A couple of months later

Like many blogs, this one got put aside when life became very busy.

There seems to have been a run of conferences and other events over the past couple of months and as I do professional speaking, I’ve been involved in quite a number. 9 presentations just in July! Think I’ll try and not do so many in the one month again – I don’t get a lot of time between each one and things don’t get done here at home.

At any rate, life in Melbourne has been good. We’ve been getting rain, although not as much as we would still like to see. Perth seems to be getting a lot of it before it crosses to the other side of the country to reach Melbourne.

If you’re a writer and you’re anywhere near Melbourne in August, then the Melbourne Writer’s Festival will be worth visiting.

This is the Message from the Festival Director:

Welcome to the 23rd annual Melbourne Writers Festival. I am thrilled to present this year’s program – it is without a doubt the largest and richest program we’ve presented and the breadth and depth of the talent is dazzling.

Last year, two of the most eloquent festival events concerned the poetry of WH Auden. This year, join us in St Pauls Cathedral where we have chosen to celebrate the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova. Akhmatova lived through the darkest period of twentieth century Russian history and her poetry was a beacon of hope for ordinary citizens – the you and me of that time.

The other events which make my heart beat faster are both on the evening of Sunday 24 August when we link with our concurrent sister festival, the Edinburgh International Book Festival, by satellite. For the first time our audiences will be able to connect to Edinburgh’s event with Sir Salman Rushdie and their audiences will be able to connect with Nam Le here in Melbourne. I hope this is just the start of a long and productive relationship between these two great festivals.

Finally I’d like to welcome you to our new home in Federation Square and the Australian Centre of the Moving Image where most of our festival will take place. Please do take time to study fully our hard copy program and our website with its more detailed information – circle madly, choose wisely and then join us and your friends in your lunch hour, after work, or on the weekends for ten days of entertainment and enlightenment.

More details can be found at Melbourne Writers Festival site.