Category: book launch

Robert Dessaix, launching ‘THE DEAR FOUR’

(From Robert Dessaix’s speech to launch THE DEAR FOUR, poetry by Mary Blackwood, Christiane Conésa-Bostock, Karen Knight and Liz McQuilkin – Hobart 14th December 2025)

I feel (in this year of Donald Trump, Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza) as if something has withered inside me. Something that’s always been there, isn’t there any more. There’s an emptiness. (And not the Buddhist sort.) I feel a sort of grief. Who doesn’t. Something vital I once had a grasp of has disappeared. Am I mildly demented? Have I misplaced something? What is it? (At my age, after all, you misplace things all the time: books, letters, your spectacles, people …) Please don’t let me lose my mind, pleads a night-time voice in Liz McQuilkin’s first poem in the collection … but she, with her squirrel psyche, has a store of poems to nourish her spirit.

This collection, The Dear Four (an eccentric title, too, arresting – Who’d have guessed what ‘dear’ means without being told?) The Dear Four gives me confidence, nevertheless, even without a store of poems, if I pay attention, I can find what’s been missing. I am enlivened by it – inspirited, we once said. (If only things were as they used to be …) Not every poem in the book will mend the wound – my particular wounds … how could it? But a surprising number make me feel whole. To my surprise. To my delight. (I don’t normally listen to what poets say, remember. The distillation I find in poetry is usually too radical for me.) Yet overwhelmingly these poems made me sing. One by one they made me take flight.

(More at https://walleahpress.com.au/launch-the-dear-four.html)

The ubiquitous becomes sublime: Adrienne Eberhard launches ‘undercurrents’ by Jane Williams

undercurrents by Jane Williams’, Ginninderra Press 2023, was launched by Adrienne Eberhard at The Hobart Bookshop on Thursday 29 June 2023.

Thank you for joining us tonight for the launch of Jane Williams’ latest collection, undercurrents, published by Ginninderra Press. Like most of you, I imagine, I have been a fan of Jane’s work for a very long time, over two decades now, lured by its seeming-simplicity that masks the undercurrents beneath.

I first met Jane at a Tasmanian Poetry Festival, organised by Tim Thorne, when my second son was a baby in his pram. Jane, who is the same age as me, was attending one of the sessions with one of her daughters who was in her late teens, and it both amazed and gladdened me to meet this poet who had already published a number of books and raised two daughters. It gave me hope that both were possible, that anything was possible! Jane’s poetry, as I came to read it and seek it out, confirmed this; in her poetry, anything is possible. The ordinary becomes the extraordinary, the ubiquitous becomes sublime. Humans are angels, and the holy is found in our everyday lives. Jane’s poetry works a quiet magic – from seemingly simple ideas the extraordinary bursts.

Read the launch speech at Rochford Street Review.

Jane Williams reading from her 2023 collection undercurrent.

Koraly Dimitriadis — book launch, Launceston 29th February 2024

The TPF 2024 kicks off its first pre-festival event with a book launch by Koraly Dimitriadis – a Melbourne poet, performance artist, film maker and short story writer.

Join us upstairs at 6 pm on the 29th February at the Plough Inn (lift available) 170 Brisbane St., Launceston to hear this wonderful and multi-talented woman.

Koraly is on her book tour and will also be performing at Silver Words in Hobart on 28th February.

Ticket link:- https://www.trybooking.com/COZAU

Arts Tasmania is a major sponsor of the Tasmanian Poetry Festival in 2024.

 

Carol Patterson — short story collection launch, Hobart, 8th Feb 2024

Carol Patterson third collection of stories (22), Vanishing Point will be launched by the Hobart Bookshop at Irish Murphy’s, Salamanca, Thursday 8 February, 5.30pm. The band Sanctuary will accompany the event: all are welcome.

