The Melbourne Writers' Festival opened on Friday. I wish I'd been more on the ball and booked tickets to some of the opening events earlier. By the time I got around to organising them, so many of the events that I was looking forward to were already booked out. But this afternoon I'm off to Federation Square to get my first taste of the festival.
I'm really looking forward to taking it all in. Usually, Spring is my busiest time speaking in schools but this year I've simply stayed at the desk. I've missed the interaction with kids, the new faces and the conversations. Perhaps the hardest thing about writing is try to strike a balance between solitude and sociability. So skipping along to the Writers' Festival is a perfect counterpoint to all the long hours at the desk. Even in the years that I've spoken at the MWF, I haven't managed to make along to many sessions. But this year will be different. This year will be serious, wordy fun.
It's started
Melbourne - City of Literature - Classy!
Yay! UNESCO has awarded Melbourne a 'City of Literature' designation. I didn't know that we'd been given the guernsey when I wrote my post yesterday about Melbourne book havens. Maybe I sensed it in the ether. It's good news for Melbourne book lovers. Edinburgh, Scotland, is the only other city to be awarded the title so far and they've developed a whole range of good things to support readers, books and writing to celebrate their 'bookishness'.
Last year, I was on the steering committee for the bid along with lots of other bookish Melburnians. It's exciting to know all those hours we spent thinking about why Melbourne is so classy and classic and literary have finally borne fruit.
You can read what Jason Steger, the books editor from The Age newspaper, wrote about it here
Storybook Melbourne Meme
(bookish) THINGS TO DO IN MY TOWN FOR (almost) FREE MEME
Penni Russon of Eglantine's Cake has tagged the world and asked bloggers to do her meme "At least five (almost) free things to do in your home town". Only problem is that she's already listed some of my favourite freebies in my hometown, Melbourne . But I decided to bite the bullet anyway and take the challenge. I figured I'd do a version that explores Melbourne and my personal obsession; books. So here's my bookish Melbourne Meme:
1. The State Library of Victoria is definitely the funkiest place in town to hang out for serious readers. And it's free. There's exhibitions to gawk at and millions of books to read. An afternoon in the La Trobe (domed) Reading Room is my idea of fun. It's also a great place to take kids - especially bookish primary aged readers. When my youngest son, Elwyn, was in need of respite from a heavy week of school I'd take him into the SLV and he'd help me with my research. He loved sifting through the piles of old books I'd order up, checking out the weird illustrations or chasing up books on the catalogue. Some of the best learning experiences you can give a kid can happen in a place like the State Library. I figure when I'm too old to do anything useful, I'll spend my afternoons in a comfy chair in the SLV, reading my way through all those great books that are on my list of 'must read one day'. It's in Swanston Street, right opposite Melbourne Central. Why don't they call the metro station 'Library'? Much more alluring. I'd get off the train for a library any time.
2. If you're still in the mood for browsing after a few hours at the SLV, you can skip around the corner to the Caroline Chisholm Library in Mitchell House, Level 3, 358 Lonsdale Street, (cnr of Elizabeth Street, opposite St Francis' Church). It's a fascinating place to hang out if you're feeling philosophical. It's actually a private Catholic library that specialises in (mostly Christian) theological and reference texts. Although you have to be a member to borrow books, browsing is free. And there are seriously amazing books on the open shelves including beautiful rare books from the 19th century, residue from when it was founded by the Irish Catholic community. There are heaps of books on the history of the Irish in Australia too. Hibernica, patristics, hagiography, spirituality and mysticism are all subjects that this library specialises in. Whoa - weighty words!
3. You probably need some fresh air by this stage. So with your head full of strange images of Irish mysticism, you can wander along Elizabeth Street and turn left into Collins Street. Just past the Melbourne Town Hall you'll discover the Athenaeum Theatre. If you climb the red-carpeted stairs to the first floor you'll discover the Melbourne Athenaeum Library. Like the Caroline Chisholm Library, you have to be a member to take books home but if you're in the mood for a dose of popular fiction, the shelves are crowded with literature worth a leisurely browse. I love the atmosphere in here. It's worn, and perhaps a little daggy but the books and staff and the patrons all love books so passionately you know you are in great company. And you can often pick up ex-library copies of racy fiction for a few coins. An iconic Melbourne book-lovers refuge.
4. Haven't had enough? There are still more free books to be perused. When you leave the Anthenaeum turn left into Swanston Street and walk down to Flinders Lane. Turn right and wander down this fantastic and magical lane - only half a block to reach Melbourne City Library
- a free library where you can sign up for membership. Though I mostly prefer to just poke around on the shelves as I already have too many library memberships to keep track of. When you've finished browsing and checking out the artwork in the gallery, you can grab a coffee at Journal bracing yourself for the your next bookish adventure.
