Melinda Tognini
June 11, 2019
I’ve recently been running a series of workshops on writing memoir and family history at the City of Vincent Library and Local History Centre. In our first session, I led participants through a series of activities to help them stare down the blank page and start writing. It was fabulous to see just how many […]
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May 21, 2019
Numerous tributes flowing in for Bob Hawke have recalled his response to the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. As Prime Minister, he allowed Chinese students to stay in Australia, rather than force them back to suffer the consequences of a Chinese government crackdown. I wonder how many lives Hawke’s decision saved, how many young men and […]
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May 4, 2019
Welcome back to Six Degrees of Separation. In case you’d like to play along, participants start with the same book, as nominated by Kate from booksaremyfavouriteandbest. Link it to six other titles in any random way your brain decides to make connections. I try to link it to books I’ve either read and would recommend, […]
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April 18, 2019
Imagine you’re the new girl in town on your first day of high school. After travelling around Australia for a year, you’re feeling positive about settling in one place and making friends. Imagine your delight when the first girl you meet invites you to sit with her friends at recess. Imagine that by lunchtime, your […]
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March 20, 2019
In her poem, “What They did Yesterday Afternoon”, often quoted after tragedy strikes, Warsan Shire asks the ‘whole world’ where it hurts – and it answers, ‘everywhere’.* The world is hurting. If we’re honest, it’s been hurting for a very long time, but last Friday that pain become much more difficult to ignore. It’s not […]
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March 12, 2019
Creative Prompts #4: Circus
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I haven’t been to the circus for a very long time, although the Great Moscow Circus was in town recently. I have, however, discovered a writing competition in which the first prize includes a month’s residency at Berlin’s Circus Hotel. The theme is, naturally, ‘the circus’. Whether you’re as tempted as I am to enter […]
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