Friday Finds

I am squealing like crazy over the trailer for How to Train Your Dragon 2. I adored the first one, and this one looks like a pretty amazing sequel - one that'll hopefully expand the storyworld instead of stretching it thinly.

- This infographic on whether you're ready to publish your book or not is giving me life right now.

- Chuck Wendig recaps his top posts for the year.

- 19 awesomely designed books that prove print isn't dead.

- Cabin porn!

- This motion lookbook from Sofi Wolf SS14 is stunning.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Florence Minowa

Flo Minowa's work is where it is at this week. Whether original or fanart, her illustrations have such character and expression that it's hard not to fall a bit in love. Plus, I mean, anyone who does Jane Austen character fanart will always have a special place in my heart.

You can check out more of Florence Minowa's work over on her website.

Sunday Short: Three Beards by Donald Hall

Jane died at forty-seven after fifteen months of leukemia. I mourned her deeply, I wrote nothing but elegy, I wailed her loss, but—as I excused myself in a poem—“Lust is grief / that has turned over in bed / to look the other way.” Among spousal survivors, many cannot bear the thought of another lover. Some cannot do without. In “Ulysses,” Leopold Bloom thinks of a graveyard as a place to pick up a grieving widow. Thus I found myself in the pleasant company of a young woman who worked for a magazine—a slim, pretty blonde who was funny, sharp, and promiscuous. (We never spoke of love.) I will call her Pearl. After dinner, we sat in my living room drinking Madeira and talking. I pulled out a cigarette and asked her if she would mind… “I was going crazy,” she said, and pulled out her own. She told me about her mother’s suicide. I spoke of Jane’s death. When she left the room to pee, I waited by the bathroom door for her to emerge. I led her unprotesting to the bedroom, and a few moments later, gaily engaged, she said, “I want to put my legs around your head.” (It was perfect iambic pentameter.) When we woke up, we became friends. We drank coffee and smoked. When I spoke again of Jane, Pearl said that perhaps I felt a bit happier this morning.

I didn't really know much of Donald Hall before reading this moving piece of memoir in The New Yorker.  I've since inhaled a bit of his poetry (and am keenly keeping an eye out for more!) This story of a long life well-lived is aching and beautifully told through the three beards he's grown in his life, and his reasons for shaving them are alternately heartbreaking and sweet. The women he's loved are artists, bohemians, good and smart, if not sweet, and he writes about them so tenderly it's hard not to feel it so fully. It's a pretty remarkable piece of writing.

You can read 'Three Beards' over on The New Yorker website here.

Friday Finds

- Flavorwire's been bringing it this week. Seriously check out these amazing photos of New York's iconic music venues, and these ones of samurai in storm ravaged Japan.

- These layouts of nine famous houses from classic literature are pretty amazing too.

- And these sweaters! Oh, man, I want all of them.

- In less awesome news, Ida Pollock passed away a few days ago. That said, her life was pretty tremendous!

- Bloody boudoir ladies! These are giving me life today.

- All the things wrong with your screenplay in one handy infographic.

- And for your Christmas shopping / holiday reading: 50 great books by Australian women in 2013.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Lily Padula

Treading that fine line between whimsical and outright creepy, Lily Padula's work is utterly inspired. Her sense of shadow and shape and colour and just limbs is so lovely and strange in the best ways.
Check out more of her work over on her tumblr.

Sunday Short: Six Months, Three Days by Charlie Jane Anders

The man who can see the future has a date with the woman who can see many possible futures.

Oh man, this story just does things to me. I'm a big fan of magical realism and the supernatural against a backdrop of daily life, and Charlie Jane Anders balances it perfectly in this story of two clairvoyants living out a relationship they predicted decades before. It's so heartfelt and so biting as it chases an ending that was (mostly) determined before it ever even began. Just, read this.

You can read Six Months, Three Days over on Tor.com.

Friday Finds

So Arctic Monkeys are coming to Brisbane! \o/ Have a song.

- Buzzfeed put together a pretty awesome list of how a bunch of modern authors wrote their first novel. It's pretty great.

- And now for something completely different, here's a massive infographic on gender inequality in film.

- I was pretty unhappy with the last season of Girls, but the trailer for the next one is getting me pretty hyped again.

- Tippi Hedron had a pet lion.

- Movie hecklers!

- Epic in-flight note passing!

Your Mid-Week Art Break: G. Grossman

All of G. Grossman's work is pretty great to be honest, deeply mythical and fantastical, with lots of compelling ladies (so right up my alley). Plus, the colouring is sublime. You can check out more of Grossman's work over on tumblr.

