The program for the Melbourne Writers Festival was released late last week to much excitement and fanfare (including a site crash, I believe, due to traffic). After getting home from my travels to Sydney, I sat down to go through it thoroughly and was very impressed. So many excellent events and I really love the…
Should I Enter Competitions if I’m not a “Serious Writer” Yet? I received the above question the other day during an email exchange with a reader and I’ve reproduced it here – with permission – because I’ve heard it on a number of occasions over the years. I hope that by formulating some semblance of…
Over the years, through my writing, or teaching/mentoring, or working at the Emerging Writers’ Festival, I’ve gained a huge appreciation and respect for the literary organisations or initiatives that continue in their advocacy for writers. This isn’t easy – nor, I suspect, has it ever been – but as governmental support of the arts dwindles,…
In some ways, I’m picking the worst month to do a creative challenge. I’ll be busy conducting workshops, putting together another for an event that (for the moment) has to be kept hush-hush, keeping kids entertained during school holidays and a few other things besides those. But I was thinking back over the fun I…
Boy, Friday rolls around quickly! Another week, more things to celebrate! Let’s get started. So this happened: *whispers* I think I’ve finished the draft. #manuscript — Karen Andrews (@KarenAndrewsAU) June 18, 2015 There’s still things I need to insert and change, and no doubt many darlings will be killed along the way, but the…
Every Friday during school term, Riley sits down to eat his breakfast and you can almost guarantee that while he’s eating will say at least once, “Friday! It’s almost the weekend! I love Fridays.” In that same celebratory spirit, I thought I would start up a regular ‘Friday Celebrations’ series, showcasing the sorts of links,…
“I always find beauty in things that are odd and imperfect – they are much more interesting.” Marc Jacobs I had a legendary reputation for messiness in my late teens and early twenties while living in share houses. I never really kept a lot of ‘stuff’ – except for books – but I…
I think it’s fair to say that many writers and workers in the arts industry have been feeling pretty deflated since the Australian Government announced its budget last week, revealing huge cuts that are going to take effect. It’s understandable; I get it. But one of the things I have always loved about the artistic community is…
I had the pleasure of talking to Summer Land last week via Skype about writing and marketing your book once it has been published – a sometimes tricky topic but, as I mention in the video, Summer does it very well. Further details below. Topics Discussed – How Summer pitched the idea of…
