Quote: “A grand heritage arcade ‘for the people’, Brisbane Arcade is arguably Brisbane’s most cherished shopping Arcade where nearly every visitor has their own special memories of visits to the Arcade over its many decades. Brisbane Arcade’s distinct old world yesteryear charm is enchanting.”
“Today, the iconic Brisbane Arcade is where visitors step into an Arcade steeped in history, memories and timeless elegance.”
I sense that elegance and a certain intimacy every time I walk off busy Queen Street and into the calmness of Brisbane Arcade. And I love the Gallery level!
Soon: I will be posting my own personal (spooky) experience so watch this blog. I am sure if you live and work in Brisbane you will also have some early shopping tales to tell.
So excited about this literary feast! So much to choose from and such great events.
READERS WRITERS LITERATURE LOVERS UNITE—Brisbane Writers Festival advise “In May 2023, Brisbane Writers Festival is spinning a rollicking tale of festive entertainment across five days, four nights and more than 100 literary events.”
“The plot? Full of twists and turns. The characters? A diverse cast of writers, readers and thinkers coming together to enjoy a lively line-up of panel discussions, poetry salons, raconteurs, book talks, special events and much more.”
“From blockbuster bestsellers to literary luminaries and everything in between, BWF 2023 is an unmissable adventure from beginning to end.”
My favourite actor, director, crime author was on a panel discussion and also talked about his recent novel ‘Sweet Jimmy’ so naturally I booked him first. See photo below—
GBW 2023
Queensland BWF guest Bryan Brown with panel discussion luminaries 2023
Common name: Greater bilby Scientific name:Macrotis lagotis Family:Thylacomyidae
Among the hot, dry grasslands of western Queensland, the Greater Bilby lives far from the public interest surrounding its conservation. As one of Queensland’s 15 endangered mammals, the Greater Bilby is the subject of intense conservation efforts. This includes attempts to replace the Easter Bunny with the Easter Bilby in Australia, in an effort to make the public aware of this important animal’s endangered plight. Find out more:
Quote: “Every Darrell Lea chocolate Bilby you buy helps raise money for the Save the Bilby Fund, 20 cents from every purchase will help the national breeding program and support the Save The Bilby Fund’s mission to have 10,000 Bilbies in the population by 2030.”
International Women’s Day Fun Run, Brisbane, was held on Sunday 12 March 2023. This record-breaking fundraiser supports women with breast cancer and raises funds for life-saving research at Mater Hospital.
The 5km course started from Southbank Parklands and crossed the Brisbane River to City Botanic Gardens.
The high-rise photograph was taken of the finish line in City Botanic Gardens, like a swirl of PINK ants, tired but happy participants.
The course and venues are designed to provide the best experience for all participants, whether they chose to walk, jog or run. Think about it for next year!
There are many types of competition in the world. In fact thousands of competitions exist in the world. From sport to just about anything you care to name can be made into a challenge involving a ball, a bat, a horse, a swimming pool, eating, drinking, singing, running, dancing, driving, outer space, and let’s not forget the longest, the highest, the bravest, the most foolhardy things to outdo anyone who has tried before.
Of course, more and more now, competing involves a chat show panel or video camera following near-naked people running around the jungle working up a sweat for the ratings and a big pay cheque. Celebrity shows, quiz shows, unreality television, cooking, antiques, and growing gardens. From local country fairs to big city boardrooms, they all love a good competition. Supermarkets and used car dealers love a bit of sales competition and are currently discussing book sponsorship—I wish!
Disco toads dance the night away
Schools thrive on competition; I think many children are born competitive, it starts with their siblings and works toward world domination. Queenslanders have several forms of competition (gambling casinos, Golden Casket Lottery, Scratch-its, leagues clubs) and one unique game requiring ugly cane toads which jump around when a bucket is lifted off them. (See photo) The first toad to leave the circle or careen through the crowd is the winner. Ugh! Cane toads are an imported noxious pest, destroying habitat and native wildlife. I would like to see a competition to have them eradicated from Australia.
Hey, jumping into a subject which would be impossible to turn into a spectator sport—BOOK READING!