Mayflower Supply Co Fall 2013

 
We're edging into summer in Brisbane, but the last few days have been a relief from relentless heat - a mess of battered rain and roaring thunder. It's making me think of cooler seasons, the sweet ones where you curl in bed for days beneath blankets and beside books (which is horribly romantic and not entirely realistic, but the thought's a nice one). Of course, most of the world is the opposite. Cozying into winter in warm coats and knit scarves. Mayflower Supply Co is a buyer and seller of vintage clothes, and man, their Fall 2013 collection is straight out lovely, from styling and clothes through to locations. You can view the full collection over on their website.

Sunday Short: Pitching Machine by Harlan Ambrose

My father is shorter than I am, about 5'10'', and muscled the same way I imagine an old sailor to be muscled. The kind of sailor who used his hands, never spoke much, and died thinking about what he'd do the next day. I imagine my father's tendons are strapped tighter to the bone than most men, and his muscles are strapped tighter to the tendons than any man, because while he is not an imposing outline, he is the strongest man I know.

I'm pretty partial to family stories. There's something about them that belly other types of narratives for me, something gentle and aching in relationships between people who often have little more than blood in common. I write about them, I read them, I watch them. Harlan Ambrose's Pitching Machine is a pretty excellent example of this sort of story done right, some sweet, short thing that portrays years of a relationship through only a few exchanges. It's a beautiful piece of writing.

You can read Pitching Machine over at the Stilts website.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Hwei Lim

Ugh, Hwei Lim's artwork is just doing things to me today. Soft and fluid, it reminds me of the illustrations in some of my old books of fairytales growing up which, y'know, I'm always here for. It's all pretty aces.

You can check out more of Hwei's work over on tumblr.

Sunday Short: Musical Chairs by Josie Curtis

We spoke only when necessary, expelling words gently, apologetically, as if they had to walk over shards of broken glass to reach each other.  He spent the night in my bed, where I curled around the edge of the mattress, pulled so far away from him that he might as well have already been sleeping in another city. He left town the next day and we didn’t talk for weeks.

This short piece actually came to me through my tumblr feed earlier this week and, well, kind of broke my heart. Josie Curtis does such a beautiful job of teasing out a relationship that neither party is ever on the same page for, that maybe she's not ever all in for. It rings so true to me that it almost hurts. It helps that her turn of phrase is pretty divine too.

You can read Musical Chairs over on tumblr.

Friday Finds

Ugh, I've been inhaling all of the Radio 1 Live Lounge covers of late, and this one by The Noisettes is just doing things to me. It's so, so beautiful.

- It feels like a week of rediscovered photos which is pretty cool. These Beatles ones are particularly great.

- These love letters between Fannie Benjamin Johnston and Mattie Edwards Hewitt are pretty special too and, well, enormously romantic.

- The Toast's Girl Tips are pretty great.

- Lion mumma saved her lion cub!

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Daniel Krall

How great is Daniel Krall's work? Totally inspired and coming across unlike anything I've seen before, it's stylistically and story-wise pretty unique. I'm a little obsessed with the picture above, the moment fantasy meets reality is always something I've loved, so to see it represented so creatively is, well, pretty awesome.

You can check out more of Daniel Krall's work over on his tumblr.

Heinui FW 2013

When push comes to shove, blue's probably my favourite colour. A fact that surprises people! I don't know. It suits me as I think it suits most people, not necessarily too harsh like red or two soft like pale pinks or creams. Heinui's Fall/Winter 2013/14 collection hits that nail on the head. It's hard to think of who wouldn't look good in these sweet shirts and skirts. Plus the styling is divine. I mean, dat eyeliner. You can  view the full collection over at Heinui's website.

Sunday Short: Unsuitable by Cory Taylor

My father never forgave her for this capitulation to The System. This was the late sixties and he’d read his fair share of the fashionable literature. A natural outsider he was attracted to the theme of sedition he read into the work of Vonnegut and Solzhenitsyn, among others—anyone at all who could fuel his anarchic instincts. His appetite for chaos was the reason he’d never been a successful company man. He wore it as a badge of honour, that he’d fled every airline job he’d ever had the minute it became stale and predictable.

I'm really partial to Cory Taylor. I think she has an amazing ability to capture a generation through a singular character. The effect is always moving in ways you don't expect, and her new short story, Unsuitable, over at bumf does this wonderfully by the study of a father's clothes.

You can read Unsuitable over on the bumf website.

Friday Finds

Miley Cyrus covering Summertime Sadness is kind of wonderful, particularly the bridge, and is totally my soundtrack for this weekend.

