Good writing has much to commend it
The last few months at You Need a Writer have been busy and rewarding.
On the freelance front …
Marjorie recently started work as Acting Managing Editor for the South Sydney Herald (SSH), one of the few independent newspapers in Sydney. The paper is distributed to 30,000 plus readers (in homes, businesses, cafes, pubs, libraries and community centres) from Alexandria to Woolloomooloo.
She has also:
Edited a 100 thousand-word PhD thesis titled Reasons to Remember: Public Memorials to Lived Experiences of Loss. There was a social justice element to this thesis that made the work quite intriguing.
Done some good groundwork for a services directory for a non-profit organisation—including researching and writing content and helping target the publication’s visual direction.
Commenced work on an annual report for an aged care foundation—brainstorming the theme and conducting interviews. As well as writing the report she is providing advice about the publication’s look and feel, including photo-shoots.
Been commissioned to conduct interviews for client testimonials for a Canberra-based business that mentors people in how to write more effectively.
On the literary front …
Marjorie’s poem ‘Aperçu’ was shortlisted for the ACU Poetry Prize 2016 and her poem ‘Paddle a Glass Lake’ was awarded second place in the Peter Cowan Patrons Prize for Poetry. She has also been Highly Commended for Highly Commended for ‘Misspeak’ in the Ros Spencer Poetry Contest 2016.
She enjoyed a four-day writing retreat on the Central Coast of New South Wales with her brilliant writing buddy Catherine Moffat, who had just been told she was awarded the Hope Prize for her short story ‘Better Homes and Gardens’. Such great news.
She has interviewed some fabulous children’s authors on her blog A Bigger Brighter World, including Aura Parker, Jen Storer and Anita Heiss.
She travelled to Japan to do some research for a longer fictional piece she is working on—and can’t wait to go back.
She is relishing the work of great poets through researching her monthly blog posts about poetry. She reads a poem a day and uses this as an inspiration for her own writing. Because it’s 2016, she then chooses 16 quotes from 16 of these poems to feature on A Bigger Brighter World. Take a look.
She’s also chuffed that a lengthy quote from her review of Black Rock, White City by A.S. Patrić—winner of the 2016 Miles Franklin Award—now appears in the promo blurbs in the front of the novel. It’s a great book and she’s very pleased to recommend it.
On the reading front …
Marjorie has read many excellent books and suggests you try Withering-by-Sea by Judith Rossell (a brilliant children’s book), A Loving, Faithful Animal by Josephine Rowe, The Last Wilkie’s by Jon Steiner, The Waiting Room by Leah Kaminsky, Crime Scenes edited by Zane Lovitt and other works by Georgia Blain, Gillian Mears, Jenny Offill, Sebastian Faulks and Helen Humphreys, all of whom feature in her EOFY (End of Fictional Year) post.
