April 20, 2016
As Australia commemorated the ‘centenary of Anzac’ in 2015, I listened with interest to the range of responses expressed both privately and publicly. I heard outspoken opposition to the Anzac commemorations and equally angry reactions directed at those who dared to question the Anzac legend at all. Between the two ends of the spectrum were families […]
premium
April 14, 2016
Welcome back to Six Degrees of Separation. This bookish meme was inspired by the idea that everyone is connected to every other person by no more than six points of separation. I was introduced to this idea while watching the 1993 film of the same name, but it actually originated in a short story called […]
premium
April 6, 2016
Paying My Respects
premium
This time last week, I stood beside a stranger’s grave. He felt like family. He wasn’t. Not even a distant relative or ancestor. Let me backtrack a little. My daughter and I spent Easter in Cairns, catching up with family and enjoying the tourist attractions. We walked through rainforest and ate fish and chips by […]
premium
March 19, 2016
With World Poetry Day just around the corner, I’ve been thinking about the poems that have stayed with me long after I first discovered them. Some have become favourites because of the poets’ language choices, others because of the memories associated with them. But all have remained significant in some way. Here are ten of my favourite […]
premium
February 28, 2016
Little Levi Wibberley captured many hearts, including that of celebrity chef Manu Feildel, when his parents went public about his battle with Krabbe Disease. Sadly, he succumbed to the illness in May 2015, but Ashley and Ben Wibberley continue to raise awareness of this and other rare diseases. Krabbe Disease is one of approximately 7,000 rare diseases, 50% […]
premium
February 25, 2016
Here I sit, tucked away in my cabin in the hills. I’m looking out through the trees to the cityscape, listening to the birdsong, and ruminating over the weekend that was the 2016 Perth Writers Festival. I’ve attended the Perth Writers Festival for a number of years, but this was my first as a published […]
premium