Justine Ferrari, in "The Australian" newspaper, reports that "A Children's laureate to champion reading among kids will be appointed from next year under a program established by an alliance of authors, teachers, librarians, publishers, booksellers and arts administrators." The newly formed Australian Children's Literature Alliance will be running the initiative.
Jonathan Strahan, Perth-based editor and sf anthologist, is interviewed by "Locus" magazine. "The challenges that arise while editing an unthemed anthology are, essentially, the same as those that arise while editing a themed book. However, there are one or two differences. It can be harder to give writers a clear idea of the kind of book you're hoping to create because there isn't a simple idea or theme to point them towards. Writers will ask what sort of story you're looking for, and it's important to be able to give them a useful answer, but framing that answer can be a challenge. I'm aiming for variety, for flexibility of form with Eclipse, but I'm also focusing on stories with more traditional narrative structures, with character, plot and some kind of clear link to a sense of 'genre'. Probably the most unexpected challenge, though, is to assemble a series of books that have a similar character, that are unmistakably related to one another and will reward readers who follow the series equally. I'm still working hard on that."
Tracey Rolfe recently attended a poetry reading in Yarraville (A suburb of Melbourne) and encountered heckling. Not of her, of the poet.
Estelle, from the "3000 Books" weblog, volunteered to help out at the Writers at the Convent festival, and reports on what she found there. "My volunteer shift was short and painless. Actually, it was frighteningly enjoyable. Even though historical fiction is not my usual literary fare, I was entertained by Jenny Pattrick, Claire Thomas and Anthony Neill's discussion entitled Plundering the Past. The way Thomas described the evolution of a single fact -- the crushed form of lapis lazuli was used in Renaissance-era Venice to create ultramarine pigment -- into her novel, Fugitive Blue, put me in mind of a bloodhound's singular focus. Her delight in the 'perverse integrity' of deliberate, minute research was palpable in her and the other authors' stories. I was beginning to see how easy it would be to get sucked into chasing history
around."
Angela Meyer, on the "LiteraryMinded" weblog, has started what-I-hope is a series of simultaneous film and book
reviews. The first features Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. Great idea.
Max Barry states that he's probably written 1.5 million words since he published his novel Company. Trouble is nothing has gelled as yet. But, now he says "I am going to do something. I know what the something is. It will be good. And it will be in March."