‘Carol Patterson deserves much wider recognition for her brilliant mastery of the short story form. Each story immerses the reader in an entirely different, vividly depicted setting with complex and contrasting characters. Patterson brings these characters to life as they confront a range of human dilemmas and emotional challenges. Her work is superbly crafted with control of syntax, voice and style.’ – Janet Upcher

‘In these stories, there is a voice of wisdom, a voice of experience, a voice of clarity. The author has tremendous sensitivity to the characters, which allows her to breathe true insight into every scenario. They are the kind of people one may meet in day-to-day life and often encourage us to pause and reflect on our own experiences in comparable scenarios. There is a dynamic interplay between the physical surroundings and history of each narrative with the impact on the characters’ thoughts and reflections. Above all, the writing has grace and elegance.’ – Dr Paul Goodey-Adevisyan

 

Simon Grove’s ‘Seasons in the South’ (launched Hobart, 23rd Nov 2023)

Author Simon Grove, illustrator Keith Davis and Dr Sally Bryant AM joined in conversation to mark the launch of Simon’s new book ‘Seasons in the South’, at Fullers Bookshop in Hobart on 23rd November 2023.

 

 

Simon Grove is Senior Curator of Invertebrate Zoology at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in Hobart. He hails from England. Following doctoral research in the Daintree rainforests of tropical North Queensland, he moved to Tasmania with his young family in 2001, to work as a Conservation Biologist. A lifelong naturalist, he is author of The Seashells of Tasmania: A Comprehensive Guide, and has also published widely on Tasmanian natural history and ecology. Simon regularly chats about Tasmanian invertebrates on local radio, and in 2019 was awarded the Australian Natural History Medallion—the ‘Nobel Prize for Australian naturalists’.

 

 

 

 

For book details, visit Seasons in the South. As well, visit Simon Grove.

Launch of ‘Reaching Light’, by Robert Adamson [Sydney, July 2022]

Robert reading and in conversation with his Flood Editions USA editor/publisher & poet Devin Johnston, with readings by Sarah Holland-Batt and Michele Seminara.

 

The very sad news is that Robert Adamson is gravely ill. 

*          *          *          *          *

Normally, I’d not think twice about the mention here of a literary event—a book launch—yet I’m vaguely aware that doing so on this occasion could possibly be construed as no more than zeroing in on a topical note of interest.

However….

*          *          *           *            *

When Tim Thorne fell ill, I found myself hesitant to engage, ask how he was going … generally, just unwilling to intrude. In retrospect, it was a rubbishy form of interaction on my part—albeit under trying circumstances. I regret I didn’t make a greater effort…. Physically, Tim was slowing down, but mentally he was still off and running…. We shared a moment together, one session during the 2021 Tasmanian Poetry Festival. The state election had been called that very day, and scheduled for the 1st May. I made some reference to it, to which Tim quickly replied oh yes, and that’s going to put a very different interpretation on May Day, isn’t it? and he laughed.

I should also have said, oh by the way I appreciate and admire you so very much; for your generosity, for all you’ve achieved…. But I didn’t.

So goodbye rubbishy decisions.

I don’t know Bob Adamson’s work well, and my indirect association with him has only occurred since he provided back cover blurbs for one or two of the poetry collections I’ve published (Vanessa Page’s ‘Confessional Box’ comes to mind) some years ago. My belated appreciation of his poetry is due to the arrival in our home of a copy of the 2016 anthology ‘Contemporary Australian Poetry’ (Puncher & Wattman), where the work of poets is, according to surname, arranged in alphabetical order. Such a great anthology, so many very fine poems, but I always experienced difficulty getting past the opening five poems in the book—Adamson’s—’Via Negativa: The Divine Dark’, especially. Such fine poems all…. Bless you Bob for making vivid, and sharing, your perceptions.

Anne Collins—book launch

Lovely to see that Anne Collins has launched her newest collection of poems and prose—’Listening to the Deep Song’ (Bright South)—in Hobart last week.

cover Listening to the Deep Song Anne Collins

 

The book was launched at Hadley’s Hotel on 11th November by Petrina Meldrum:

I’d like to say how happy I am to be back in Hobart to share in the launch of Anne’s latest book, Listening to the Deep Song, and how nice it is to see so many familiar faces. Thank you all for coming along to support Anne and to celebrate with her.

