Your Guide to National Young Writers Festival 2013

I went to National Young Writers Festival last year and, in many ways, it was my first real festival. I travelled for it, got very drunk at it, learnt a few things about writing but a lot about myself and, well, basked in that sort of seedy, intoxicating glory that is young writers hanging out together. It was a pretty awesome experience. Anywho, the festival is swinging around again this weekend (!!) and the program's shaped up to be pretty stellar. Hope to see you there!

As always, the events below are just my taste. You can check out the full program over at the NYWF website.

THURSDAY 3 OCTOBER
NYWF Launch Launchpad
Kick off the festival in frantic style at the NYWF Launch Launchpad where they will be launching all of the things!

FRIDAY 4 OCTOBER
Hey, Good Looking
If you know me, you know I'm a bit of a nut for design work in all it's shapes and forms. This panel is covering the design part of publishing which, y'know, is pretty great.

Cherchez la Femme
Melbourne's premier feminist pub talkshow hits Newcastle! 'Nuff said.

Penguin Plays Rough: An Entirely Fabricated History of Fort Scratchley
I'm pretty into this as a concept. Penguin Plays Rough, a reading event, takes a limited audience down through the old, underground military base, twisting tales along the way. Bookings are essential for this one, so if you're keen, book quick.

Speed Dating
Whether you're gay or straight, NYWF wants to hook you up with a like-minded writer this year, so singles, check out the opportunity to get some lurve at this year's festival.

Sleepover
Feel like you're a part of The Sister Club in this overnight event. Truth or Dare! Movies! An opportunity to wear your pyjamas in a professional environment! What could be better?

SATURDAY 5 OCTOBER
90s Literary Trivia
Ho boy, literary trivia is fun at the worst of times, but 90s Lit Triv? Count me in.

Paranormal Formal
Every year NYWF has a dress-up dance thing (last year's was Hip-Hop Safari and I finally found a use for the obscene amount of leopard print in my closet). This year's going gangbusters with, well, ghostbusters and having a paranormal themed prom. I'm kind of ridiculously stoked to get to use my kind of also obscene metallic make-up collection.

SUNDAY 6 OCTOBER
Tony Soprano is Dead
With a surge of anti-heroes taking the mantel in popular culture like Don Draper, Walter White and Selina Meyer, asking the question of whether or not we need to root for a character to engage with the narrative is an interesting one. (Although obv everyone roots for Selina Meyer because she is the best). This panel explores exactly that and will be one to watch, particularly if you're writing some noir-ish stars.

Wind Beneath My Wings
This is an exclusive, one-off mentoring session with some of Australia's industry heavy weights, including the rather spectacular likes of Benjamin Law, Lisa Dempster and Elmo Keep.

$$$$$
In a rapidly changing market, it's more important than ever to understand the value of your work and the value of the market or avenue you're publishing in. This panel will cover exactly that and explore different modes of payment, financial and otherwise.

Zine Fair
The zine fair is pretty consistently one of the best parts of NYWF and this year shouldn't be an exception. Find lots of local and national talent, independent artists and generally some pretty A+ stall food.

Sunday Short: Blood, Blood by Abby Mei Otis

His lips are dry and his hands move across my shoulders, down my back, over all the places where he has opened cuts on me and seen them heal and opened them again. All the places I wish different, that I do not like, gouged or no. His hands don't shy away. He never breaks away.

Then somehow my sports bra is over my head and his jeans are coming off. Oh, I think, it's so simple. Simple as throwing that first punch. These barriers between people, these gulfs, how easily everything collapses. 

There's a moment, later, when I revise: Really, that was not like fighting at all.

 I swing on-and-off alien narratives. They're sort of overdone now and rooted more in spectacle than anything else, which is strange because the best alien stories are ones rooted hard in humanity. Blood, Blood by Abby Mei Otis is a pretty brilliant example of this. Heartfelt and biting and oddly horrifying, Blood, Blood traces the days post-contact, with an invasion that's not really an invasion, and a world that doesn't know a good thing when it has it. Abby Mei Otis' world is invasive and uncertain and one that plays with prejudice and first loves and the anger that arrives hand-in-hand with the excitement of the new. It's a pretty special piece of writing.

You can read Blood, Blood over at Strange Horizons here.

Friday Finds

HAIM's basically everywhere at the moment, and I'm fast becoming a big fan (fingers crossed I'll see them at Laneway in January!) and their cover of Miley Cyrus' new single, Wrecking Ball, is pretty great.

