Tag / M J Hyland

by Melissa Watts

I’m talking at the Melbourne Writers Festival

I am very pleased to announce that I will be a panellist and an interviewer at the 2013 Melbourne Writers Festival.

I spent some time helping the team from MWF as part of my role at Ballarat Writers and now I can announce that I’ll be involved in 2 events.

My first event is on Saturday as part of the M.A.D.E. by Writers Panel. I will be discussing how my life as a writer interacts with the ideas of freedom, power and democracy. I’ll be sharing the panel with some great writers and must confess to having what singer/songwriter Paul Kelly calls ‘the pretendies’.

On Sunday I’ll be hosting, In Conversation with M.J. Hyland. I’ve written about her work before and a few years ago participated in a workshop that she was running.  I’m looking forward to this event as it closes out the weekend of events and I’m hoping will have some great audience participation.

So let me know if you’ve got any advice, or any questions you’d like me to ask.

If you’re in Ballarat please come along to some of the events. It’s a great chance to encourage Melbourne arts groups to run regional events.

There are heaps of workshops and panel discussions so please book in.

by Melissa Watts

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 →