When I first met Anne some six years ago, her manuscript, for all intents and purposes, was ready to be sent out to publishers. I remember clearly, when Anne brought it along to one of our early meetings, how impressed I was with the idea she had had, and with how she had gone about bringing it into existence.

As the intervening years flew by, the manuscript grew larger, and today, here we are, with this beautifully written book in our hands.

I think most of us are aware of Anne’s interest in Spain and the Spanish culture, but not necessarily of the depth of her involvement. In Listening to the Deep Song she shares, without restraint, her experiences.

Through multi-layered vignettes and some exquisite poetry, she takes us on a journey through Spain’s regions and major cities, through its seedy back streets, its world renown museums, and its quirky architecture. If you’re planning a trip to Spain, you can throw away your guide book and take Anne’s book with you instead. She’ll guarantee to get you lost at night in the back streets of Seville, or help you lose yourself in the whimsy of Miró’s universe in Barcelona.

Spain, of course, is not one country but a number of autonomous regions, each with their own language and cultural heritage, which they guard fiercely.

Anne recognises this by dividing her book into sections and allocating a flamenco rhythm or compás to each region. These rhythms reflect her sense of an underlying mood as she travelled through Spain.

On returning to Hobart, to her ‘Spanish life’, she has this to say:

‘Curiously in Hobart I have a Spanish life. I enjoy the exhilaration of flamenco dance classes… For short periods of time, I am immersed in flamenco energy. These experiences help me in finding my own flamenco self, my own flamenco confidence, still with much to learn.’

In the ‘Afterword: I am touching you’, a heart-warming piece, she tells us of her experience during Covid-19 isolation, a time when many put their lives on hold, but not Anne, she was Zooming her way to Madrid several times a week to attend flamenco classes online.

Following her journey, we become aware that there is another dimension to Anne and we are left, as a consequence, with a more intimate sense of who she is.

On attending a flamenco performance in Seville in a 16th century Sephardic courtyard at La Casa de la Memoria she records:

I feel an unexpected stirring of ecstasy and sorrow, a kind of loss deep within, of what I am not sure, but like the poet Félix Grande, I want to cry like a new born. What has this to do with me – an everyday 21st century stranger to my own roots and here for this brief moment? What yearning pulls me beyond their words of protest I barely understand, into ‘the gratitude, the anguish, the joy, the revelation’, the raw wailing core of this art we call flamenco?

We see a more playful Anne, in Barcelona, visiting one of Gaudí’s buildings, La Casa Batlló.

From her poem, In Gaudí Wonderland:

Inside the Casa Batlló the building seems

to sway and dance and smile

and I want to leap about

as the curves of my breasts and hips

align with the curves of the cave-like walls…

I imagine living here in this building

that honours a sense of joy.

Feel gracious and light, tender, seductive, playful,

free of straight lines and rigid postures

as if some essential fluidity

has re-awoken deep inside me.

Throughout the book there is a questioning going on, a desire to learn more – to have a deeper understanding, to belong. This is what Spain does to you if you let it: it draws you in and never lets you go. There is a sense of this happening to Anne as she gives herself over to Spain, while at the same time questioning why this is happening to her.

Her trips to Spain span a period of thirteen years, a long enough period for her to have noticed changes, both good and bad, all of which she shares with us. The diverse knowledge she has gained in this time is masterly woven into her vignettes, leaving us with signposts and pathways to follow if we wish to know more. The vignettes, at times a conversation with Spain, would give any traveller a masterclass in how to travel, in how to be more engaged with what lies beneath the surface.

Interspersed with the vignettes is Anne’s poetry. Some of the poems are born of her long interest in the life and work of Federico García Lorca.

Lorca’s first major work, Poema del Cante Jondo – Poem of the Deep Song – has clearly influenced Anne’s choice of title for the book, however, the poems she has chosen to respond to, form a conversation with a wider range of his work.