- Breaking Bad finishes up next week which is DEVASTATING and something that's kept me on the edge of my seat. To celebrate the pretty awesome end to an awesome series, Vulture has compiled some of Etsy's best Heisenberg crafts up on their website.

- This article on female friendships is great and just. Yes. So many yeses.

- 12 coming of age novels that are better than Catcher in the Rye.

- These photos of famous meals from novels are kind of awesome.

- Bride hires owl to deliver wedding rings. Owl sleeps in rafters.

- 40 must-see photos from historical moments.

- 101 fictional characters drawn as sloths. People are the best.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Koren Shadmi

Koren Shadmi's illustrations are beautifully detailed, delicate and evocative, with lovely twists on old myths and concepts that take it out of the norm and build something completely original. The picture above is one of my favourites. It just does things to me. Check out more of Koren's work here.

Confezioni Crosby SS 13

Fashionwise, everything's fall at the moment. All those autumnal browns and oranges and sweet, honey golds. Which is nice! And totally a colour palette I love, but it doesn't help me much as Brisbane rolls into Spring. Confezioni Crosby's Spring/Summer collection has proved a welcome antidote for that though, with it's cooler colours and nice, big brights. It's pretty glorious. You can check out the full collection over on Miss Moss' website.

Sunday Short: Toormina Video

Pat Grant is a pretty brilliant local comic book artist, and his recent comic published over on his website is just doing things to me emotionally. His style is so easily identifiable, and his subject matter swings in its weight beautifully. He's a pretty special writer and this is a pretty special comic.

Read Toormina Video over on Pat's website. 

Friday Finds

After seeing him live for the third time a few weeks back, I've been into Josh Pyke again in a big way. The Lighthouse Song off his second album is a particular favourite.

- Portable TV has a list of 100 Essential Science Fiction Movies! I sense some marathons in my future.

- Why is James Franco on a William Faulkner cover? The internet responds in my favourite way. By putting James Franco on every cover.

- Relevant to my interests: an essential punk literature reading list.

- 21 Ways You are Definitely Leslie Knope.

- The Final Girls TV-show is something I need in my life immediately.

Nadinoo Play by Numbers

I'm really loving the autumnal feel of Nadinoo's Play by Number lookbook. We're ducking into spring in Brisbane, so the colour pallette feels something foreign and reminds me more of dusky evenings and chills that nip at your heels. It helps that the dresses are totally beautiful, both in colour and silhouette. You can check out the collection over at the Nadinoo website.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Sam Bosma

Oh man, Sam Bosma's illustrations are doing things to me. Worldly and intricate, his illustrations encompass so much reality and explores the fantastical. I'm just sighing and chin-handsing all over the place. The pic above was done in collaboration with last week's Mid-Week Art Break artist, Dilraj Mann. You can check out more of Sam Bosma's work over on his website.

Sunday Short: We Will Speak About Brain Aneurysms by Kuzhali Manickavel

My uncle will have his brain aneurysm right in the middle of his lecture. Sometimes I will tell people that he started repeating the word ‘hentai’ while talking about the effects of pesticide use on hybrid strains of rice. Sometimes I will say that he started wandering around the stage, asking if the Chozhan Express was late again. This is because I will not really know what happened.

This rather wonderful short piece by Kuzhali Manickavel really surprised me. I wasn't expecting to wake up to something with this level of oomph. Beautifully crafted, Manickavel has created a wonderful portrait of family and illness and the way sudden death interacts with those closest, no matter who they are. It's a really lovely piece of writing.

You can read We Will Speak About Brain Aneurysms over at bumf online.

Friday Finds

I'm completely obsessed at the moment with these oldschool covers of modern popsongs and have been jamming to them all week. I particularly love this twenties version of Carly Rae Jepsen's Call Me Maybe.

- I'm a bit of a nut when it comes to both F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Keats, so hearing the former read Keats' Ode to a Nightingale is close to pornographic for me. Seriously.

- Thought-provoking photos that explore cultural appropriation in fashion. A really interesting project on an interesting topic.

- These illustrative photographs are pretty lovely. As is this Assembly collection by Japanese photographer, Osamu Yokonami.

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Your Mid-Week Art Break: Dilraj Mann

I'm really fascinated at the moment by the work of Dilraj Mann. His style is kind of awesome and unlike much I've seen before, with full figured, fuller lipped women who ooze sex appeal. It's pretty great. Check out his work over on tumblr.