5. When you exit Journal, turn left and wander down Flinders Lane to Elizabeth Street where you should then turn left again. Wander down toward Flinders Street Station, keeping your eyes peeled for City Basement Books. When my kids were little, we used to make special trips into the city to tour the second hand bookshops that lined Flinders Lane and surrounds. A lot of them have moved on but City Basement Books has endured. For years, my kids have bought fantastic birthday presents for each other from this shop. Some of my favourite books - especially my collection of Australian theatre history books - were sourced from Basement Books. You may have to part with some coins here - you won't be able to resist with so many books at bargain prices - but it's the sort of shop where you really do need to browse. It's nooks and crannies are jammed full of obscure, forgotten books that are waiting for you, the passionate reader, to discover them. I have bought hundreds of books from City Basement Books but as often as not, my visits involve nothing more than browsing, checking out what new treasures are lurking on the shelves and contemplating my next visit where I may make them my own or rue the fact that I missed my chance of owning them by not parting with the cash on the day I first found them.
5. Best for last. I probably should have put this as the third destination as you're going to have to walk back down Flinders Lane, retracing your steps, to find Collected Works bookshop. It's on the first floor of the Nicholas Building on the corner of Swanston Street and Flinders Lane. Climb the stairs or take the fantastic old art deco lifts and you'll discover this magical bookshop located right next to the Victorian Writers' Centre, a stone's throw from the funky Retro Star second-hand clothes emporium. Collected Works has a long history that is deeply connected to the Melbourne book trade. When you push aside the beaded curtain at the door you'll find a haven for poets and any writer who simply loves words. Kris Hemensley is the guardian of this intimate oasis. You can read the Collected Works blog here but nothing matches the pleasure of a visit. I love browsing its shelves, discovering the work of writers that you will never have access to in mainstream bookshops. Anyone interested in books and writing has to visit this bookshop at least once and when you do, you must spend a long time looking. Sometimes the most precious book, the one that really changes your life, isn't sitting front out in Borders or Angus and Robertson but it could be tucked away in a corner of Collected Works. It probably is sitting there, waiting for you. Oh, just writing this makes me want to catch the next train into the city and spend the morning at Collected Works.
I could wax lyrical about Melbourne and books for hours and hours but maybe five items are enough for one blog.
Read while Waiting Project
Reading blogs, like any form of reading, can become addictive. Even though I'm an intermittent blogger myself, I start my writing day by checking on my Google Reader account and seeing who has been knocking up interesting posts.
One of my favourite blogs is Sharon Bakar's incredibly erudite and book-obsessed Bibliobibuli. Bakar is a goddess of book blogs and the type of committed reader I most admire. She is omnivorous when it comes to books and reads across cultures, genres, time and space. She also must keep one ear continually to the ground - or the internet - as she links up with every interesting book happening in South Asia as well as fascinating book blogs from around the world.
Yesterday, she posted a blog that included a link to the Read while Waiting Project. I love the idea. It would be such an easy thing to pull of in Melbourne because the day the project is due to happen is bang in the middle of our Melbourne Writers' Festival. August 23rd. I think I'll be reading and waiting in Federation Square. Check it out and grab a book.
Whee - it's a Spree
Lists, lists, lists. I'm obsessed with reading lists. Maybe it's because I'm having trouble finding a book in which I can lose myself. I don't really fancy reading any more YA fiction for a while. So I have been in drift mode - grazing on bits and pieces, re-reading old favourites and trying to make up my mind about what to read next. Then my daughter handed me a copy of Nick Hornby's The Complete Polysllabic Spree. It's fantastic. A whole book of lists! In month by month articles, it includes everything that Nick Hornby read and bought between September 2003 and June 2006. I sat down and read it in one big gulp. It was serious fun. Nick Hornby writes FUN, not just funny, so well.
The only downside is that most of the books he read and/or purchased were by men. Women writers were thin on the ground (on the page). Ironically, many of his most favoured reads, the ones he absolutely raved about, were by women. But that small criticism aside, it was full of intelligent and passionate ideas about books and reading. A great springboard for a fresh look at what to read next.
Magic Brews
I love these parcels. There's something about them that makes me feel like a kid. The way the white paper crackles, the way they're stapled shut with little notes attached, their pungent and mysterious smell.
Apart from enforced discretion as a literary judge, another reason I've been hibernating over the past month is that I've been knocked around by a couple of nasty lurgies. 
Most winters, I am immune to the most virulent of bugs and cheerfully skip through the coldest days but this year I haven't been so lucky.
Last week, I finally took my coughing attacks seriously and decided it was time for action. Having seen my GP Western style doctor and told to take pain killers and keep warm, I knew I needed a more full-on approach. So I've been getting stuck into various cures, including traditional chinese medicines. The little paper bags above contain herbs that my Chinese doctor, Dr Huang, gives me to brew into dark and heady tea. I cook them up in the ceramic pot on the right. It may look like the sweepings from the forest floor but it makes a mean brew of medicinal potion.