This poetic dialogue with Lorca’s work opens up a new way of reading into it, a way, through poetry, of showing the relevance of his work in a 21st century context.

In Anne’s poem, Learning to Spell, After the life of Federico García Lorca, which I’d like to read to you, she quotes phrases from two of Lorca’s poems, Landscape and Sleepwalking Ballad.

Learning to Spell

The boy learns to spell leaf

it turns to leaves on a yellow tree.

Leaf through the mistake of years–

a complicated task, a lot of rubbing out.

There’s knife and shelf, the rule’s the same

do your homework. By mistake the evening

a knife-edge wind cuts the leaves.

The alarm, the shelves full of books,

the guards are spell-bound.

The boy changes into a bird

watches through the mist on the panes

writes sentences with the word leaf,

a complicated task, a lot of rubbing out.

They leaf through the shelves.

After the wind there was only one leaf left.

On the page a trail of tears, the stanzas stretched out.

Her other poems reflect on her connection with and her understanding of Spain, and on her association with the art of flamenco. The flamenco poems make your heart beat to a different rhythm as you appreciate the degree to which this artform has become part of Anne’s life, and she part of the ‘flamenco family’.

I can truly recommend Listening to the Deep Song to you.

And now, I’ll hand over to Anne who is going to share some of her beautifully written pieces with us. Anne…

In conjunction with Hobart Bookshop, Anne’s also recorded a short video explaining more clearly her love of Lorca along with ‘everything Spanish’,  here.

 

 

in his endorsement of Anne’s book, Peter Boyle writes—

“Part travel diary, part meditation on Spain and its cultures, part poetic dialogue with the poetry of Lorca, Anne Collins’ “Listening to the Deep Song” is a beautifully written testimony to her long enthusiasm for the many sides of Spanish culture. Bringing together her training in flamenco dance, her love of Lorca’s poetry and several of her journeys through Spain, Anne Collins offers her readers a personal response to a unique blend of cultures that continues to speak to the 21st century world. Varied and many-layered, marked by close observation and thoughtful questioning, this is a delightful book.”

Finally, the publisher’s description…

Like a traveller’s journal written in prose and poetry, Listening to the Deep Song records Anne Collins’ travels through various regions of Spain, which took place over many years. The book offers a meditation on Spain’s many-layered history and culture, reflecting on history, landscape, expressions of culture, and change. It reveals places of connection and friction within Spain and across the world; as far as Anne’s home in lutruwita-Tasmania.

The writing turns on a poetic dialogue and an embodied praxis; the latter being expressed through both Anne’s physical immersion in Spain, and her practice and knowledge of flamenco dance. The latter engages with, especially, the life and works of Federico Garcia Lorca, as well as with other poets and writers of, and about, Spain.

Listening to the Deep Song is deeply personal, yet it offers much that resonates deeply with contemporary concerns. Anne Collins’ writing is varied, thoughtful, observant, poignant and beautiful.

‘Listening to the Deep Song’ is available from Bright South. It sells for $30.

Book launch—Gayelene Carbis’ ‘I Have Decided To Remain Vertical’; Melbourne 16 Oct 2022, launched by Marion May Campbell

Plenty of support for Gayelene Carbis, when Marion May Campbell launched her new poetry collection—’I Have Decided To Remain Vertical’—at Readings in St Kilda last month.

With Claire Gaskin MC-ing the event, local choir The Red Hot Singers — (‘This is not a choir, it’s a singing group … in other words, informal’, someone clarified; another pointed out ‘We’re all part of Soul Song’, a subset; we get out and about!’) — provided an African musical intro as a prelude to Marion May Campbell’s launch address. Much like Kevin Brophy in Melbourne (and Pete Hay in Hobart and Cameron Hindrum in Launceston), Campbell is a favoured ‘go to’ person when it comes to launching poetry in Melbourne, (she launched Susan Hawthorne’s ‘Dark Matters’ at Collected Works five years ago, back in the days when Kris and Retta welcomed all & sundry to their fabulous bookshop, ‘up the stairs and to the left: or take the lift!’)

