1. What inspired you to write the prose poem/microfiction which will appear in Writing To The Edge? Nostalgia, mainly. I lived in Paris for six months at a bookstore, and it was one of the best times of my life. I return to it a lot in my writing, but it’s really hard to get … Read More
Writing to the Edge with Stevi-Lee Alver
1. What inspired you to write the prose poem/microfiction which will appear in Writing To The Edge? It was during an experimental writing class that I fell in love with Gertrude Stein. ‘A Pound of History: after Gertrude Stein’, as the name suggests, pays homage to Stein and, in particular, to her prose poem Tender … Read More
Spineless Wonders Asks Claire Aman
1. Who are the short fiction authors you admire (Australian or otherwise, alive or dead)? My favourite short fiction authors include Gillian Mears, Patrick White, Elizabeth Jolley, E Annie Proulx. 2. What is the most memorable short story you have read? And why does it stand out for you? The most memorable short story I’ve … Read More
Jail stories by Julie Chevalier
Next on the Spineless Wonders online bookclub, we will be discussing ‘Meant’ one of the linked stories set in Sydney’s Long Bay jail from Julie Chevalier’s collection of short stories. In the article below, Julie talks about the stories and how they came to be written. Research Notes: Permission to Lie by Julie Chevalier Whenever … Read More
Spineless Wonders asks Maree Dawes
In this interview, editor and poet, Rhiannon Hall talks with West Australian poet, Maree Dawes about her writing and its influences and about her verse novel, brb: be right back. When did you develop an interest in poetry? I used to write poetry as a child, continued through high school and early days of uni … Read More
Amanda Lohrey Selects series: Interview with Claire Corbett
Claire Corbett author of Hostile Takeover What inspired you to write this story? I’d been working in the NSW Cabinet Office, which provided policy advice to the Premier. It was a unique and intensely hierarchical workplace and I wanted to capture the sense of intrigue and behind-the-scenes machinations before my deep understanding of it faded. Our … Read More
Amanda Lohrey Selects series: Interview with Belinda Rule
Belinda Rule author of The Road North From Toodleton What inspired you to write this story? The first thing was that Olga Lorenzo assigned Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping in Novel 2 class (at RMIT), which for me is one of those books that is playing the violin in a minor key inside your chest cavity and you … Read More
joanne burns Award results
From judge, Shady Cosgrove: Maybe great writing happens when readers understand themselves in the global. All of the winning entries were about Australia’s place in the world or the world’s place in Australia. It’s hard to pull off characters that are both personal and universal – but that was the core strength of these three … Read More
Spineless Wonders asks … Maree Dawes
1. What inspired you to write the verse novel, brb: be right back? My usual inspiration is to be immersed in something .. the day.. history…music..art or the environment and write about that in my journal. I write really freely in my journal complete with spelling mistakes. I imagine being other people and write as if … Read More
The Great Unknown: Rhys Tate
Rhys Tate on writing his Carmel Bird Award shortlisted story ‘The Koala Motel’, published in The Great Unknown. What did you enjoy about writing to this particular theme? I don’t scare that easily—the last time I really had the heebie-jeebies was when we broke into the boarded-up shell of an asylum out here in the … Read More