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The 2013 Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize is now open. Entry fee: $10.00 for ABR subscribers; $20.00 for other entrants Prizes: First $5000, supplementary $2000 and $1000, plus publication in ABR Length: 2000 to 5000 words Deadline for Entries: 31 May 2013 More information is available on the ABR website at: https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/prizes/elizabeth-jolley-story-prize
Rembrandt’s astonishing painting of the anatomy lesson is temporarily housed at the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague. I couldn’t wait to see this painting. In fact, I’m afraid I rushed through rooms full of many of the other paintings that are temporarily housed there while the Mauritshuis is being renovated just to find it. (I…
The Stella Prize came into place partly as a result of the debates that erupted in the Australian literary landscape after a series of literary award shortlists had few, or no, women on them. The ensuing debates about the visibility and worth of women’s contribution to literature, gender bias in publishing, reading and reviewing, and…
While I was visiting the Brontë Parsonage Museum, I picked up a flyer for a wonderful competition you might like to enter. The competition includes two categories: a poem on the theme of NOISE (up to 40 lines) an essay on the work and lives of the Romantics and their circle (up to 3000 words) Closing…
I went for a lovely ambling walk in the city of York today, with the charming, ebullient and very engaging local historian, Chris Kelly. I have to make notes for the exam he threatened, but in the meantime, here are some of the very wonderful things I discovered with his assistance (OK, look, I didn’t…
One of my best friends in the whole world taught me about keeping a gratitude journal. It’s not something I do regularly, mostly cos this year I’m too busy keeping my four-minute diary (I learned how from the totally awesome Lynda Barry, who tumblers at The Near-Sighted Monkey). But today, I have to note three…
This morning I woke in the glorious and incredibly welcoming city of York. After a lovely breakfast in the hotel dining room I came upstairs and guess what had landed in my inbox? The first review of Rupetta. Rick Kleffel over at bookotron says: Contemporary author N. A. Sulway’s striking novel ‘Rupetta’ is a powerful,…
Today’s little entry in the cabinet of curiosities comes from the royal palace in Amsterdam. The palace squats at the edge of the Dam – the large central plein of Amsterdam. It was built in the mid-seventeenth century as a town hall, and its history as a centre of bureaucracy is reflected in the building’s…
At the risk of being terribly self-centred, today’s object is not one I discovered in a museum, street or gallery. Instead, it arrived by post from the United Kingdom. A box of books. My books. Not just books I own, but books I wrote. I wonder if there any moments more precious than these, for…