Claire urged punters to ‘buy a book, to support Gayelene, to support poetry, to support Readings, to support the wonderful publishers who publish poetry’ before introducing Marion May Campbell, whose bio she proceeded to read. ‘If you haven’t read all those books [of Marion’s], you know, you really haven’t lived so you have to make sure you do that … a wonderful writer, a beautiful person who’s won many awards and supported many a writer … (Gayelene’s nodding!) Please warmly welcome Marion May Campbell.’

Marion spoke of the miracle of several key poems in this new collection presenting an integration ‘of a kind of terror and of comic Alice-like defiance. Surreality is presented with hyper-real acuity…. Poetry-making often snatched from the doors of disaster is both agent and catalyst for the I-persona — and I won’t call the ‘I persona’ Gayelene, because it’s so variable as well, and protean … takes on different shapes all the time. Her triumphant survival, no matter into what pits life and love have thrown her, is always done with great comic brio – and often hilarity, all the more liberating for the near-catastrophe that she skirts.’

‘I had a much longer version of this already-too-long speech, which quoted a lot of these poems—I would have liked to write about every poem in the collection….

.   .   .   .   .

‘In various inventive ways Gayelene’s work, so far—in her plays, stories, and now two poem collections—has explored both the comedy of feminine identifications, and the devastation wreaked by models of masculinity that men, and boys, strive to enact, or refuse at their peril.

.   .   .   .   .

“Again, the last line is an unmitigated triumph. ‘I hold my pen like a knife’.

.   .   .   .   .

“Here fabulism triumphs over sadness with magical metamorphosis, yet the humble domestic broom, remembering its origin, offers a retreat. And I’m reminded here of that Turkish proverb, When the axe came to the forest, the trees whispered—the handle’s one of us.’

‘Oh Gayelene, thank you for such fabulous, transfiguring work. Congratulations, from the heart.’

 

‘Marion … thank you for your beautiful, and passionate and erudite response to my work, and for launching my book into the world in words that are so uniquely you, thank you—from my heart, thank you.’

‘I think we should all go home now…. I mean do I need to say or read anything? Yes I do, Yes I do. I need to say thank you. These poems were written over many years, some a very long time ago. I spent years and hours working towards this book, and it’s just … me and the work … but it really takes a community to create and make a book. I’d like to firstly thank Puncher & Wattmann whom I’m thrilled to be published by, huge thank you to David Musgrave….

‘A huge thank you to Marion May Campbell, and Kathleen Mary Fallon, for extraordinary generosity over many years. Kathleen, thank you for suggesting the title, Marion really pushed for this one amongst the Kathleen Fallon list of possible titles … well not pushed, that’s not Marion’s style: she presented ‘elequent arguments’. Initially I thought, it’s too long, it sounds weird … and then I thought, ooh, I wrote that line. Now I think it’s a perfect title for the book….’

Gayelene proceeded to read a number of poems from her book, a reading of which Lyndon Walker has since written generously and reflectively,  “A fine and powerful reading of your work. Very moving, and very funny – you have that balance there. You are one of the best readers/performers of your own work in this country.”

Bringing the event to a close, the Red Hot Singers once again took to the floor. ‘Gayelene … do you wanna? … come and sing with us.’

‘Oh, yeah sure. You twisted my arm….’

(to view the full launch event, visit here … to purchase the book, visit here).

13 Oct—Graeme Hetherington book launch (Hobart)

The Divided Self: A Tasmanian Odyssey  (Graeme Hetherington)

Hobart Bookshop, 5.30pm, Thursday 13th October

Ralph Spaulding will launch Graeme Hetherington’s new poetry book ‘The Divided Self: A Tasmanian Odyssey.  This is Graeme’s ninth poetry collection and portrays the poet’s troubled journey to escape an “afflicted self” shadowed with loneliness and paranoia.