Hang on, isn’t that what Goodreads reviewers do? Yeah, but not with a live studio audience. Maybe this is feasible. “Now,” whispers the show host, “here we have Angela Augustus reading a chapter from a special edition of The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay.” Not classical literature so reader-viewers (or RVs) won’t lose points. “Hands on buzzers”.
AnnouncerOne: “Watch Angela turn the last page, slowly turning the page, right she’s done it! The audience goes wild and everyone at home clambers online to secure a copy of The Animals in That Country an immersive adult experience with subtle undertones and high drama.”
Announcer Two: “Next up, viewers, we have Angus Augustus, Angela’s twin brother. He is quick, too quick and the audience miss his speed reading, lips barely moving. They admire his patent page-flick technique and the flourish when he shoots the book into its alphabetical place on the bookshelf.”
Book reader Angus is studied by thousands of wannabe speed readers around the country. But what about comprehension? Sports players have to speak into the microphone to explain How they did it/Why they did it/What it felt like when they did it. So put Angus on the pro circuit, tentatively dubbed Real Reading Australia2030, thanking his mother and first grade teacher. He waves battered copies of Blinky Bill, Possum Magic or even the contentious Wombat Stew, then moves onto Bluey, Animalia and Ranger’s Apprentice enthralling thousands of children across Australia—again, I wish.
The ground swell back to paper books would archive digital copies, screens would go unlit, there would be reading time in every home after dinner. Renegades would read Jasper Fforde far into the night despite work next day. It would not be unusual to see readers sitting for hours engrossed in a p-book instead of an e-book without a café latte or muffin in sight.
A book engrosses a person, it takes all your attention no flashy adverts therefore it is advisable to slowly build up to bigger, thicker, weighty classics. It can be done! Librarians offer recommendations for a good Book Gym where staff talk you through a workout to suit your particular genre. Believe me, people are keen and waiting to read. The first-release promo videos astonished me with reader focus and intensity. I love reading Australian crime novels but cannot discussed top Aussie authors due to Brook Paige TV Clause—another wish.
My advice is to create a comfortable environment and read up on your chosen author’s booklist before enrolling in the proposed *Real Reading Australia 2030. The genres for this thrilling competition can go either way—traditional or modern—but paper format rules. Polish your *specs dear reader!
“Defined by warm weather for most of the year, sun seekers flock to Brisbane to enjoy the Queensland capital’s subtropical climate, perfect weather to enjoy the great outdoors. Therefore, you wouldn’t expect to see a snowman on your travels, or would you?
Far from the snowman’s European ancestry, its home is now the Queensland Art Gallery’s sculpture courtyard.
Three years ago the life-sized snowman, created by leading contemporary artists and collaborators Peter Fischli and David Weiss, might have been an unexpected sight in Brisbane, however the sculpture has become a much-loved citizen and visitor favourite.
One of only four sculptures ever created, it places Brisbane in an exclusive club with the likes of MoMA, New York and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.”
Big, cold, looks like a 1960s unfrosted refrigerator but what a cheeky smile!
Hey, all you emerging writers out there. This is serious stuff. Tired of the garret lifestyle, the self-imposed deadlines you never meet. Well, you could blame that Covid-19 thingy but you need to get moving again. Actually you really need to get moving…
Go for a walk, think over your future options.
You are not really looking for fame and fortune (cough) but it would be nice for someone to show some interest, read your work, comment on it, appreciate it, encourage you and, perhaps maybe, take your manuscript one or two steps further, or even work towards (gasp) publication.
Twill never happen if those pages and pages of Word.doc and PDF drafts sit idle or continual rewriting takes up all your time; your precious creative time.
You need to be actively finishing work and getting it out there, but—
Your inner voice mutters alluring proposals about buying that new How To Write book, the literary organisations to join, writing workshops and conferences to attend, the obligatory book festival rounds, catching up with your book club Zoomies, and that not-to-be-missed favourite author talk.
The above-mentioned diversions take planning, I know because I have done that for over five years.Let’s not get into the time-sucking Socials and lists of new books waiting to be read because writers “gotta keep their finger on the pulse”.
