Author of the month - November 2008

Joy Jobbins: The Rural Bohemia of Eltham

Eltham Library
Tuesday 11 November 2008
7.00pm - 8.00pm

Joy started writing anecdotal stories and when her daughter, Sheridan (herself a writer) read what she had written she wanted to know how Joy found herself climbing the hill from the Eltham railway station up to Stanhope with two little boys, knowing that I was such a dyed-in-the-wool Sydneysider. So Joy began to think about those years and it seemed best to go back to where and when it all began. ‘Shoestring’ therefore starts in 1927 and ends in 1972.Slowly the book began to take shape and became a story that was part social history, part the trials and tribulations of juggling a marriage and career as a female executive in a major, male dominated industry and partly about the little M-roofed cottage bought from Arthur Munday, the local greengrocer and doyen of Justus Jörgensen’s Montsalvat. Joy named the house, ‘Shoestring’ as that’s what we were buying it on, but the lifestyle they enjoyed at the time was rich in friendship, fun and folly and thus the title for her book Shoestring

Joys answers the the YPRL 5 quick questions

1. Can you tell us why you became an author/illustrator?
When I was a child I wanted to be either a writer or an artist. My youth was largely spent reading and scribbling.

2. What is your all time favorite book? How would you describe it to other readers?
As for my all-time favourite book, I guess it would have to be Axel Munthe’s ‘The Story of San Michele.
‘The Story of San Michele’ was first published in 1928 and I came across it when I was in my late teens. ‘The Story of San Michele’ is about Munthe’s life as a doctor; his love of animals; the cholera plague in Naples; the use of hypnotic suggestion in healing; his vision and the discovery of precious antique marble fragments from the villa of Tiberius, the Roman Emperor who used Capri as his get-away home from the summer heat.

3. Where or from whom have you been inspired or given ideas?
I began writing little anecdotal pieces about the wonderful years we spent in Eltham and about the fabulous people who populated the rustic hills and dales. When my daughter, Sheridan (herself a writer) read what I had written she wanted to know how I found myself climbing the hill from the Eltham railway station up to Stanhope with two little boys, knowing that I was such a dyed-in-the-wool Sydneysider.

4. What is something fun from your childhood that you can remember about yourself?
During the primary school years I spent most of the time at school looking out the window at Bondi Beach and daydreaming about the swim across the beach to the baths at the southern end, where we kids would toss our penny tram fares home into the deep end and dive for them.

5. What advice would you give to new writers/illustrators?
Most importantly don’t give up. You might need to polish your words over and over until they say what you want them to say and remember what Omar Kyam said:

‘The moving hand doth write
And having writ moves on
Nor all your piety nor wit
Can lure it back
Or cancel half of it’

Also, the written word is a powerful tool - the pen is mightier than the sword!

Author Podcasts

• Barry Heard
• Tanishka
• Patrick Lindsay
• Sarah Cowan
• Adrian Hyland
• Joy Jobbins
• Arnold Zable
• Bette Shiels
• Jacinta Halloran
• Greg De Moore
• James Phelan
  
  

Author of the month - October 2008

Glenice Whitting and Wendy J Dunn

Meet Glenice and Wendy at the Eltham Library on Thursday 30 October, 7.00pm - 8.00pm

Glenice and Wendy will be discussing the journey of writing and publishing.

Glenice Whitting

'Pickle to pie'
Rejected at birth by his mother and raised by his Grossmutter and
Grossvater, Frederick Fritschenburg, a second generation Australian of
German descent, is dying in hospital. At eighty years of age Frederick
recalls a life torn by two world wars and the Great Depression-a life of
uncertainty and anguish, of disappointment, human fragilities and estranged
relationships, where nothing seems as real as the special childhood bond
that existed between him and his Grossmutter.
Pickle to Pie is a beautifully wrought and hearfelt exploration of family
and cultural ties Liam Davison: Author of Soundings and The White Woman.


Wendy J. Dunn
Wendy J. Dunn is an Australian writer and teacher (at Eltham North Primary) obsessed with Tudor History. Thanks to her research on Katherine of Aragon, the subject of her new, yet to be published novel, she now has a new passion: medieval Castile. The author of the award-winning novel Dear Heart, How Like You This?, Wendy is currently working on several Tudor projects while studying for her Masters in Creative Writing.

