Carly Findlay's Blog, page 28

The Babysitters Club on Netflix – the wholesome, joyous content we need right now

Spoilers ahead

[image error]Image: five girls sitting on a bed and lying on the floor talking and laughing. Their clothes are colourful and so are the furnishings. The floor is teal. At the top is “The Babysitters Club” in white letters on blocks. The background is purple. “Netflix” is in red capital letters at the bottom.

I was a voracious reader as a child. I read every single book in The Babysitters Club series – I’d order a BSC book a month in the Scholastic Lucky Book Club, borrow them from the mobile library, and re-read my favourites over and over. I especially loved the bumper holiday specials.

I was so invested in the characters. I loved their entrepreneurial spirit! They were so responsible and driven at a young age. They were problem solvers. They were independent feminists who always had each other’s backs.

The Babysitters Club started on Netflix on Friday – and I was so here for the nostalgia. I binged the show on Friday night and Saturday morning, and I loved it so much. I didn’t enjoy the mid 90s TV and film adaptations of the books, but the 2020 release did not disappoint.

The storylines were just as I remember – wholesome, conflicts to navigate, kids being kids, crushes and the responsibility of babysitting – with some 2020 related social justice issues thrown in. The only thing I didn’t expect was for Dawn Schaefer not to be blonde – she was Latina.

[image error]Image: a group of girls, standing, hugging, all wearing colourful clothes. The background is black.

The young cast is delightful – Malia Baker (Maryanne Spier), Momona Tomada (Claudia Kishi), Shay Rudolph (Stacey McGill), Sophie Grace (Kristy Thomas) and Xochitl Gomez .(Dawn Schaefer). I was also thrilled Alicia Silverstone plays Kristy’s mum – Clueless was also one of my teenage favourites.

As a child with very few friends, The Babysitters Club were my friends. I was reminded of that while I watched the series. I loved the way they looked out for each other, and also their commitment to caring for their babysitting charges. It was such a loving, caring and feminist series. I felt joyous watching each episode.

Claudia Kishi was my favourite character in the books – I loved her fashion and secret stash of lollies in her bedroom. I’d enjoy the outfit descriptions in each of the books – like an oversized denim shirt worn over purple overalls, a tie dyed shirt, floral Doc Martens and earrings that are shrinkie Skittles packets. She was so cool. And her fashion did not disappoint in the Netflix series.

I squeed at the yellow jumpsuit she wore, and the rust one too. I loved the navy dress with the white collar and sleeves. And the tweed suit to. And I adored her wedding outfit. So great!

[image error]images: a collage of four photos featuring an Asian girl. She’s wearing amazing clothes – a yellow jumpsuit with a colourful jacket, a pink floral dress with big puffed sleeved, a navy dress with large white collar and cuffs and a lilac tweed suit.

A few commenters on my Instagram post about the Netflix series talked about how the books helped them. Seeing Kristy Thomas’ blended family made them feel seen. That the girls’ business know how made them start their own businesses. I feel the Netflix series continued the representation and staunch feminism that were in the books.

I adored the commitment to diversity in the Nextflix series – including lots of characters from different cultural backgrounds, sexualities, and different family structures. There was such kindness – even when life lessons were taught. And it was really lovely to see the girls’ personal growth and interactions with the adults.

There were a few storylines that made my heart sing! Spoilers ahead…

I loved how Stacey shook the shame of living with Type 1 Diabetes. She owned her insulin pump by blinging it up, and urging her Mum to shake the shame too. Seeing her speak to babysitting clients’ parents about her health management, and also having the reassurance from Mrs Johannson – an endocrinologist, was wonderful – so important for young people with chronic illnesses. Also, how stylish was Stacey?!

There were also two beautiful scenes involving MaryAnne and Bailey, a transgender girl played by Kai Shappley.

[image error]image; two children posing for a photo. One is a person of colour, wearing glasses and a blue knitted jumper and navy pants with white spots. She’s bending down next to a younger girl – who is blonde with fair skin, wearing a grey jumper with rainbow sleeves, holding a Babysitters Club book. They’re both smiling.

