Took an afternoon yesterday, in the crisp, clear winter air, to walk the Trachyte Circuit at Mount Tibrogargan. A warming two-hours strolling through eucalypt and melaleuca forest, casuarina groves, woodland and heathland. The path is flat and largely flat, compacted clay and sandy soil. A pleasure to walk. Unfortunately, the calls of the birds and…
Author: nike sulway
Small Indiscretions
In 2009, Felicity Castagna visited Olvar Wood. She was one of four recipients of an Olvar Wood Fellowship Award, alongside Paul Garretty, Les Zigomanis and Kylie Mulcahy. We had the pleasure of reading Felicity’s work, and of working with her as part of the Fellowship as she further developed her short story collection. Next month,…
Penguins
Over at The Guardian they have a very cool series in the ‘Children’s Books’ section where various illustrators provide instructions on illustrating for young artists. My favourite is by Oliver Jeffers. Jeffers is an artist and illustrator. We have a few of Jeffers’s books about the house, including one of our favourites, The Great Paper…
Oma
It’s strange, being a grandmother. though possibly not as strange as being a grandchild.
Avoir un coeur d’artichaut
One at a time, prepare the artichokes as follows: Remove the stem by bending it at the base of the artichoke until it snaps off, thus detaching with the stem any tough filaments which may have pushed up into the heart. Break off the small leaves at the base of the artichoke. Trim the base…
The Wine-Dark Sea
An extract from my work in progress has been published in the latest issue of Kurungabaa, alongside some great fiction, poetry and non-fiction. There’s an essay by Chris Morgan called ‘Surfing with Camus’, poetry by e e cummings, John Egan and Gail Willems, and some great writing on surf, sea and sand by Karen de…
Shameless (Self) Promotion
Maria Arena [of La Vie Creativity] and I will be running a series of writing masterclasses on the Sunshine Coast, from July to December. The masterclass series is called Writing Off the Edge, and the plan is to push you beyond the usual writing class formulae and rules. We’ll be doing some intensely close reading…
For My Daughter
… on her thirteenth birthday. Welcome to your teenage years. May the Birthday Fairy grant you the grace and the courage to be yourself, and the strength to search for and grab hold of your dreams. You are a truly amazing young woman, with a rich and exciting future ahead of you. Grasp it with…
Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
THIS is how I feel today. Thank heavens for good news.
Untitled
It’s hard to pinpoint the beginning of a new work, but here’s an attempt to do so only a little while after the thing has put on flesh. Three things: From David M Carrolls’ Following the Water: A Hydromancer’s Notebook: “They say that the Sufi is always looking for his beloved,” she said. “You are…