The Australian Association of Writing Programs

My story about Wendy and Rebecca James, Armidale's writing sisters, is a two-page spread in the Sydney Morning Herald today (Spectrum, p.30-1). The photo of them is lovely but slightly misprinted. Never mind - the words are great!

Also, I was shortlisted for this year's Calibre prize for an outstanding essay. I didn't win but my entry (actually a 6,000 word chapter of my creative nonfiction project) will be published in Australian Book Review later this year.

Anyone feel like mounting a group response to the nasty bit of tall poppy slashing exhibited by Lisa Pryor from the SMH last week?

Here's the guts of it:

"if you can't work out what good writing is by reading widely, if you need it spelled out slowly with the benefit of a circle of plastic chairs and a whiteboard, you lack the mettle to be a great novelist.

Easily the most lively and entertaining session I attended - "News, Feature, Book: Journalism's Big Narrative Dig" with David Marr, Chloe Hooper and Paul McGeough. The room was packed to its capacity of 390 and everyone left wearing a chuckle.
DM began as he meant to go on, with a provocative, acerbic question for his fellow panellists: "Surely one of the functions of good journalism is to save the world from unnecessary books - how, then, do you justify writing yours?"
 

A steady stream of people walked out of this session in the first twenty minutes, as it became clear that this was a rigorously structured lecture rather than light entertainment. Moira Gatens (philosophy professor)  was speaking on The Ethical Responsibility of the Writer: George Eliot Meets Elizabeth Costello.

Someone handed me a pamphlet about the Walkley Award for Best Non-Fiction Book as I came into this session. It said the entry fee of $260 is waived if you are a member of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance.
I was interested in this one because (a) I'm writing a non-fiction book and (b) three days earlier I'd accepted a part-time job with my local paper.

Hi everyone
I'm in the student editor's chair for this month which means I'll be posting comments and starting new threads and checking here regularly hoping to see that lively conversations are taking place. Please do take a moment to respond if your interest is piqued, or start a new topic if it's not!
all the best with your studies,
Janene

Since others will probably get this email too, I thought I'd summarise what I found out about this upon investigation.
This German publisher LAP (Lambert Academic Publishing) is sending out lots of emails to academics/former postgrads expressing interest in publishing their thesis as a book. There's no charge, you get one free copy, the book is listed on amazon and is printed on demand. You will get royalties in June each year on copies sold, subject to certain conditions, and you retain enough copyright to publish journal articles.

Dear Robbie,

I'm sorry, I was deleting a spam comment that echoed something I'd said and your recent posting must have been attached to it and it vanished. I've included yours below (copy first, experiment second!)

Sounds like you've been having a rough time - can I encourage you to sign up and look around and see if there's anything/anyone here that might help? Last night the site was tightened up to fix the spamming problem so you'll need to register to post again.

Hi Carol,

Don't feel lonely on this site - even if people aren't posting I'm sure they're reading as usually several 'guests' are around. Besides, there has been much more interaction lately than previously. Also, as you say, maybe we're all being exceptionally good with our time management.

I found a really bracing set of guidelines addressing time management for writers. I think its worth reading, even though I usually  cringe when managerial fads are deployed beyond their natural scope.

The full doc is at 

It's a question every PhD student hates. I had an epiphany about it recently: I realised that the response I usually feel is called for - a painfully honest assessment of progress against my timetable - probably isn't even necessary. People ask the question as a conversation-opener; they are nodding in the direction of an all-consuming preoccupation, not initiating an interrogation about whether you're likely to finish on time. It would be sufficient - and more pleasant for both parties - to recount some recent triumph, like finishing a chapter or sending off an article to a journal.