'Dear heart, how do you like this?'
A woman who sees her destiny as England's Quen.
A King who destroys what he no longer wants.
A poet's love that will never be forgotten.
May, 1536. The poet Thomas Wyatt, released from imprisonment in the Tower of London, is in his father's custody. From almost the beginning of his life, Tom has loved his cousin Anne Boleyn, content to sit at her feet while she sang her love songs to another, if doing so gave him just a moment in her company. Now he is heartsick and despairing, having witnessed her juridical murder by Henry VIII. Only wanting to escape from the recent memories now rending his heart, Tom recounts his story, a story which narrates too the tragic tale of Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII.

For more information about Wendy check out her website: www.wendyjdunn.com

Books will be for sale on the night.

Reader Events @ YPRL

Ivanhoe Library

Bedside Reads: Gets Cozy
Monday 20 July
10.30am - 11.30am
Curl up with a cozy mystery. A monthly bookchat to share and extend your reading experiences

Bedside Reads
Monday 17 August
10.30am - 11.30am
Monday 24 August
7.30pm - 8.30pm
A monthly bookchat to share and extend your reading experiences. This month explores the book worlds of science and science fiction.

Community Reads: Creative writing group
Friday 21 August
10.30am - 11.30am
Love to write? Join this supportive group and improve your writing skills. Bring samples of your own work to share in a relaxed, friendly environment

Rosanna Library

Twilight Night
Wednesday 8 July
7.00pm - 8.00pm
Calling all Stephanie Meyer fans. Vampire chat, music and reading suggestions. Pizza and drinks provided. Suitable for 12+ Bookings required on 9459 6171

New books morning tea
Thursday 23 July
10.30am - 12noon
Borrow from our new books collection while enjoying the soothing sounds of harpist Margaret Crichton

Watsona Library

Bedside reads: Evolution of the vampire
Thursday 16 July
7.00pm - 8.30pm
Juliet Peniston-Bird chats about her book Evolution of the vampire. Prepare for spine tingling imaginings as we discuss the vampire genre.

community reads: Writing autobiographical fiction
Thursday 13 August
7.00pm - 8.30pm
A writing workshop with Kay Arthur. Learn to turn experiences into ideas for short stories. Refreshments served.

bedside reads: Secrets of the zodiac
Tuesday 25 August
7.00pm - 8.00pm
Learn how astrology can help us grow and how it influences what we read. Hosted by Michele Finey

Lalor Library

bedside reads: bookchat
Wednesday 29 July
12noon - 1.00pm
In July we read Tim Winton's The turning. Informal chat about the book. Register to get your copy at 9465 2353

bedside reads: bookchat
Wednesday 29 August
12noon - 1.00pm
In August we read a sci-fi book. Informal chat about the book. Register your interest in the title at 9465 2353

Mill Park Library

Community Reads: Mill Park Library Writers Group
Wednesday 1 July & 5 August
6.30pm - 8.00pm

Thursday 9 July & 13 August
1.30pm - 3.00pm
Are you a budding author or just enjoy writing? Want to share your writing? Bring your writing and join the group.

themed reads: Crime and Mystery
Monday 20 July
2.00pm - 3.00pm
Read any crime and mystery books? Share your experiences with other readers. Bring along a book for "examination"

community reads: Writing and publishing - get your book off the ground
Monday 24 August
6.30pm - 8.00pm
Get a jumpstart on your novel with Anthony Santoro, detective fiction writer, Writers' Resource Centre founder and co-author of Get your book off the ground.

Thomastown Library

Preserving your old books
Wendesday 22 July & 19 August
6.30pm - 7.30pm
Join staff member Diane as she shows you how to prolong the life of your favourite books

Macedonian new material launch
Thursday 6 August
10.00am - 12noon
Seelct from the new macedonian language items including DVD's, CD's magazines and books

Diamond Valley Library

Sharing your experiences of Black Saturday
Monday 13 July - Friday 17 July
Share your experiences and photos of Black Saturday with others. Learn how to record your stories on the Wikinorthia website.

Eltham Library

Jack the ripper a study in fear
Thursday 2 July
7.00pm - 8.00pm
Adrian Puckering revists when Jack the Ripper was on the loose. Supper provided. Bookings required.

Elly Varrenti

Elly Varrenti has had a variety of careers across the arts world for the past twenty-five years. Originally training as an actress and singer in the early 1980’s she went on to perform extensively with most of Melbourne’s major and independent theatre companies and for television and radio.