Tautly crafted short stanzas with references and images connoting blackness, punishment and curse, such as Mount Black’s shadows on Tasmania’s West Coast, the cat-o’-nine-tails, Coleridge’s albatross and the scourge of Christ’s crucifixion, convey the depth of the poet’s despair. Despite the poet’s desire to escape the “darkness of the past”, the reader senses that the power of his personal psychological drama will challenge his search for transcendence. The poet will certainly continue to seek poems that “soar beyond” the theatre of the self, but they will provide perhaps only temporary respite as he continues to experience personal uncertainties and pain.’ – Ralph Spaulding

About the event:

This is a ticketed event ($5.00) being held at The Hobart Bookshop on Thursday the 13th October, where tickets include a complimentary glass of wine.

Click Here to Book your tickets

08 Oct 2022—Thérèse Corfiatus, book launch (Ulverstone)

A new poetry collection, Bridge of Words—a collaboration between Thérèse Corfiatis of Ulverstone, and Britta Stenberg of Sweden—will be launched by Fay Forbes at the Red Cross Hall, 49 King Edward Street, Ulverstone, 2-4pm Saturday 8th October, 2022.

Thérèse is a featured guest of this month’s Tasmanian Poetry Festival (Launceston 30th Sept / 2nd Oct), while Britta—if I’ve interpreted google maps correctly—lives in the isolated town of Rentjarn, a community of some 71 souls in Sweden’s north.

I’m reminded of a 2006 writing collaboration between Karen Knight and Scottish poet Delys Rose, imagining the similarities of their experiences with those of Thérèse and Britta. Karen—from her home in Hobart, and Delys, comfortably ensconced in Scotland—were writing a poem a month. ‘Neither of us was particularly keen on formal stipulations and have found that the more open the remit, the better the results,’ wrote Delys at the time. ‘We began very simply with a poem about midsummer/midwinter because it was happening, at the moment we committed ourselves. It’s been a great way to keep up a long distance correspondence, not to mention generating new work.’ 

A key difference is that Karen and Delys had already met in Australia; and some time later, Karen travelled to visit Delys in Scotland.  Britta and Thérèse have never met, though perhaps that will change. In one of the pair’s many online conversations (as reported by the ABC here), Britta suggests that it’s been exciting to get to know Tasmania and Therese. “Bye-bye from Sweden, come and see me some day.”

 

Two women. Two poets. Two countries. One man. Thérèse Corfiatis lives in Ulverstone, Tasmania; Britta Stenberg lives in Rentjärn, Sweden – two women joined in friendship by Tom Langston, who introduced them to each other long distance, during a trip to Sweden. This collaboration is a tribute to his memory.
 
This evocative collection written over the course of a year, from opposite ends of the earth, holds a fervent hope for readers to discover a moment caught in time.
 
Britta Stenberg is a published writer from Swedish Lapland with a number of novels and poetry to her name. She also writes for the stage. This is Britta’s first publication in Australia.
 
Thérèse Corfiatis lives and writes in Ulverstone on Tasmania’s beautiful north-west coast. She is a cat lover, avid cloud gazer, watcher of oceans and worshipper of the night sky.
…
 

Mary Blackwood — book launch, Hobart: 22nd June

A little over thirty years ago, I sat down and interviewed poet and children’s writer Mary Blackwood in Hobart. To my dismay, the recording failed, necessitating a return visit to re-record our conversation, though Mary kindly says that part of the experience doesn’t figure in her recollections. In her conversation, she spoke of being a writer in Tasmania, also mentioning her grandmother — Agnes M. Morris — a poet too … and a couple of her Agnes’s poems appeared on the website alongside the interview.
 
   In May at a poetry reading in Oatlands, I sat down again with Mary and admired her poetry collection Small Cosmos (Ginnindera Press), her first. ‘I’m a somewhat slow writer,’ she observed, ‘I was probably only averaging a poem or two a year’.
‘Life gets in the way,’ I suggested.
‘Yes!’
   
