Every year when I’m asked to facilitate panels at Melbourne Writers Festival I pinch myself. The festival, particularly in the last five years under Lisa Dempster’s helm, is such a joy. I have found myself chairing sessions with writers I admire or talking about topics I’m passionate about. I love the opportunity to immerse myself in their work and explore what they write. This year I am hosting the following panels:

 

Write Here, Write Now

10am Tuesday 29 August

Budding writers, join author and stand-up comedian Oliver Phommavanh in this rapid-fire writing skills session! Learn exercises designed to beat writer’s block and finesse your writing skills to get you on your way to being a true wordsmith.

 

Video Games Writing

11.15am Tuesday 29 August

How do you write video games? Why are they such a great way of exploring narrative and consequence? Learn the tricks of the trade and explore a new form of writing with games writers Dan Golding and Leena van Deventer.

 

Sexism as a Mental Health Crisis

6.00pm Tuesday 29 August

Facing relentless discrimination, social stigma and violence, women are expected to succeed in a system that actively works against them. Anni Hine Moana, Zoe Morrison and Jenny Valentish explore the patriarchal structures exacerbating women’s mental ill-health.

 

Book Talk

12.30pm Wednesday 30 August

How do you share your love of books – blogs, Instagram, podcasts, a book club? Find out all the ways to talk about your favourite books and authors and where to get reading recommendations, with YA enthusiast Danielle Binks and podcaster Diem Nguyen.

 

Inside Advertising

3.15pm Wednesday 30 August

How are ads made? What are the symbols and language used to capture audiences? Graphic designer Andrea Innocent and arts aficionado Penny Modra take us behind the advertising curtain, with examples of ad images in progress.

 

Imagination

1pm Sunday 3 September

Hear beloved children’s author Kyo Maclear (Virginia Wolf) and Australian legend Shaun Tan (The Singing Bones) share their storytelling process and how they inspire imagination in young readers.

 

There is no way I could pick a favourite as yet again every single one has a topic or author I love, but I must say it’s a particular thrill to be able to grill Shaun Tan about the worlds he creates. Hope to see plenty of you out and about at the festival.

After a week of panels, readings and discussions I’m feeling simultaneously exhausted and excited. The ILS has been an invaluable experience and I expect to be digesting all of the ideas and work I have seen for quite some time.

Coming in to this experience I had a clear idea of what I was hoping to do: talk to women from all over the UK and the world about the situation for women writers in their countries. I wanted to know if we faced similar challenges, if the gender inequality we are addressing in Australia is found elsewhere, and if so what initiatives, programs or organisations are working to address this.

The short answer appears to be yes, the challenges faced by women writers in Australia are similar in many other parts of the world. Having said that, there are also countries where women face additional pressures that most women in our country do not, often related to government censorship. It’s also clear that some of our initiatives and organisations are doing work above and beyond what other countries are currently attempting, which is heartening.

I will be returning home with some surprising findings, and some excellent opportunities for international collaboration and learning. I have confidence that we can offer support to each other, and have already seen the generosity of spirit from organisations such as the Glasgow Women’s Library and WoMentoring Project who have offered resources and information to follow up on.

It’s worth noting that as always whenever I talk to women writers there is a genuine desire to help each other out in individual and institutional ways. The sheer volume of volunteer hours and unwavering support is remarkable.

 

The main reason for this trip, the International Literature Showcase, is finally here! I’m in Norwich and feeling incredibly overwhelmed at the program of events and sessions I have to look forward to. I’d encourage you to check out all the ILS sessions on the website as they will be broadcasting live daily and available in archive form afterwards.

A quick visit to Glasgow allowed just enough time to pop in to the Glasgow Women’s Library. This facility has recently moved to its permanent home in a gorgeous building housing a lending library, archive, craft space, gorgeous function space and offices. Around 20 staff (some part time) work on the programs run by the centre.

Imagine a place where feminism, literature, words, collectivism, politics, community and access are at the heart. The Glasgow Women’s Library is this utopia. I had a tour from one of the staff, Katie, who told me the history of the library and took me into the archive space for a behind-the-scenes tour. We pulled out a box at random, one of the many collected zines, and I poured through finding gem after gem. The collection immortalises the work of women activists and provides a record of the wonderful work women writers have contributed to Scottish society. I could have stayed for days.

