Thank you Hobart, I’m grateful…

I was in Hobart last weekend courtesy of a Writing Australia tour, and it was my best trip to the Apple Isle ever! I say that having been there at least six times, and most recently in 2012 for the National NAIDOC Ball and to check out the cultural icon MONA! What an extraordinary gift to the country that centre / gallery / keeping place is.

Last week however, I visited Tassie as a writer, delivering a chick lit workshop for the Tasmanian Writers’ Centre on Friday and speaking at the Town Hall on Saturday as part of The Shock of the Now program.  You can read some tweets about the festival here and you can check out photos and frivolity on Facebook at the TWC page.

I’m indebted to all the staff and volunteers who made the experience that much more special, hell I felt like a literary rockstar, a litstar! Thank you!

Here are just some of my gratefuls for the three days: 

  

Emerging chick lit writers: I am grateful for the passion, energy and enthusiasm of the 20+ students (including one bloke) who committed three hours of their time to gain some practical tips. All of them – including Diane Curran above – had projects in process, and brought into the space a burning desire to see their novels on the shelf. In that way we had a lot in common! I’m also grateful that none of the students buy into the negativity around the genre, which is often sprouted by those who don’t even read our works. [By the way, here’s a great link at the Guardian covering what authors and other industry folk are saying about chick lit]

Patsy Cameron – The beautiful Patsy and I met about a decade or more ago and although we might go for a year or two without seeing each other, it’s always feels like it’s only been days. I was thrilled to be able to have a private yarn then hear her speak about Tasmanian identity today.  Patsy opened her address by acknowledging country with ‘Lest We Forget’ and asked the question, but do we remember? (Pic above by Suze van der Beek)

She reminded the audience that ‘We need to understand the Aboriginal history of the past so we can understand Aboriginal Tasmania today.’ She also made the relevant point that Tasmanian stories of massacres, dispossession, and survival remain untold, ‘shrouded in mist’, while the coloniser's story is well known by all. Patsy is staunch and positive and that’s why I love her. And she’s knowledgeable about Tasmanian history. You should read her work Grease and Ochre!  

Martin Flanagan: I’m always honoured to take the stage with a man who has taught me to write with conviction, to write the truth and to write from the heart. Martin is what I like to call the philosophical sportswriter, because his stories are far more than just reporting on sports. Of course he does that, but when writing about individuals, he writes their stories, and what they share with him.

I’m also grateful for his presence with me at the Hobart Town Hall and for all the generous locals who were there as well.  You can read Martin’s speech on-line at Tasmanian Times. 

Generous spirits: Someone asked me while I was in Hobart if I liked doing the festival circuit. I told them honestly: ‘I don’t eat properly, I don’t sleep properly, I don’t do other bodily functions properly, I spend more money than I make, HOWEVER, I meet wonderful people all the time’. And for that I am grateful. I had a small posse of keen readers, sister/fellow writers and fans around and we laughed and joked and fed each other’s souls.  It was great to finally meet the glittery Kate Gordon and to have budding novelist Kit Murdoch in my class. Too much fabulousness all round. And that’s what I like about being on the road.

 

Surprise gifts: I was overwhelmed with the generosity of a few people in Hobart when I was also handed some beautiful gifts. Ceramic artist Kim – otherwise known as Princess Snorkel Pants  on twitter tackled me as she guarded the green room door, and handed me a piece of her handiwork [pictured above]. A carefully crafted treasure box with five skulls inside. I’m not sure who they belong to, but I love them. Check out Kim’s handiwork here.

Seafood: Seriously Hobart, I need to give you these kilos back. I had salt’n’pepper squid, blue eye, scallops, seafood pie, salmon, muscles and chips, lots of chips. If I lived in Tasmania I would just eat seafood all day. You are all so blessed and I am grateful for a few days to indulge in some of your best. Quick shout out to BJ and the team at Blue Eye. The evening was a little Fawlty Towers like, but hell, the food was sensational, and I will return. And for my perfect fish and chips-by-the-water-while-recovering-from-my-workshop (that’s a mouthful), I need to acknowledge Fishy Business at Constitution Dock.

 

Davey Thompson is grateful for Clancestry!

God I love Twitter! It has brought so many awesome people into my life including the fabulous Davey Thompson. A vibrant and enthusiastic 21 years old, Davey is from the Bidjara and Inningai tribes (Grandfather’s side) Wakka Wakka and Gubbi Gubbi (Grandmother’s side) both his father’s parents. He is active on Twitter (where we met cyberly) and then in February we got to share an extraordinary time with Clancestry at the QLD Performing Arts Centre in Brisbane. After my event (which you can watch here), I had a few moments to sit and yarn with Davey, and I asked him to share what he was most grateful for in terms of his work on the cultural program. And today, he generously offers the following...

Reasons why I’m grateful for Clancestry

1.       Career advancement/learning

I very recently graduated from the Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts where I trained as a performing artist. Immediately after graduating I started work as a trainee producer at Clancestry. Clancestry provided me with a large step up into the industry. It’s also provided me with a dive into being involved with the local Brisbane community. I went from being “That random kid from ACPA who played that drunk fella who gets knocked out in the beginning of Up The Ladder” to “Davey Thompson, emerging producer who helped make this happen”.