The Loved One

Hannah Metz, co-owner of the boutique The Loved One, teamed up with the awesome folk at Dear Creatures, Seychelles Shoes and BC Footwear to create this gorgeous informal lookbook. It's totally doing things to me, and really reminds me of some of the lovely shots in Sofia Coppola films. In other ways, it makes me wish for a darker climate. I love Brisbane, it's my home, but even in winter we tend towards blue skies and a chill that nips at your heels rather than rattling your bones. This whole lookbook to me screams of grey skies and low slung clouds which I, well, sometimes miss.  You can view the whole lookbook over on her website.

Sunday Short: I'm Alive, I Love You, I'll See You in Reno by Vylar Kaftan

Reno, you told me once. Reno, Nevada. When we lived in San Francisco, in that tiny apartment above a Mission District taqueria. Do you remember that conversation? We were sitting on that awful brown loveseat you’d rescued from a dumpster. You were heating dinner in the microwave, and the room smelled like curry. The fog rolled through the city and we both wore old sweaters. I didn’t yet know the relevance of Reno.

Oh man, this is a beautiful piece of writing. Intricate and heartfelt and just so loving, it tells the story of astronauts in love missing each other through space and time. Author Vylar Kaftan has a beautiful sense of language and she uses it to depict such tenderness and warmth between two people who are both perfect for each other and don't fit. Fair warning: it induces all the feels. 

You can read I'm Alive, I Love You, I'll See You in Reno online over at Lightspeed Magazine.

Friday Finds

This is an amazing piece of performance art with a real message attached about something I'm pretty passionate about. Definitely check it out.

- Junot Diaz is really one of my favourite writers, and this limited edition illustrated copy of This is How You Lose Her is doing things to me. It's just so gorgeous.

- After some weekend listening? Check out these 10 covers of annoying songs that make them not annoying.

- Marjorie M. Liu's in the country for various festivals at the moment and her interview with The Wheeler Centre is pretty great.

- This statistical analysis of diversity in children's fiction is really interesting and pretty disappointing as a whole.

- These Mod Couples are pretty spectacular.

- Annnnd, cat shelfies!

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Huan Tran

Man, there's something kind of magical about Canadian artist, Huan Tran's illustrations. At once imitative and completely original, he manages to work a serious sense of myth and fable into his drawings. I mean, a squid for hair, guys. Really nice stuff. You can check out more over on his deviantart page.

Your Guide to Brisbane Writers Festival 2013

With the Brisbane Writers Festival kicking off this week, the cultural centre is in full gear preparing for it. My offices are on level 2 of the State Library, so it's been kind of cool watching the event gear up and the enormous tent take over the Maiwar Green. As I did for Queensland Poetry Festival last month, I figured I'd give you guys a bit of a guide in my picks for the festival. Just a heads up, this is a heinously biased post, so I'd really recommend checking out the full, stellar program over on the BWF website.

WEDNESDAY 4 SEPTEMBER
Story+
Brisbane's digital futures scene is kind of kicking butt right now. Between great movers and shakers like BWF director, Kate Eltham (previously the writer of the, rather spectacular, digital publishing blog, Electric Alphabet), if:book Australia, which takes a human form in Simon Groth, and the innovative new QUT initiative The Cube, it's hard to deny a certain heavy weight in Queensland's capital city when it comes to opening dialogue about the future of publishing.

Story+ is ultimately a showcase of this, inviting you to participate in a conversation about what lies ahead, but also how you, as a writer, can utilise technology and design to enhance your story world. Which, come on, it's a pretty

20 Pages in 20 Minutes
Want Rob Spillman (editor of US journal Tin House, Sophie Hamley (The Cameron Creswell Agency) or Hannah Brown Gordon (literary agent) to read 20 pages of work and give you targeted feedback in 20 minutes? 'Nuff said.

THURSDAY 5 SEPTEMBER
Queensland Literary Awards Showcase
The awards are in a bit of a renaissance at the moment, having been axed by the premier, Campbell Newman, and brought back to life through community enthusiasm. This session is free and will showcase some of the very talented authors shortlisted. It should be a good one to check out.

The Lyric and the Line
If you've got the dosh to fork out, The Lyric and the Line should be pretty excellent. Taught by The Church's Steve Kilby, this masterclass will take you through the process of songwriting with a particular focus on crafting lyrics.