Maryanne played princess tea parties with Bailey, and I cheered and cried when she spoke out against medical professionals misgendering Bailey. I loved this tweet about that storyline:

Holy shit, the #BabySittersClub dealt with the topic of a little trans baby girl right off the bat in the 4th episode and they did it VERY well. It was so sweet.

JK Rowling can go fuck herself, because Ann M Martin is my real childhood.

— space pirate queen (@punkagogo) July 3, 2020

But of course, being an appearance activist with a facial difference and skin condition, I was disappointed by a storyline in the last episode. Spoiler ahead…

Stacey and her former NYC friend Laine had an argument at Camp Moosehead, and pulled each other into a growth of poison ivy – which caused them both to have a skin outbreak – itching and swelling all over their faces and bodies . The other babysitters got a fright when they saw Stacey, and Maryanne said Stacey couldn’t play the lead character in the musical because she was “disfigured”. The reaction to their (temporary) skin conditions were fearful, rather than concerned and in the spirit of their accepting and inclusive friendships. I wish this part was done differently – as skin conditions and facial differences should not be used as a tool to create fear or discouragement of being seen in public. This was a real opportunity to reassure viewers that people with skin conditions and facial differences are not to be feared.

[image error]Image: five tween girls dressed up for a wedding.

Apart from that storyline I love, love loved The Babysitters Club series on Netflix! It took me back to being 10-11-12, when I was figuring things out for myself, when I started puberty, and when I was in need of a close group of friends. It gave me fashion inspiration too (shop for the outfits here).

In the age of Trump’s ridiculous leadership, the upheavals Coronavirus has caused, and all the other current issues we face, it was wonderful to see these young characters (and actors) brightly lead.

I’m back in Coronavirus lockdown – feeling anxious, and in need of an escape. This series was just what I needed to reflect on nostalgia and to feel like everything is going to be ok.

Are you watching? Did you love it?

Stop using disability slurs

CW: allusion to and mention of disability slurs:

[image error]Image: a graphic featuring a photo of a woman with a red face and short dark curly hair, smiling, wearing a bright dress – the photo is cropped to be a circle. “No-one ever uses a disability slur as a compliment” is in big white letters, “author and appearance activist” is below. The Aus Progress logo is in the bottom right corner. The background is light teal and dark teal.

I did a talk today at Centre for Australian Progress. I talked about accessible communication – which covered how to talk about disability (person first and identity first language), accessible written communication, accessible virtual and physical events, and disability slurs.

Disability slurs are words that are associated with disability that are mainly used as insults, or to mock disabled people. Many originated with the way Disability was medicalised and segregated throughout history, and even related to eugenics. Disability slurs include the R word and the M word (no, I won’t write them here – you can research them yourself), and words related to physical impairments, short stature, cognitive disability and mental illness.

Many words are ingrained into our vocabulary as casual ableism – especially “idiot” and “lame”, and mental illness slurs like “crazy” and “OCD”. There are also turns of phrase like “tone deaf”, “crippling”, and “blind to” that are harmful.

Even if Disability slurs are not directed at disabled people, they are still harmful. And no-one ever uses a disability slur as a compliment – so don’t tell me you didn’t mean to offend disabled people when saying the R word or derivatives of.

I ask you to stop using disability slurs please. Don’t justify them. Call them out when family and friends use them. Use alternative words like “bananas”, or “cockwomble” or “utterly ridiculous”.

I’ve lost friends because they think the right to say the R word is bigger than the right for disabled people to feel safe and respected.

I’ve written lots on this topic, and so have others – so as I said at Progress, please educate yourself. Here’s a starting point from People with Disability Australia:.

Lastly, please don’t use disability or being disabled as an insult. I really love this tweet from Imani Barbarin.

I’ll leave you all with this:

If disability is an insult, then what exactly do you think of disabled people?

As I’ve always said: of you want to test peoples commitment to a more just future, ask them what they think about disability.

— Crutches&Spice : Rude For A Disabled Person (@Imani_Barbarin) June 22, 2020

Please don’t continue to use disability slurs when there are so many more words in the dictionary.