2.       Culture

Having Clancestry provided our mob with the rare opportunity to share our culture with a broad audience. On top of this it places our culture in the spotlight and opens the door for the next generation to immerse themselves in our traditions. On a personal level I feel like I’m more involved with our mob now. After witnessing the beauty in our culture through the various traditional dance groups who performed I feel an unbelievably large sense of pride. In addition, there was a brilliant series of inspirational people who also talked about Indigenous issues which provided me with a great amount of closure. Dr Chelsea Bond, Dr Anita Heiss and Wesley Enoch (just to name a very small few) all provided extremely valuable advice that I will hold close to me for a long, long time and I’m very grateful for them.

3.       Lara Croydon

I’ve known Lara for a little while now but I haven’t had the chance to work with her this closely on a project. We both come from similar backgrounds. We’re both passionate about our culture. We’re both passionate about the arts. We’re both fair skinned as well. That point shouldn’t really matter but it’s important to me because we both were questioned by community about our culture. There were times when we were looked at disapprovingly by our own mob purely because of our skin colour. We both did it tough leading up to Clancestry but we both got each other through it. Whenever either of us seemed a little too stressed we would call time out, go to Max Brenner and stuff ourselves with chocolate, then return with a clear head. There were times when we would just sit in silence and look at the Brisbane river. It’s those moments that we both needed. I have no idea how I could have gone about this whole process without her. I’m very grateful to have somebody so young and beautiful by my side through this and I look forward to having her around for the rest of my career.

(Photo above was taken of the two of us right as Clancestry concluded. We had a little cry and braved the camera for a truly happy snap).

                                                                                       

Close the Gap tweeting comp starts today!

For our Indigenous Aunties and Uncles, Brothers and Sisters - We want to hear your healthy lifestyle stories for Close the Gap this year. But we’re not asking for something for nothing. We’ll be selecting finalists in 4 categories and you’ll be voting for the winners. There is a $300 prize for the winners in each of the healthy eating, quitting smoking, and getting exercise categories, and a $500 prize for the winner of the category that brings all the categories together in one story. There will also be prizes for a randomly selected entry, and for a randomly selected comment or retweet.

Entries open on Thursday March 21 and close at midnight (EDST) on Sunday March 24.

To enter, start your story with #iclosethegapby – and finish your story with the hashtag that relates to your story - healthy eating (#eat2livewell); getting exercise (#juststartmoving); or quitting smoking (#quit4life). And please include your photos to show us what you are doing…. a picture tells a thousand words. Have a look at some of the examples that are up already.

The #iclosehtegapby competition will be run on the NCIE, LIFE Programs, Indigenous MTB Project, and EORA Fitness facebook pages, and on Twitter through @theNCIE; @Lifeprograms, and @IndigenousX, and the Community of Excellence.

You can increase your chances of getting selected in the finals by getting as many people as possible to interact with you through likes, comments, or retweets.

Get your entries in and show us what you are up to.

Molly Tebo is a grateful librarian!

-->

 

It’s no secret that I love libraries and librarians. I’ve said many times before that in another life I’d be a librarian. I can rock the stereotypical bun and glasses if required. Seriously, I love the way local, community and even State Libraries are embracing a range of ways to entice readers into their spaces.

I’ve met a lot of librarians through my work as a writer. I also remain connected with them via social media as well. One such lovely librarian is Molly Tebo who is the eLearning Librarian ant the State Library of WA.

When I was in Perth for the writers’ festival recently, Molly and had a quick chinwag and I somehow talked her into doing her five gratefuls for me. Below is what she has so generously penned… oh, and that’s us above!

Five things I’m grateful for at work

1.    Being able to work creatively with computers and technology

Most people don’t think of Librarians as people who sit behind computers all day but I hardly ever play with the physical books. As eLearning Librarian at the StateLibrary of WA, I get to do a bunch of fun things including setting up an online learning environment, playing with apps, teaching fellow staff about social media and making videos using our digital collection. I’m a total geek Librarian and I love it.

2.    Working in a big library

This gives me a lot of scope. There are always interesting projects starting and a large number of knowledgeable people to talk to about different things from maps to microfilm scanners, from tablets to touchscreen computers. We have an internal social network where staff can post links that catch their eye and discuss issues facing libraries. We are also a central hub for public libraries in WA and that gives us a lot of great opportunities to work with different communities.

3.    Working in the middle of Perth

The Perth Cultural Centre where the State Library is located has really transformed into a vibrant place. Recently it was filled with spiegeltents, booths and even mermaids for the Fringe World Festival. At other times there are live bands playing on the wetlands stage, and the urban orchard is a lovely place to go to relax. Northbridge is a great place to eat lunch with a huge variety of food options. You can even browse some funky pop up shops on your way back to work.

