I don’t normally watch awards programs shown on television. They tend to be long-winded, drawn out and frankly boring affairs. Of course, if I was in the running for an award of some sort, they’d be as exciting as. I didn’t watch all of Australian television’s Logies Awards presentation last night but did catch the [...]

Last week I attended three days of the six day Adelaide Writers’ Week. This is an important and integral part of the Adelaide Festival of Arts held every two years. This festival attracts readers and writers from all over Australia, as well as a glittering gathering of international writers who come as guest speakers. Each [...]

January 26th is Australia Day, a special day celebrating the first landing of European settlers in Sydney Cove, 1788. The day is celebrated in many ways: family gatherings, picnics, barbecues, going to the beach, attending sporting events or just having a lazy day in the middle of the Australian summer. Every year for the last [...]

Yahoo – I’m doing the writer’s jig again and again and again. I just received notification this morning that I have won first prize in a Literary Competition. It was for a suite of poems in sonnet form and was entered in the Traditional Rhyming Poetry section. The competition was conducted by Freexpression magazine here [...]

One of the most influential and respected authors in Australia is Ivan Southall. He was a prolific writer whose main works, mostly for children and teenagers, were published in the 1960s and 70s. He had a profound influence upon me as a teacher and writer. I think I’ve read most of his books; it’s about [...]