- Tamara Lichtenstein's photography is pretty divine and a nice way to kick off your weekend.

- 20 literary quotes about short stories.

- These literary teas are slaying me right now. I need them allllll.

- These dating tips from 19th century novels are kind of the best.

- Marvel teams with Netflix to deliver four series leading up to The Defenders (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

- In places I need to go news: Japanese owl cafés!

- These tiny hats for cats are glorious. Speaking of cats, check out The Hunger Games as acted by some.

- Annnnd, to take you out for the weekend, check out these pics of hot guy mug shots.

Your Guide to BIFF

Brisbane Writers Festival is upon us again! It's totally one of my favourite times of years, when we get access to hundreds of movies that we wouldn't normally get the opportunity to see. The program's pretty good this year too, and I've picked out some of my highlights for your viewing pleasure. If you want to check out the full program, check out the BIFF website.

12 Years a Slave is doing the rounds at the moment with some great critical acclaim to back it up. Steve McQueen's one of the more exciting filmmakers around the joint too, so this one's not to be missed.

Bethlehem looks pretty awesome. I've been really into films that explore tension across Israel of late (a highlight for me in recent watching is Incendies) and I've heard good things about this one. Plus it ticks two of my boxes - created family and uber violence. Yes please!

Blue is the Warmest Colour. It's pretty impossible not to have heard of this one, both for it's onscreen content (those be some loooong sex scenes) and it's off-screen drama. That aside, it's certainly left its mark in this year's cinema output, so certainly one to check out.

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith. One of the first ever Australian films to premiere at Cannes Film Festival, it's a classic among cinema out here and a pretty special film.

Cupcakes. How cute does this look?!

Don Jon. Super hyped. Plus Joseph Gordon-Levitt in his directorial debut.

The Exorcist (!!!!)

Filth. An awesome cast in an adaptation of Irvine Welsh's awesome novel.

Foxfire. I'm super partial to lady rebellions and this looks pretty great. Plus check that styling!

In Bloom. A coming of age story with a female focus set in the aftershock of the collapse of the Soviet Union. 

Jackie. I'm really partial to films that study female relationships, particularly ones about sisterhood, so Jackie is right up my alley. Plus, roadtrips! 

Mistaken for Strangers. The National are a pretty awesome band, so the fact that Matt Berninger brought his younger brother on tour to make this documentary is rad and should be illustrating a certain degree of insight that other filmmakers can't provide.

Only Lovers Left Alive. Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton are making some pretty interesting choices at the moment, and this one looks like an excellent addition to both of their catalogues as well as one for the vampire genre. 

Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer. Winner of the special jury prize at Sundance this year and a doco for the ages, this one's sure to be a pretty special cinematic experience.

Short Term 12. I've heard so much about this film, and I'm basically dying to see it. It looks so good and certainly high up there on the emotional violation spectrum. Plus, y'know, more created families!

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Julian Callos

Julian Callos' work is totally where it's at for me this week. Fantastical and surreal, his stuff really encompasses a sense of myth and character in a way that's pretty special. You can check out more of Julian's work over at his website.

Sunday Short: Girl in Red by Allyson Armistead

And then there’s the before-and-after problem with erasing Dad’s identity: the whole space-time continuum glitch, where even though he’s faded in our furniture and walls and talk and clothes and hair, he’s like the echo of a piano key—a sound that stays in my ear even though the key was struck some time ago.

 I have really mixed feelings on this piece by Allyson Armistead. She's doubtlessly a talented writer (I mean, some of the imagery here is sublime); however, like all good short fiction it treads a fine line, weighed down by the holistic body insecurity of a teenage girl and the rather taut, inappropriate relationship she has with her mother's boyfriend and even with her own father. That said, Allyson captures so much of the discomfort in a girl's budding sexuality and that jerk of loss that comes with a freshly broken home.

You can read Girl in Red over on the Narrative Magazine's website.

Friday Finds

It's been a Shins kind of week. Simple Song's a bit of a favourite of mine and totally my soundtrack for the weekend.

- These book shirts are kind of perfect, and totally an ideal gift for any book lover in your life this holiday season!

- These books that can save the publishing industry are pretty great too.

- The new Ms. Marvel is a Muslim lass from New Jersey(!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

- Have some awesome googly-eyed books too.

- The Bechdel Test is being used in Sweden in an official capacity! I honestly love this test (and Kelly Sue DeConnick's sexy lamp one) as a means of highlighting the pretty atrocious gender representation in film.

- And, some weekend reading for you! 20 literary tumblrs that are currently slaying.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Hannah Lee Stockdale

I'm pretty into Hannah Lee Stockdale's work this week. Vibrant, expressive and full of odd shapes and strange themes, it's pretty up my alley and, well, pretty wonderful. You can check out more of Hannah's work over on tumblr.