Has my work helped you or made you think? Will you use this in your work? Please consider buying me a drink.

I am not white. My racial identity.

I am not white.

Having Ichthyosis – specifically Netherton’s Syndrome, which causes red skin – means that my mixed race heritage is not  apparent to others. 

[image error]Image: woman with red face and short dark curly hair, wearing a red, purple and green floral dress over a purple top. She’s smiling.

My Mum is a coloured South African (the term she uses) and my Dad is a white Englishman. My parents met in South Africa and because of Apartheid, courted illegally and then moved to Australia to marry in 1981. My Dad recently described the move as “thumbing their noses at the Apartheid”, and said he’s angered by the racism that continues towards black people right now.

My race wasn’t apparent to me for a long time either  – because my skin is not black nor white, and the medical and social aspects of Ichthyosis consumed my thinking about identity. And I have been discriminated against because of my skin colour, but never my race.

The genetic makeup of Netherton’s Syndrome means that I look more like others with the condition than my extended family.  I don’t look like my English family, and I don’t look like my South African family or friends. My curly hair is perhaps the only indication of my heritage.

It’s only in recent years that I have identified as being a woman of colour – and thought about my race, especially through my writing. That has happened when I’ve been asked to write about my family heritage (see Growing Up African in Australia), and also when I’ve connected with strong, outspoken women of colour.

Women like Candy Bowers, Pauline Vetuna, Namila Benson, Villissa Thompson, Laila Thaker, Jeyza Gary, Sisonke Msimang, Keah Brown, Imani Barbarin, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Flex Mami, Denise Chapman, Anita Heiss, Vanamali Hermans, Faustina Agolly, Santilla Chingaipe, Nova Reid, Melissa Lucashenko, Tara June Winch, Thelma Plum, my Mum – Jeanette Findlay, and her friends and family who I’ve connected with on Facebook, I got them, more than I got white people. And they have taught me so much.

But I am white passing. I don’t think I look a lot like my Mum, or my Dad even. The skin on my body – especially my arms –  is significantly less red than my face.   

I think of the ways I’ve benefited from white privilege –  and I realise that I need to do better in speaking up and dismantling it. 

I grew up in a very white Australian county town where my mum’s blackness was spoken about in whispers. Kids at school – and adults at Sunday school – told me that I am red because my parents are black and white. The old sin trope. Of course I never believed that, because my parents taught me about the genetics of ichthyosis from a young age, and as a result, I rejected religion too.

When I was a kid, Mum told me a lot about South African history – which was, of course at the time, the present. Apartheid was still in place until I was nine.  She told me about Steve Biko, and how she could see Robben Island from where she lived – where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. She talked about the race riots and how people so kindly kept her and my Dad’s relationship a secret. If it were public, Mum could have gone to gaol. Less than forty years ago, Mum had to carry a passbook to prove her race.  My Mum’s mother, Elsie, worked as a servant, and her Aunty Josie raised her and her brother. They didn’t have much money, but they had love. 

And my parents came to Australia for a better life – for a life where their love was legal. And they made a real go of things, working hard and moving forward so that I would never have to endure what they did. I never understood how Mum could be homesick when she had Dad and I in Australia. But, the enormity of it all – moving countries for love, raising a very sick baby without family support, knowing her family and friends were still under the unjust, unfair racist regime back home. 

I would make biryani and baboite for Harmony Day but I’d never set aside enough time to explore my racial identity, because I didn’t think I had the right to claim it. Stella Young asked me to write on the intersection of race, colour and ichthyosis before she died, and I was too scared to delve. I didn’t feel I was ready then, and I didn’t feel the white people around me were ready either. I shouldn’t have put those people first.

I feel a sense of guilt that I didn’t understand my own race until recently, and this is a complex and confusing thing for me to navigate.

It also seems complex for others to navigate – some white people don’t take me as seriously when I talk about race issues, or try to make me feel guilty for their white privilege, because they assume I am white. 

I’ll do everything I can to read, listen and and learn from people of colour,  to look at and eliminate my own unconscious and conscious biases, to unpack my internal and external racism, and to continually learn about Aboriginal history and culture that was shamefully not taught during school.  