Dream-on pen pushers and keyboard tappers
It took me awhile to realise that it is a daydream, a distraction, a cunning brain slip to lull me into thinking that I know my craft reasonably well and could be half good at writing…
My writer’s brain has to accept that it takes courage to submit my work and to undergo scrutiny.
Otherwise, as my aunt Joyce would have said, “All window-dressing, darling” or if you prefer something more contemporary “Totally photoshopped, dude.” It means I am concealing the desire to find out the truth about my writing, the culmination of my creative energy.
This is where the hidden “I can’t push myself out there” syndrome rears its ugly head. “I only write as an outlet”, “I only write for myself” blah, blah, blah.
Snap out of it! I ask myself why not submit something really good, work I am proud of?
Then my inner roadblocks appear
Strong competitors
Heaps of knockbacks
Fearful of feedback
Uninteresting story
Uninterested readers
My lack of polish
People will know I wrote it
The veracity of my stories
Nightmare of unsold books
All useless babble; but if it’s not true, what next?
Stop hanging around! You have many choices, one decision—
As a second-place winner of Hawkeye Publishing’s Manuscript Development Prize, Jack Roney pays tribute to the Hawkeye team. I recently read and reviewed his excellent book The Ghost Train and The Scarlet Moon.
Like mine, I hope your writer’s brain is tick, tick, ticking— Thinks “I’ll take a look at Hawkeye Manuscript Development Prize 2022“ Thinks “I’ll read eligibility and terms and conditions of entry” Shouts “I WILL enter the Hawkeye Manuscript Development Prize 2022!”
Entry to the program is open to applicants WORLD-WIDE who write for an English-speaking audience.
Winner receives Author Coaching, Structural Edit and Line Edit (Prize Value AU$2,500) with the structural edit kindly sponsored by Brisbane Writers Workshop, and line editing and author coaching sponsored by Hawkeye Publishing.
I attended the Craft and Quilt Fair 2022 in Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre and was amazed at the quality, imagination, colour and creativity of the work on display. There was also an array of crafting accessories for a wide range of artistic hobbies. The atmosphere was busy yet calm and the wide isles made it comfortable to stroll between stalls, browse the displays and take a peek at the workshops in progress.
Story Basket
Beeswax Wraps
Alcohol Ink
Linocut Printmaking
Pottery Play
Resin Jewellery
Watercolour Lettering
and more!
Visitors had ‘Viewers Choice’, the chance to vote for their favourite quilt (out of many categories and themes) and I voted for Scrap Attack shown above. So different from the patchwork squares of my childhood.
My friends and I were heading towards a coffee and cake break when my inner Goth spied the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ Mad Masquerade fabric pictured below. Love the artwork and just had to have – although I am not too sure what I will do with it…
ABOUT THE GUILD
Queensland Quilters Inc is a not-for-profit organisation with the objectives of promoting the art and craft of patchwork and quilting, bringing together people interested in patchwork and quilting, encouraging and maintaining high standards of workmanship and design in both traditional and contemporary work, and organising exhibitions and workshops.
‘Alice in Wonderland’ Mad Masquerade fabric purchased at Craft and Quilt Fair Brisbane 2022
You may prefer—
THE AUSTRALASIAN EMBROIDERY CONVENTION 17 – 19 February, 2023 Brisbane Convention Centre Cnr Merivale & Glenelg Streets South Bank https://www.embroideryconvention.com.au/
The Soul Trembles highlights twenty-five years of Chiharu Shiota’s artistic practice. She is renowned internationally for her transformative, large-scale installations constructed from millions of fine threads (mainly black or red) which cluster in space or form complex webs which spill from wall to floor to ceiling, supporting and encompassing all they meet.
I attended the QAGOMA Brisbane 2022 exhibition with friends for my birthday and afterwards my thoughts came up with three words – overwhelming, disconcerting and very memorable!
Shiota’s beautiful and disquieting works express the intangible: memories, dreams, anxiety and silence.
Thoughts Become Words 