For one week each year, two-hundred-and-some word lovers converge on the stunning Reed College campus in Portland, Oregon, for the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop. This year I was one of them. In the romantic setting of red-brick Harry Potter … Continue reading
The shot glass I picked up at the airport said Keep Portland Weird. And that lovingly expresses everything that is different about Portland, Oregon. This is a place where a bookstore – Powell’s, the largest in the world – beats … Continue reading
The Alameda County Fair was not on my to-do list, but with rides, strange and wonderful deep-fried foods on sticks and a free concert by Weird Al Yankovic, well, who could say no? The County Fair, located somewhere in the … Continue reading
I was recently inspired to reconsider the old “all my friends are leaving Brisbane” question, after reading an article by Bridie Jabour, over at the new Guardian Australia. She talked about the mass exodus of young people. But I think … Continue reading
This Saturday is the Comikaze 24 Hour Comic Challenge. “What’s that?” I hear myself asking on behalf of you. It’s Australia’s version of 24 Hour Comics Day, where intrepid writers and artists challenge themselves to create a full 24-page comic … Continue reading
The Blitz club in London is where the 1980s was born. It was where young New Romantics (though you didn’t dare call them that then) in make-up and hairspray outdid each other on the dance floor. Steve Strange of Visage … Continue reading
I’m going to let you in on a little secret. My password at work at the start of the year was HappyNewYear! Full of positive energy and promise. Packed with power and enthusiasm for the year ahead. A burst of … Continue reading
You won’t know it’s there if you walk right by it. There are no signs outside. No big colourful letters or location pointers. But it’s there. Right on the edge of Sydney’s waterfront, where the water laps at the old … Continue reading
I love the West End markets – I find so many good things there, and not only spiced coffee, retro clothes or African trinkets. Last time I discovered singer-songwriter Clare Quinn. She was playing an acoustic set by the riverbank, … Continue reading
It’s that time of year again – the chance to see and hear what everyone else is listening to when Triple J counts down its annual Hottest 100. Oh, and something about a national day and Aussie pride and barbecues … Continue reading