And while I won’t claim racism as my own struggle,  many disabled people of colour – and people with Ichthyosis – experience racism *and* ableism. Imani Barbarin wrote briefly about the way Black disabled people are affected by police brutality here. The Guardian also covered the topic – stating “What do Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, Tanisha Anderson, Deborah Danner, Ezell Ford, Alfred Olango and Keith Lamont Scott all have in common? They were all black Americans who died at the hands of the police or in police custody. And they were all also disabled.”

I want to continue to pass the mic – especially to make space for disabled people of colour, and amplify their voices.  

It’s the least I can do.

[image error]Image: A wedding photo – woman with red face and short dark curly hair, wearing a white wedding dress, smiling. On either side of her is her white father and black mother.  They’re all smiling.

Thank you to Jeanette Findlay, Candy Bowers and Jeyza Gary for reading this and offering their thoughts before publishing.

Has this post helped you think differently ahout appearance diversity and skin conditions? Will you use it in your work? Please buy me a drink!

Buy Growing Up African in Australia here.

Buy Say Hello here.

Ectropian eyelids and Ichthyosis

Something that happens because of my ichthyosis (and sometimes for other people with the condition) is light sensitivity and extremely dry eyes.  Yesterday my eyes were very bad – it took a while for my eyes to stay open, and I wore sunglasses inside for a short time.

[image error]Image: Woman with red face and short dark curly hair sitting at a table, a plate of food in front of her. She’s wearing a floral jacket and jellyfish print dress, and sunglasses.

My lower eyelids are ectropian, meaning they are turned outward.

This causes my eyes to weep and then become very dry (with corneal abrasions), because my eyelids don’t hold the tears. I also have very little body hair, which means I have sparse eyelashes, and so skin and dust gets in my eyes. So I am constantly dabbing at my eyes with a tissue – you might have seen this on Zoom presentations I’ve done recently. 

Sometimes I wake up with sensitive eyes, or they worsen through the day – it often happens on overcast days like yesterday. 

I found out about how ectropian eyelids are a symptom of ichthyosis and how they impact me when I was about 20, when on a bright, yet grey sky day, I couldn’t keep my eyes open when driving to work at Kmart. I kept having to pull over. The lights instore also hurt my eyes. While I managed to drive to work and home again, Mum took me to the ophthalmologist the next day, where they explained all of this to me. I must have had these symptoms all of my life and they were most noticeable that day in 2002. I’ve been managing my eye care ever since (I now attend the hospital Opthamology clinic yearly). 

I try to wear sunglasses when I am outside, especially when driving, and in recent years, I’ve had to wear them inside while my eyes adjust to the light. I also use eye drops and gels (stocked up on more today – Poly Tears/Gel and Genteal are good) and make sure I put paraffin ointment around and in my eyes before sleep. And I also use light adjustment and text to speech functions on my phone, iPad and computer if I cannot open my eyes to read. I also rarely drive at night (the lights are too bright), love a dimmer light switch,  and I take lots of antihistamine because on top of light sensitivity, my eyes get affected by allergies!  

Some friends with ichthyosis have had to have surgery involving skin grafts to tighten their eyelids – though I’ve not had to yet. Some friends have also lost vision due to corneal abrasions. My eyesight has not deteriorated too badly – though I got low strength reading glasses at the end of 2017.

This light sensitivity is quite a serious aspect of ichthyosis which I don’t often discuss – proof that it’s more than just a cosmetic skin condition. 

More information:

Saudi Journal of Ophthalmology

Has this post helped you or will you use it in your work? You can buy me a drink! Thanks! You can also buy my book Say Hello – it’s in paperback, audiobook and ebook formats.

How to be a good disability ally

This is a call to action.

[image error]Image description: woman with red face and short dark hair tied back, looking serious. She’s wearing a multicolored jumper with a skipping girl brooch pinned to it, and a colourful headband. Text at the bottom reads “how to be a good disability ally” – it’s white on dusky purple

It has been an horrific month for disabled people – with lots of violence, abuse, segregation and death.

