My usual column where I take a paragraph at random and talk about it in whatever way I wish. I never know what I’m going to look at or say until I get there. Today I’ve picked up an Overland magazine, Issue 234 from Autumn 2019. Now to open it ...

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Where I type out a paragraph and examine it how I wish. I never know what I’m going to get from this until I start work. Let’s see what I’ve got today…open Overland at random and…turns out I had nothing with any of those paragraphs so I moved onto a ...

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Today’s paragraph comes from The Victorian Writer. This magazine is published by Writers Victoria and comes to me as part of my membership. This is the April-May 2019 edition, from a different time, a different era; a time when most of the world felt safe and could go out at ...

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Where I choose a paragraph at random and rattle on about it however I want. Today I’m taking a paragraph from a short story written by Elizabeth Hall called The Swimmer. I’m not sure I understand the story but it’s nicely written. The paragraph really hits home at the moment: ...

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Today I am looking at a paragraph from Voiceworks Issue One Hundred and One. I pick a paragraph at random and will examine it as I choose. Today this paragraph comes from a story by Bam Saengsri called ‘She put mai ben’. I get off the plane, breathe humid and ...

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An old column where I present a paragraph from a book or magazine and talk about it however I want. It took a number of years for me to understand that craft is important women’s work – that it is an expression of creativity, a way of giving voice to ...

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It feels time for an update. The photo is of my Read Pile. It started a few years ago when I found I wasn’t reviewing books or magazines as I finished them. This may or may not have coincided with me studying VCE. I’m not game to admit to anything ...

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Yes, another Verandah. This issue is from 2012. If I understand correctly, Verandah has a new team every year. It is supported by The Deakin School of Communication and Creative Arts. In 2018 some of the team were in my classes. It’s going to be interesting to see where their ...

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Another Monday another magazine. You’d be right in thinking I haven’t finished that anthology yet, I’m getting there but 900 pages is pretty heavy going. With less than 300 to go I should get there any week and then I’ll scribble a few words about it. Overland has been publishing ...

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The Lifted Brow is an impressive magazine. The organisation itself is a non-profit literary publishing organisation based in Melbourne, Australia. They don’t worry too much about the money instead focussing on publishing work from the artistic and/or demographic margins. They’ve been doing this since 2007. It’s full of excellently written ...

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The first article in my series about the magazines I’ve been reading. I don’t have any remembrance of where or when I got this but I found it really interesting. It’s what it says on the outside. It’s a catalogue of their publications over a 25 year period. As with ...

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Yes, it’s a magazine. Yes, it’s slightly old. But it’s writing and about books so it’s not out of date. Not like the bottle of Passata I have in my dining room. I don’t quite know how to throw that bottle out, I really need to deal with it. In ...

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I recently visited Readings in Carlton with some friends. It’s always more exciting going to bookshops with friends. They point out the things that excite them, I find more things that excite me and we get photos. Well, I get photos and then get to be excited about the experience ...

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You know those times when you neglect to take your own advice? That’s me, today. I tell everyone when they’re blogging to make a schedule and stick to it but today I completely forgot about it and so I’m running slightly late. It’s not the end of the world, but it is ...

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