     Gathering a lifetime’s poems into a book invariably means it has more to offer than interrogations of school and early adult experiences; sorrow and loss ineviteably intrude. But wry humour’s in evidence too in her words — the poem ‘At Your Age’, the lines …
 
     The physiotherapist tells you
     there are three things the matter
     with your foot
     all of which can be expected
     At Your Age
 
     I wrote to Mary, sharing my own experience of ‘At Your Age’: the first time a teenager stood to offer me his seat on a bus. The discombobulation, not being sure whether to laugh or cry…. She says she could write a variation of that poem ‘pretty much every week’.
 
     
Mary Blackwood’s <em>Small Cosmos</em> will be launched by Karen Knight and Liz McQuilkin on Wednesday 22nd June at 3 p.m. at the Royal Yacht Club, Marieville Esplanade, Sandy Bay.
     
   

Launch: David Webby’s children’s book (March)

David Webby’s ‘The Misadventures of Harry and Larry: The Chosen Ones’

Launch — Hobart Bookshop    (youtube: 3mins 09 secs)

Two bush Mice, Harry and Larry, from the Bunya Mountains become trapped in a 4WD owned by two humans, known as Charlie and Izzy Humbledink, and are thrust into an exciting adventure all the way up the east coast of Australia. On the way, Wilmar, Queen Mother of all Humpback Whales in the vast ocean, reveals to them the Prophecy that they are the Chosen Ones that will save the world. 

What does this mean?

How can two simple bush Mice change the way humans think and act?

Find out as Harry and Larry travel with their human friends to explore the lush landscape of the tropical north of Australia; they also survive some often-scary encounters with local inhabitants, and they call on the skills gained in Mouse Scouts to get them out of trouble. This is a pair of Mice who find that there is more to life than they knew, and destiny was not an easy way to discover their worth…come on an adventure and share the fun and learning with Harry and Larry!

AUTHOR BIO

David was born in New Zealand, but during a working holiday in Australia in 1984, he decided Australia was the place for him, and has lived here ever since. In early 2017, he and his wife moved to Tasmania, and settled in the beautiful Huon Valley with their two labradoodles. David is a podiatrist by trade, and enjoys bushwalking, photography, gardening, and bee keeping. His inspiration to write comes from his love for trees and wildlife, and his memories of childhood exploration. He includes a richness of history and culture in his writing that has come from extensive travels, both within Australia and overseas.

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR: M. K. PERRING

After traveling all over the world before moving and living in Australia I’ve always had a passion for the creative arts, going straight into film and television for secondary education. After improving my skills for a few years independently, I came across University to advance my skills in filmmaking and Animation. I started working on a personal project on YouTube accumulating over 2.5 million views collectively with a fan base dedicated to my storytelling and character design. Having finished a Bachelor of Animation, I am constantly exposed to creative environments and learning more programs and methods while working in teams to be ready for industry.

Notes from a launch: Esther Ottaway’s ‘Intimate, low-voiced, delicate things’

My take on Jane Williams’ launch of Esther Ottaway’s poetry collection ‘Intimate, low-voiced, delicate things’ in Launceston last year — please visit here.

‘I’ve been a fan of Esther Ottaway’s poetry since her first, small, powerful book Blood Universe some fourteen years ago.’ she said. ‘The long wait has been well worth it and … I suspect Intimate, low-voiced, delicate things could not have been conceived, written, crafted and let go of any sooner because the result is so intellectually and emotionally gratifying. This is a book about the deepest connections we make – with lovers, family, friends but ultimately self.’ (Jane Williams)

Ralph

 

Children’s book ‘Tyenna’ (Julie Hunt, Terry Whitebeach) — launched by Daniela Brozek

Launch of the new children’s book Tyenna. The Hobart Bookshop presents Julie Hunt and Terry Whitebeach with an introduction from Daniela Brozek discussing the book and what they have learned about the Tasmanian environment.