Aymmy in the Batty Girls

I can barely even talk about how obsessed I am with Aymmy in the batty girls. Like, I want to know this girl, and write about her and just live in this world of wild hair and oldschool diners. Plus the colour pallette and saturation is sort of divine. You can (and should!) check out the full look book over at the website.

 

 

Sunday Short: Now We Are Five by David Sedaris

A few weeks after these messages were written, Tiffany ran away, and was subsequently sent to a disciplinary institution in Maine called Élan. According to what she told us later, it was a horrible place. She returned home in 1980, having spent two years there, and from that point on none of us can recall a conversation in which she did not mention it. She blamed the family for sending her off, but we, her siblings, had nothing to do with it. Paul, for instance, was ten when she left. I was twenty-one. For a year, I sent her monthly letters. Then she wrote and asked me to stop. As for my parents, there were only so many times they could apologize. “We had other kids,” they said in their defense. “You think we could let the world stop on account of any one of you?”

How do you deal with the death of an estranged sibling? That's essentially the question posed in David Sedaris' rather brilliant new essay Now We Are Five. In many ways, this mirrors the plot of The Big Chill, that sense of sharing grief in the guise of a holiday, only the reality of it makes it so much more poignant. It's a pretty spectacular piece of writing.

You can read 'Now We Are Five' over on The New Yorker website here.  

Friday Finds

This video kind of made my morning.

- Brain Pickings brought the good stuff this week with E.B. White's thoughts on the future of reading in 1951,  Dani Shapiro's tips on the pleasure and perils of a creative life and the collected advice on writing from great writers.

- These new covers for the Discworld novels are pretty awesome.

- These pictures of photographer Gjon Mili's cat, Blackie, are basically the best.

- 21 everyday things you might not know were invented by women.

- And to take you out for the weekend, why not try one of these controversial teen dance crazes that pissed parents off throughout the ages?

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Laura Redburn

I've always been pretty partial to collage art, particularly when it's as well crafted as Laura Redburn's Cardboard City series. Spacey and surreal, she combines the living with the conceptual to pretty awesome effect. The colours too leave the work the sort of divine you want printed, framed and on your wall.

You can check out more of Laura's work over at her website.

Peter Jensen SS14

You guys! How amazing is the styling in this shoot for Peter Jensen's Spring Summer 2014 collection? The colours are damn near radiant and the girls are all hair and legs and smolder. I want it all.

You can check out the full collection over at the Peter Jensen website.

Sunday Short: Down to a Sunless Sea by Neil Gaiman

"I told him not to go to sea. I'm your mother, I said. The sea won't love you like I love you, she's cruel. But he said, Oh Mother, I need to see the world. I need to see the sun rise in the tropics, and watch the Northern Lights dance in the Arctic sky, and most of all I need to make my fortune and then, when it's made I will come back to you, and build you a house, and you will have servants, and we will dance, mother, oh how we will dance...

In many ways, it feels like Neil Gaiman needs no introduction. His surge in popularity in recent years has been, well, pretty hard earned. American Gods, Stardust and Coraline have been some of my favourite stories I've read recently, but I'm typically less charmed by his short fiction. Down to a Sunless Sea is beautiful in a way that reminds me more of poetry than of a story, and that sort of works for it. This tale of a woman who's lost everything to the water and the men who try to tame it. It's good and perfect for these Brisbane rainy days.

You can read 'Down to a Sunless Sea' over on The Guardian's website here.

Friday Finds

Some pretty tremendous performance poetry for your Friday.

- And on that note, how young heroines helped redefine girlhood as a state of strength.

- The 8 Habits of Highly Successful YA Fiction Authors

- Benjamin Law's if:book essay on learning shorthand is both hilarious and insightful.

- The Hunger Games new make-up line is pretty immaculate.

- I am dying so hard to see Belle, an adaptation of the true story of the biracial daughter of a British Admiral.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Yelena Bryksenkova

I sort of feel like I've been gettin' my fairytale on this month in many forms. Having read Angela Slatter's Sourdough & Other Stories and getting my oldschool Disney on (I know they're not really all that faithful, but come on. The Little Mermaid is a national treasure), I've been loving all things scaly and romantic. Yelena Bryksenkova's work isn't always fantastical, but there's always something magical about it. Between odd poses and duller palettes and, well, pretty extraordinary designs, her work doesn't leave so much to the imagination as it baits it. It's all pretty wonderful. You can check out more of Yelena's work over at her website.