But this is not new. We are tired, sad, hurting and angry. And we are scared. Many disabled people are also facing increased questions from allies, asking us what you can do.

Here’s what you can do to be a good disability ally – to shoulder the burden with disabled people:

Amplify OUR voices. It’s not enough to share news about disability issues written by non disabled people.

Don’t speak for disabled people – especially if you work in the disability sector or are a parent of a disabled child.

Understand that the disability community is diverse and intersectional. We are not homogenous. Seek out different perspectives.

Follow and engage with disabled people on social media. Read our writing, see our art, listen and learn.

Keep up to date with disability news. People with Disability Australia has a great daily media roundup that you can subscribe to on their website. (Share disability news with your friends, family and colleagues.

Stop using euphemisms like “special needs” and “differently abled” and made up words like “Diffability”. Say the words disability and disabled – they are not slurs.

Write complaint letters, calling for change. Outline the issue, provide facts and state what outcome you’d like to see happen. Write to relevant organisations, state and federal government agencies (like the NDIS, DSS, Child Protection), state and federal ministers and the Prime Minister.

Write to the media when they disrespectfully report on disability – contact the journalist (Twitter is a good place for this), the editor and write to ABC Media Watch and the Australian Media and Communications Authority.

Call out ableist language when your friends and family use it. The R word and the M word is not ok. And no, I’m not spelling those words out for you.

If you recognise Disability discrimination being reported on, or hate speech in the social media comments, don’t tag disabled people in to ask us to do something. You do something yourself – share the article or call out the comments.

Make your events accessible – from public events to birthday parties. There are lots of resources to help you, including this one that my colleagues and I wrote:

Use image descriptions on your social media posts and caption your videos.

Ensure that events you fun or speak at or attend have disability representation. If they don’t, ask the organisers why, and demand change.

Support disabled people in making complaints – I’m always grateful when I write about taxi discrimination and a social media follower makes a complaint for me as well.

Don’t let us know when you’ve been a good ally. Just be a good ally without broadcasting it. I am not giving out gold stars.

Don’t play devil’s advocate when we talk about ableism, discrimination and violence. This only confirms your bigotry.

Donate to disability led organisations like People with Disability Australia and Arts Access Australia.

Make it a safe space for people to disclose their disability if they choose to.

Don’t expect us to work for free – and this includes providing emotional labour in explaining disability related issues.

Know that it is not my job as a disabled person (or of other disabled people) to teach you everything. It’s your responsibility to read, listen and learn.

Share this post. Buy me a drink if this has helped you.

If this post make you uncomfortable, please sit with that feeling and your non disabled privilege for a bit, and vow to be a better ally.

Face Equality Week – My Best Selfies

This week is #FaceEquality week – an initiative by Face Equality International. “Face equality means creating a world where everybody is treated with the same respect regardless of how they look. 

[image error]Image: woman with red face and short dark curly hair, wearing a floral dress and necklace, smiling.

Face Equality aims to eliminate negative social media activity, broaden representation in the public eye, stamp out appearance discrimination and challenge prejudice… so let’s make it happen.“

Many people are overlooked for employment opportunities due to our facial differences or skin conditions, and endure a lot of curiosity, ridicule, abuse and physical verbal violence because of our appearances. We are not often included in media and advertising, and when we are, it’s usually sensationalist and dehumanising.  

This week I’ve been sharing #MyBestSelfies (inspired by my girl Melissa Blake who continues to post selfies when trolls tell her she shouldn’t, because of her facial difference), and writing about why I do so. It’s been fun. 

[image error]Image: selfie of a woman with a red face and short dark curly hair, smiling. She’s wearing a purple dress and a purple sparkly necklace .

Selfies as a defiant political act 

Selfies can be seen as vain and vapid. But feel for people with facial differences and skin conditions, they are a defiant political act – especially when they’re #NoFilter (all of mine are!). They show the world that we want to be seen, that we are not going to change our faces to conform, and that visibility is possibly. We are also making safe for other people with facial differences and skin conditions to share their photos without fear. 