Wartime/Peace
There's a really interesting strand of the festival focusing on wartime and the effect it has on troops, government and community. This session in particular takes a look at women in wartime (a topic that fascinates me!)

Opening Address: The Space Between
The BWF opening address is historically, uh, eventful, but this year everyone should be talking about it for the right reasons. Matthew Reilly is an iconic fixture of Australian writing, having written many a thriller bordering hard science fiction and buried in both realism and the fantastical. With spec fic aficionado, Kate Eltham directing the festival as of this year, it seems like a pretty great fit to begin her reign.

FRIDAY 6 SEPTEMBER
Greatest American Hero
I'm a bit of a comic book nut, so one of the things that has me most excited for the festival is the three Marvel writer/artists BWF has brought out. This in-conversation event with Matt Fraction and Kelly Sue DeConnick should be pretty awesome.

Steve Kilby
Steve Kilby of The Church performs! I mean, 'nuff said.

Good Thinking: Anne Summers
With the treatment of Julia Gillard over the last few years, it's hard to argue that misogyny is fairly rife in Australian politics right now. In this 45 minute event, Anne Summers will talk about sexism in the wider Australian culture and government systems. Definitely one to check out.

Festival Club: Juvenilia 
The Festival Club is on every night of the festival, but this is really one not to be missed, with the rather awesome talents of Benjamin Law, Clementine Ford, Scott Westerfield, Kimberley Freeman, Stuart Macbride and Justine Larbalestier reading the stories they wrote as teens.

SATURDAY 7 SEPTEMBER
Pat Grant
I'm a huge Pat Grant fan, so this is a bit of a no-brainer for me. That aside, it's a great chance to hear about Australian indie comics publishing from one of our bests.

Inspire: Women
The inspire series is an interesting one, covering very different content throughout the festival. This one looks particularly good, featuring a women's ambassador, journalist and comic book artist talking about the issues that interest them as it relates to women.

Outsiders
Randa Abdel-Fattah, Melissa Keil, Sue McPherson and Pat Grant talk aliens, outcasts and foreigners.

The Stella Prize Spelling Bee
Spelling bee's are a bit of a cult thing in Australian festivals and generally make for a really fun hour. This one should be good too, with the good people of The Stella Prize out to run the show.

Spoken: Whispers
All weekend, the festival is running reading events in the Red Box - which should be pretty great! I'm actually MC'ing this one, so, hey, a bit of shameless self-promotion. That said, we're set to have an awesome line up, so check it out if you're between sessions.

Magpies & Culture Vultures
Writing about arts and culture is something I love, so for me this is a much see session!

The Great Debate
With a hugely topical topic like Australia Needs Leaders, Not Politicians, this is sure to be a much-talked about event during the festival.

SUNDAY 8 SEPTEMBER
The F Word
Dale Spender, Kate DeGoldi, Dawn Barker and Monica Dux talk about generational feminism and where it still has to go.

Well-Drawn: Keynote by Matt Fraction
What it says on the tin, but Matt Fraction is pretty awesome so I have high hopes for the speech!

Lit Mags
This year, BWF has Rob Spillman out from Tin House in the States, and this session will see him, Sam Cooney and Tom Doig talk about the current industry of literary journals.

Spoken: Stilts
Another one for the Spoken series, this one is being organised by the Stilts Collective.

Glitter and Dust 
Benjamin Law's set to close the festival with a last round of readings which is, y'know, pretty great.

So that's about it! There's heaps more on at the festival, depending on what you're into. If you're into romance and YA I'd especially recommend taking a closer look. There really is something for everyone this year, so fingers crossed Kate Eltham's reign over the festival will see a real expansion and diversity in the coming years.

You can find the rest of the program over at bwf.org.au.

Sunday Short: Amaryllis by Carrie Vaughn

I never knew my mother, and I never understood why she did what she did. I ought to be grateful that she was crazy enough to cut out her implant so she could get pregnant. But it also meant she was crazy enough to hide the pregnancy until termination wasn’t an option, knowing the whole time that she’d never get to keep the baby. That she’d lose everything. That her household would lose everything because of her.

There are really two things I'm a total sucker for in any sort of story - reluctant heroes and created family. Carrie Vaughn's rather wonderful dystopian short Amaryllis celebrates both. She has an excellent protagonist in Marie, a character I really want more of, and the dynamics between this group of lost fisherman is sweetly tuned and biting. It's pretty great.

You can read 'Amaryllis' online over at Light Speed Magazine.