This post has nothing to do with reading but it does make me wonder about books that include references to TCM (traditional Chinese medicine). I included a couple of brief scenes with a Chinese doctor in my book Bridie's Fire. Isabelle Allende wrote beautifully about a Chinese doctor's experiences of immigration in her novel Daughter of Fortune, though the doctor wasn't the central protagonist. I love how Allende fused so many cultures in that book and Tao Chi'en, the doctor, was a fantastic character. I wonder if there are any other portrayals of Chinese doctors in fiction. Any suggestions?
List-making
There are good reasons to feel uneasy about lists. Coming up with a shortlist for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award was the stuff of nightmare. Not because of who was on it, but because of all the books you couldn't include. (We were only allowed three.)
So I was really pleased to see that the Inky Awards long-list was completely different and included a lot of the books I'd agonised over having to leave out.
I don't think I'll be putting my hand up to judge another literary award for a long time. Being a judge had a negative effect on my own writing, making me super-critical of every sentence that I wrote so it was a struggle to get to the end of my new novel. But it also helped me understand what judges go through when they come up with lists, how flawed any list will be, and that who wins is very arbitrary. So it was both humbling and liberating - I felt less impressed by my own prizes and shortlistings and also appreciated why my books haven't won every single prize for which they've been nominated. There are a lot of good books that deserve our attention and prizes are one way of drawing our attention to them. So the more lists and the more diverse those lists are, the better for readers and writers.
Can't Tell You Who Will Win
The Prize for Young Adult Fiction: Shortlist 2008
The shortlist reflects the progressive, adventurous and challenging writing that enlivens Young Adult literature. We looked for high degrees of originality, sophistication of structure, depth of characterisation and effective use of language, as well as that intangible ‘magnetic factor’ that draws a reader irresistibly on through a book.
A significant number of entries for the prize were deemed most suitable for a slightly younger readership. Particularly outstanding among these were Leonie Norrington’s sparkling Leaving Barrumbi, Kim Kane’s quirky and original Pip: The Story of Olive and Marion Roberts’ energetic and charming Sunny Side Up.
Judges: Anna Ryan-Punch (Convenor), Simmone Howell and Kirsty Murray
Shortlist
 | SoloAlyssa Brugman Alyssa Brugman’s deeply involving novel is a riveting journey into an injured teenage psyche. When Mackenzie volunteers to do a ‘solo’ on her wilderness camp, 24 hours alone in the bush doesn’t seem such a difficult prospect. But left alone with her thoughts, carefully repressed and mis-remembered events begin to catch up with her, and the truth of her past begins to surface. Mackenzie herself is an attention-grabbing voice, an intriguingly variable mixture of hardness, vulnerability and dry humour. Alongside her, (but not always on her side) the reader slowly unravels the truth of her history in this compelling psychological mystery that packs a real punch. |
 | PoolJustin D’Ath Justin D’Ath’s Pool is a beautifully modulated novel that explores adolescent transitions and discoveries in seamless prose. Sixteen-year-old Wolfgang Mulqueen works at the public swimming pool in New Lourdes, Victoria, where pilgrims from across the world travel to test the waters’ curative powers. In the course of a long hot summer, Wolfgang is forced to confront his own strengths and limitations. D’Ath juxtaposes intriguing characters, metaphors and events - a blind girl, a black butterfly, a tragic 18-year-old mystery - to create a truly original work. Pool is a powerful and moving novel about love, death, faith and family. |
 | Tomorrow All Will Be BeautifulBrigid Lowry Tomorrow All Will Be Beautiful is a stunning collection of fiction, memoir, poetry and correspondence. Brigid Lowry connects perfect futures, painful pasts and an uncertain present with humour and compassion. Patients at an adolescent psych ward attempt to make their great escape. On a school oval two 15-year-old girls face the awful truth. Toby’s gone north to join the circus; Beautiful Alice lives in a Bedford truck; and at the Frangipani Cafe no one’s getting served what they really want. At once playful and profound, Tomorrow is a window into the strange, beautiful truth about the awkward years of adolescence. |
Out of hibernation
I've been hibernating for the past month, especially in terms of blogging. But now I can finally 'fess up as to why my blog posts have grown so thin over the past few months.
On Friday, I attended an event at the State Library of Victoria where Lynne Kosky, the Victorian Minister for the Arts, announced the shortlist for the 2008 Victorian Premier's Literary Award.
As she read out the shortlist for the prize for Young Adult fiction, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders. Secret-keeping is hard work. Not being allowed to discuss the sixty-five books that I read as one of the judges of this prize has made blogging and talking books pretty awkward. Along with my very savvy co-judges, Simmone Howell and Anna Ryan-Punch, I wrestled my way through the weighty kilos and kilos of nominated books in less than nine weeks. Phew.
