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‘Pig Face and Ugly Stump’ by Bronwyn Palmer

My students are awesome! Have I told you that lately? No? Hmmm … I think you are not listening to me. Let me explain. I have these students, and they are FABULOUS. Just read this story by Bronwyn Palmer, and you will see. Bronwyn is currently studying counselling part-time at … Continue reading

Author : nike
Comments : 6 Comments

The third lesson

Boo and I have been ambling our way through the How Writers Write Poetry online MOOC. The course is presented by Christopher Merrill and Camille Rankine, via the University of Iowa. This week’s lesson was on ‘the line and the page’ and the assignments were to write a prose poem, … Continue reading

Author : nike
Comments : 2 Comments

‘Celia’ by Ashlyn Butler

So many talented students! I am blessed with a great many talented writing students, and am really pleased when they’re brave enough to allow me to share their work with you. Today’s poem was produced after the first-run of the first half of a course that’s partly about writing poetry. … Continue reading

Author : nike

‘Owlbit’ by Maija Lindbergs

I just wanted to share this gorgeous little snippet Maija Lindbergs wrote in class today, when we were messing about with viewpoint and grammatical POV. Maija is a final-year student of Creative Media, and she’s AWESOME, as you’re about to find out … POV: Third Person Viewpoint Character: Owlbit Owlbit was a … Continue reading

Author : nike
Comments : 3 Comments

fifty-seven (Malurid)

This semester, I’m teaching a writing course called Fairytales & Other Forms. Every week, we read a fairytale in various variants, and the writers in the course are asked to write their own (new!) version. The students are second year undergraduates, who are totally amazing. Every week they surprise and … Continue reading

Author : nike
Comments : 2 Comments

Conversing about Corpses

This month, I was invited to participate in an online version of the Exquisite Cadaver parlour game, being hosted/published over at The Conversation. I was #7 in a series of ten writers who participated. We each received an email with the preceding entries, and were given about 24 hours to … Continue reading

Author : nike
The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure , the process is its own reward.

Living (in the) light

Happy New Year! It’s 2015, and I couldn’t be gladder than I am to be welcoming in this fresh new year which, as my old companion Anne Shirley of Green Gables used to say, has no mistakes in it. Not that making mistakes is a problem. One of my favourite … Continue reading

Author : nike

Hänsel, Gretel, and the Pfefferkuchenhaus; or, eat or be eaten

This Christmas, I constructed a little house out of gingerbread. It had pink glass windows (raspberry flavoured boiled lollies), and snowy white icing. In Europe, baking gingerbread was once (in the 1600s) the province of those who belonged to the gingerbread baker’s guild, except at Christmas and Easter, when anyone … Continue reading

Author : nike

Death, Dildoes and Daffodils: a queer winter’s tale (full paper)

A little while ago, I delivered a creative paper at the ANZSA (Australia and New Zealand Shakespeare Association). I posted the abstract for this paper on my blog a while ago, and thought I’d follow up by sharing the text of the performance. The piece is an examination of the … Continue reading

Author : nike

thirty-three (rural romance)

The architect comes into my office smiling, a woven basket on her arm. Greenery – wild and fragrant – spills from the basket. It is a hot day, and she sinks gratefully into the spare chair in my office. I should be clear and say that she is no longer … Continue reading

Author : nike
Comments : 5 Comments
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