4.    Creating exciting new services for our clients

My team is on the cutting edge of service delivery at the State Library of WA. We create new services, exhibitions, educational programs and events for clients and we’re generally working anywhere from six months to two years ahead of time on these. It’s great to be a part of what’s coming and create awesome things. One project we’ve launched recently is Local Stories from Afar, a series of digital stories that were a collaborative effort between refugees and the Metropolitan Migrant Resource Centre, media students from Central Institute of Technology and ourselves. These can be seen on our YouTube channel.

5.    Most of all… the people

I have so many friends at work and throughout the library world and I’m really, really grateful for this. It makes all the difference to work with people you like and I often find myself spending a fair bit of time with them outside of work too! I’m fortunate enough to work with people who have a great vision for the future and a whole host of talents. I can always find friends at work who are enthusiastic to join me in a new project or just spend some quiet time knitting at lunch.

Me and Mr Jones

 

I started writing a blog about my meeting with James Earl Jones yesterday.

But then I thought, do I really need to explain to anyone why I am grateful for meeting such an extraordinary man who is still engaging audiences at the age of 82?  I don't think so.

I'm sure you can all imagine how in awe, nervous and grateful I felt.  Our time yarning lasted only 90 minutes but the memory will stay with me for a lifetime.

Writing Gerroa: I’m grateful

Last week I spent three days working on my manuscript – Tiddas – due at the publisher next month, due for release through Simon & Schuster in 2014. My working environment included the most stunning surrounds of Gerroa on the south coast of NSW. There was so much to be grateful for, not least the following...

BREAKING DAWN: I’m up early every day in Sydney, Perth, Canberra or wherever I am. But I have not woken up to such a stunning view for a long, long time. Above is the image that I started my days with, sitting with my cuppa and punching the keys at early hours. What more perfect a start could one ask for?

 

BLUE SKIES & SUNSHINE: It was the perfect weather for the beach, or at least writing by the beach. And so I am grateful that I had both blue skies and sunshine to look at, to sit outside in, to walk around in on my breaks. I even had a bit of a dip in between chapters. There has to be some perks to being a workaholic, right?

WRITING INSPIRATION: I am grateful for the inspiration that I could draw from the physical surrounds, especially Seven Mile Beach. As the waves rolled, so did the dialogue and the ideas.

MY WRITING MENTOR: I was fortunate to have an amazing mentor /patron for the week in Lisa Heidke. Many of you may not recognise her by the photo above, but you will know her as the author of four popular novels:  Lucy Springer Gets Even, What Kate Did Next, Claudia’s Big Break and Stella Makes Good.

Thank you Lisa for your time, energy, expertise, inspiration, humour and most importantly, for killing the HUGE huntsman (below) in what was supposed to be my bedroom. That my friend, was your greatest achievement in my eyes that day!

SEVEN MILE BEACH KIOSK: Who would’ve thought you could get a fabulous coffee at a caravan park kiosk? Well you can. A big shout out also to the local surfers there, who were very friendly. 

Guess who might like to relocate for a little while to write some more? Are there secret spots I should know about? Please send me directions.

Yalari students: the next generation of Indigenous leaders

I was recently part of the Yalari Summer Camp held at the University of Qld at St Lucia. Over the weekend I was one of a number of programmed presenters including film director Khoa Do,  LoisPeeler (one of the original Sapphires), Karni Liddell(Paralympic swimmer), barrister-in-law Josh Creamer and the very deadly musical duo BusbyMarou. 

I only had 90 minutes to work with the 30 students (pictured below) who were there to be inspired and supported in their own leadership journeys.

Within my session we brainstormed ideas, concepts and notions of what it means to be an Indigenous Australian today, and what it means to be proud. The students broke off into groups to pen some raps in under 10 minutes. Here’s just a few lines of the first drafts they came up with.

I’m a black fella with pride

 in my culture and identity, I will not hide.

My Future proud and strong

Here on my homeland, I belong.

I’m set out for success,

 In honor of Yalari,

To do my best.

With a degree in my hand,

 I’ll wave the flag

In honor of my land.

*           *           *           *           *

Got to have an education

To have a reputation

From the black nation.

We have our own vibe

From our own tribe.

Our history was a mystery

From the stolen generation

Of our nation.

*           *           *           *           *

Yaama, were proud to be black,

Yalari Scholars 2006 go way back.

We’re the generation to make a new beginning,

but we still reminisce the dreamtime. 

We’ve had ups and downs in the past

 but we’ve got to look forward to the future.

We want to thank you Anita for showing us

that you don’t have to fit the profile to be black.

*           *           *           *           *

We’re all from different tribes,

being Indigenous is part of our lives.

Education, the vegetation is a generation,

 family support is great for us

especially when we are leaving home on the bus,

Jessica Mauboy and  Troy Cassar-Daley inspire us

to follow our dreams,

even when we’re not Gathering.

*           *           *           *           *

Bradley is black

how about that deadliest catch, that’s a fact.

Bet Julia Gillard is a match.

Prime Minister quality,

 overcome racial in-equality, he’s a Scotchie,

Represent.

Next level: beep beep…. PRESIDENT.