Elly is a trained teacher (English, drama and creative writing) and has worked within a variety of educational environments from the primary sector through to the tertiary. She is currently the Coordinator of Professional Writing and Editing at Melbourne’s Box Hill Institute where she specializes in short story and memoir writing.

In the mid 1990’s Elly moved into arts broadcasting and theatre reviewing and has continued to work as a freelance broadcaster for both local ABC 774 and Radio National. These days she is well known for her regular monologues and columns for ABC Radio’s Life Matters program where she engages in both an entertaining and candid manner in a number of issues including, co-parenting, family, relationships, women’s issues education and the arts.

As a freelance writer Elly has written for The Age newspaper, the street press, parenting magazines and is currently theatre reviewer for The Melbourne Times.

In 2007 Elly was signed with Penguin after contributing a short story to an anthology about her first love. Most recently Penguin published her first non-fiction book, a memoir titled, This Is Not My Beautiful Life.

Elly has been conducting creative writing, acting and performance workshops for a number of years and is an accomplished public speaker.

She is currently writing her first one woman show called, Naked Not Nude, due for production in early 2009.

Elly Varrenti will be talking about her book 'This is not my beautiful life at

Ivanhoe Library

Tuesday 16th September

6.30pm - 8.00pm

Elly's answers to the Yarra Plenty Regional Library 5 quick questions

1.Can you tell us why you became an author/illustrator?

There wasn’t a moment when I suddenly decided to become an author. I have always written – firstly for stage, then for radio and newspapers and now as a memoirist. It was a pretty organic and naturally evolving process.

2. What is your all time favorite book? How would you describe it to other readers?

I don’t have an all time favorite, sorry, but one of my favorites, still, is Carol Shield’s Larry’s Party. It’s a small and domestic story about a man turning 40 that becomes, finally, a much bigger story about life and death and love and it’s very funny as well as very poignant.

3.Where or from whom have you been inspired or given ideas?

I get inspiration from ordinary life – from everything around me, everything I see and hear.I don’t miss much and it’s all got the potential to become a story of one kind or another.

4. What is something fun from your childhood that you can remember about yourself?

I used to dress up and mimic the 70’s singer Shirley Bassey. Only middle-aged men and gay men liked her back then, not 13 year old girls.

5. What advice would you give to new writers/illustrators?

Just do it. Notice everything. Remain humble and don’t give up your day job

Simon Cleary

Adrian Hyland

Adrian Hyland

After studying languages and literature at Melbourne University, Adrian Hyland moved to Central Australia where he lived for ten years working in community development in remote Aboriginal communities. This experience gave him an understanding of the complexity, richness, joy and hardships of contemporary Australian aboriginal life, an understanding which he has drawn on to write his first novel, Diamond Dove in which his heroine, Emily Tempest, a feisty twenty-nine year old Aboriginal woman "with a fast mouth and a strong right hook," investigates the untimely death of an Aboriginal elder. Diamond Dove was published in Australia by Text in August 2006 to rave reviews, and won the 2007 Ned Kelly Award for Best First Crime Novel. The novel has now been released internationally, and has received glowing reviews in newspapers ranging from the New York Times to the Guardian.

Listen to Adrian's Podcast here

Adrian's answers to the YPRL 5 quick questions

1. Can you tell us why you became an author?

Have loved language in all its glorious manifestations – stories, poems, puns, novels, songs – all my life. After years of dithering, I finally decided to do something about it.

2. What is your all time favorite book? How would you describe it to other readers?

Oi yoi yoi – where do I begin? I enjoy things from all over the spectrum – from Coleridge to Chandler, and the Hill brothers, Reginald and Geoffrey. Currently reading a lot of Paul Celan and Simone Weil. If it has to be one book, let’s go for To Kill a Mockingbird – mainly because it was the first adult book I read.

3.Where or from whom have you been inspired or given ideas?

My first and greatest inspiration has come from other writers – from Homer to Shakespeare, from Yeats to Murakami. Outside of books, the most inspiring moments have come from the Aboriginal people I’ve tried to honour in my work.

4. What is something fun from your childhood that you can remember about yourself?

Falling into a cement mixer – full of wet cement - because I wanted to see what was going on in there. It’s been all downhill since then.

5. What advice would you give to new writers?

Chuck out the television.

Read everything you can lay your eyes on (sounds pretty obvious, but I’m amazed by the number of young writers I meet who’ve written more than they’ve read).

Try to write a good sentence and the plot will look after itself.

Edit ferociously.