 

 

(from Allen & Unwin)

An engaging and suspenseful novel about one girl’s experience of the terrifying Tasmanian bushfires.

They huddle low, nostrils burning from the smoke. A wave of despair flows over Tye. Nothing will survive this firestorm. The bush and everything she loves will be lost.

It’s the summer holidays, and Tye is staying at her grandparents’ lodge at Chancy’s Point in Tasmania’s beautiful Central Highlands. But her plans for fun with best friend Lily and working on her pencil pine conservation project are thwarted as fire threatens the community and the bush she loves – and when Tye discovers Bailey, a runaway boy hiding out, she is torn between secretly helping him and her loyalty to her grandparents.

As the fire comes closer and evacuation warnings abound, Tye is caught up in the battle of her life. Will she and Bailey survive? What will happen to her beloved pencil pines and the wildlife at risk? Can she and her close-knit community make a difference in a world threatened by climate change?

 

Author bio:

Julie Hunt loves storytelling and traditional folktales. Her stories combine other-worldly elements with down-to-earth humour. She loves travel and is fascinated by landscapes and the tales they inspire. This interest has taken her from the rugged west coast of Ireland to the ice caves of Romania where she collected ideas for her graphic novel, KidGlovz, illustrated by Dale Newman. KidGlovz won the 2016 Queensland Literary Award and her latest novel, Shine Mountain, was shortlisted for the 2019 NSW Premier’s Award. She has received many awards and commendations for earlier books, including winning Readings’ inaugural Children’s Book Prize for Song for a Scarlet Runner in 2014 and the Children’s Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year Award for The Coat, illustrated by Ron Brooks, in 2013.

Dr Terry Whitebeach is a Tasmanian writer, historian and community artist who has performed, presented conference papers and taught creative writing in community, workplace and educational settings. Her publications include poetry, radio plays, novels for young adults and biographies or life histories. Trouble Tomorrow was her fourth collaborative project with Sarafino Enadio.

Series editor and series creator Lyn White has extensive experience as a primary school teacher-librarian and EAL teacher and in 2010 completed postgraduate studies in Editing and Communications at the University of Melbourne. Lyn is passionate about children’s literature and has great expertise in engaging students with quality texts. Her work with refugee children motivated her to create the acclaimed Through My Eyes series of books set in contemporary war zones. Lyn created and edited the Through My Eyes – Natural Disaster Zones series to pay tribute to the courage and resilience of children who are often the most vulnerable in post-disaster situations. Lyn continues to teach EAL and is an education consultant and conference presenter.

 

 

 

 

 

Launch — Les Wicks’ poetry collection ‘Time Taken — New & Selected’

Time Taken — New & Selected’, (Puncher & Wattman) is Les Wicks’ fifteenth poetry collection.

2022 will mark the 50th anniversary of Wicks’ first poem publication. His imprint Meuse Press will turn 45. He has been presenting workshops around Australia across 35 years.

Time Taken is a New & Selected collection revisiting his best poems across this time span, the culmination of a lifetime’s work.

Time Taken will be launched by Martin Langford at the Friend in Hand Hotel, 58 Cowper St, Glebe, Sydney, upstairs bar, on Sunday 13th March at 2.30pm

Geoff Goodfellow at Adelaide Festival, 7th March 2022

Geoff Goodfellow returns to Writers’ Week with a reading of his new verse novella, ‘Blight Street, (Walleah Press), featuring Geoff and performers Roslyn Oades and Nic Darrigo.

(From the festival’s notes):
“Set in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, ‘Blight Street’ is written in the language and idiom of the culture it portrays. Harrowing but tender, ‘Blight Street’ draws on the vital themes that characterise Geoff’s writing: the working class struggle, the tragedy of addiction and the celebration of love.”

The reading (a free event, no need to book) is timed for 10.45 am, Monday 7th March, Plane Tree Stage, Pioneer Women’s Memorial Garden. It will followed by a short interview with Geoff, chaired by Rick Sarre.