe last nights ‘The Best of the Fest’ session of the Melbourne Writers Festival all I can think of is fun. Sponsored by the University of Melbourne with some great local and international writers the session could have easily turned into a wanky lovefest. But with Catherine Deveny as the host the pace was set early, this was going to be a fast-paced and exciting show. It was advertised as a ‘an early evening, late-night-TV-chat-show-type of event’ and that is just how it felt. Continue reading →
Holiday Inspiration – Hopefully
The next few weeks will likely contain little blogging. I am off on holidays through China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Russia. I am hoping to use some of my transit time (planes, trains and camels) to work on my writing projects and maybe just inspire some new ones…
M.J. Hyland – This is How
Patrick Oxtoby won’t leave my mind. Since reading MJ Hyland’s This is How I can’t stop thinking about him.
Without wanting to ruin the plot the general premise of the novel is this – Patrick Oxtoby moves into a seaside boarding house after his fiancé ends their engagement. With a new job at the local mechanic, and some distance from his mother, he is ready for change. The relationships he forms in the new town will dictate the rest of his life.
From the first paragraph I knew I was in for a character like no other:
I put my bags down on the doorstep and knock three times. I don’t bang hard like a copper, but it’s not as though I’m ashamed to be knocking either.
This is a man who analyses door knocks. Continue reading →
Melissa Watts 