My visit made me wonder what a Women’s Library would look like in Melbourne. Would we benefit from a centralised collection of feminist writing and history? Would a space for women to work and draw on these resources be valuable? I head to my next City of Literature (Nottingham) shortly, who also have a Women’s Library I plan to visit. It will be interesting to compare and contrast the two.

There are some gigs you get asked to do and you do a little fist pump sitting at your desk. For me, Reading Matters is one of those. For those who don’t know, Reading Matters comes around every two years and is the Centre for Youth Literature’s conference on all things YA for librarians, booksellers, teachers and YA artists. The CYL team always put together an exceptional program – informative, engaging and surprising – and I’ve been lucky enough to be asked to host panels for the past two years.

This year I facilitated a panel on politics in YA fiction with local authors Lili Wilkinson and Jane Harrison, and American author AS King. The conversation was as excellent as I hoped it would be. All three authors write books where their protagonists (all women) are living and breathing social justice and politics. The discussion explored domestic violence, environmentalism, teens as agents of social change, racism in fantasy works vs racism in realism (and why we are more comfortable with the former than the latter), feminism and why personal stories can engage more fully with a political concept than dystopian trilogies do.

I left the session feeling really positive. Life is mostly about keeping a seven month old alive and happy at this point than it is engaging with politics, literature and words. That’s okay, but it felt damn good to be back using my brain to tease out a really juicy topic with three writers I admire. I recently received a request to chair some sessions at another upcoming festival and after yesterday I’m even more excited to start preparing for those.

I’m about to embark on a trip to the UK to attend the International Literary Showcase as a delegate from the Melbourne City of Literature. It has snuck up so quickly that I haven’t had much time to take in what a huge opportunity it is and what it will feel like to immerse myself in a conference like this.

At the moment my work schedule is very very part time, which is as close as you get to maternity leave when you’re a freelancer who is passionate about their work. I’ve written some articles, facilitated some panels, launched a passion project (Feminist Family Salon) and can now add participated in an international showcase event. Not bad for a year where I have no childcare, an under one year old and a sleep deprived brain.

As well as the showcase in Norwich I will be popping into another sister City of Literature, Edinburgh, where I plan to re-visit some lovely literary spots like the Scottish Storytelling Centre.  I’ll pop in to the Glasgow Women’s Library before heading to the next City of Literature spot, Nottingham. After the ILS in Nottingham I will head to London and hopefully meet with some organisations there too.

It’s an understatement to say this trip will be a great opportunity for me to develop my own skills and networks. I’m so grateful to the Melbourne City of Literature Travel Fund and the Norwich International Literature Showcase for making it possible.

 

Our first salon is fast approaching and I’m proud to be hosting such an excellent lineup of speakers. We announced over on the Facebook page that Amy Gray, Joyce Watts and Nelly Thomas will be our guests, diving into a conversation which we hope will set the scene for many salons to come.

Nelly Thomas is an accomplished comedian, writer and social commentator. Her book What Women Want was an erudite exploration of being a feminist in Australia. If you’ve seen her on stage, you know we are in for a treat hearing her thoughts on feminist parenting.

Here’s a taste of the kind of satire and insight Nelly is known for, an article in New Matilda earlier this year about childcare and working parents.

Amy Gray is a writer covering topics including feminism, motherhood, pop culture and technology. You’d be hard pressed to have missed her work if feminism and families are your thing. We’re so pleased she can join us for the inaugural salon.

Here’s one of Amy’s recent articles which is a great taste of why we’re looking forward to hearing her thoughts on June 3.

Joyce Watts is the author of the wildly popular TOT: HOT OR NOT site, an invaluable resource for families looking to find welcoming places and events around Melbourne and beyond. Joyce also owns online bike store CycleStyle, produces site-specific creative play events for kids and is a former lawyer.

You can check out TOT: HOT OR NOT to see what Joyce has been up to lately.

 

I had exciting news this week. I’ve been accepted as a delegate to the International Literature Showcase in Norwich, England. The event takes place in June 2017, with a focus on creating opportunities for cross-cultural collaboration between writers from the UK and the rest of the world. Norwich is a sister UNESCO City of Literature to Melbourne, so visiting has been on my wish list for some time.

In a year when work is on the backburner thanks to baby Linus joining our family it is heartening to receive a professional development opportunity like this one. There are so many exceptional people taking part and the outline for what we will be doing while there is exciting. I’ll be plotting what other literary joy I can fit in on the trip too. I feel a tour of libraries and literary magazines coming on…