Stories that matter
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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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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February 19, 2019
Writers in Exile #1: Victor Hugo
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For the past 20 years, my overseas travel has had a distinct cycling flavour, on account of my husband’s Italian heritage, and his obsession with bikes. One day I’ll design a literary tour instead, and visit not only the homes of famous authors, but also the settings of my favourite stories. That trip will have […]
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November 13, 2018
The Cost of Speaking Up
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How much does your writing, art, or other creative practice mean to you? And what are you willing to risk in order to express yourself, to tell the stories you want to tell, to speak the words you wish to say? I’m asking these questions of myself, but if they resonate with you, too, please […]
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November 8, 2018
‘Strange as it may seem, the one desire a normal young man had in the year 1915 was to go out to France to get killed. Of course, he did not think of it in those terms, his consuming obsession was to reach the front in time not to miss all the fun.’ These are […]
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