I dare you – especially allies without facial differences and skin conditions – to post a selfie of your real face, unfiltered. Be proud. I put a call on Twitter earlier this week for allies to show us their unfiltered, natural faces. The response was amazing – so many people shared they beautiful, natural faces. But sadly, some people told me they are still scared to show off their natural faces. We need to ensure people feel  safe enough to show their natural faces, without fear of being mocked. 

It took me many years to put my face on the internet. I was always worried about my image being misused, and while it was misused badly in 2013,  I am very rarely trolled about my appearance. If anything, it’s praised, especially when I post outfit photos.

Ironically, this week I have received some pretty terrible trolling (I make – the trolling public – read about it here and here). This trolling told me I’m ugly, and that I should delete my social media. I am lucky to be surrounded by supportive people, and have developed strong resilience. But many people haven’t got that level of support and assurance, and trolling could push them over the edge. 

Melissa Blake, who I mentioned earlier, posted selfies to defy her trolls.

During the last round of trollgate, people said that I should be banned from posting photos of myself because I’m too ugly. So I’d just like to commemorate the occasion with these 3 selfies…

Talking Beauty at All About Women – Sydney Opera House, and being published on CNN Style

One of the last things I did, before the world changed due to COVID-19, was speak at All About Women at Sydney Opera House. It was a career highlight! I chatted with Bri Lee and Flex Mami about beauty. We talked about beauty standards and representation, and the role of social media.

[image error]Image: three women, sitting on a stage, talking and laughing. They’re all wearing bright clothes.

You can watch the video of our talk here.

I was so lucky to share the experience with my Mum. Just before the session on Beauty, we took part in a African head wrap workshop, run by 2 Sydney Stylists. It was a great way to explore beauty, and also to get back to our South African heritage.

[image error]Image: two women of colour, mother and daughter, standing and smiling. They’re wearing colourful head wraps

We caught up with old friends and new – reading, laughing, eating and drinking, oblivious to how the world was about to change. I miss events like these, and acknowledge how lucky I was to have these opportunities. I can’t wait until they happen again.

A couple of days after All About Women, I received an email from an editor at CNN Style. She commissioned me to write a piece on beauty, after seeing the livestream of our talk. Another career highlight.

Here’s an excerpt.

“I am careful to only post photos of my real face — unfiltered. I don’t reduce the redness, nor edit the skin flakes from my scalp or clothing. I do it because I don’t want to hide who I am, and I do it so I can be visible — because I believe visibility creates possibility…

Until about 10 years ago, photo retouching was only done to models and celebrities in magazines. Now, with the help of an app, or even some phone cameras, anyone can sculpt their face or remove a blemish in an instant.
It worries me that we have access to digital retouching at our fingertips, and that so many people don’t show their true faces anymore.

It takes a lot of courage for those of us with facial differences and skin conditions to show our real faces on social media, when those with beauty privilege are altering theirs. It says a lot about the impossible and homogenized beauty standard that we’re told we must aspire to.”

You can read the whole article here.

[image error] Image: a screen shot of the CNN home page. A photo of a woman with a red face and short dark curly hair, wearing a yellow and navy floral dress, laughing. The text above the photo is the text: “CNN Style
Appearance activist Carly Findlay: ‘Visibility is possibility’
Published 5th May 2020”
Text below the image reads: “Carly Findlay OAM is an Australian writer, speaker, and activist. Findlay describes herself as an “appearance activist” and has been outspoken on a number of disability-related issues.
Credit: Prod Haus for Starting With Julius
Appearance activist Carly Findlay: ‘Visibility is possibility’
Written by Carly Findlay
Carly Findlay OAM is a writer, speaker and appearance activist. She’s also the author of “Say Hello,” a memoir that recounts her experience of living with the rare skin condition ichthyosis. All opinions expressed in this article belong to the author.”

Speaking at the Opera House and writing for CNN were dreams. I am so pleased to have these opportunities. Thank you.

It’s been 10 weeks since I started isolation. Since my calendar cleared. Things are picking up. Restrictions are easing. I have hope.

Supporting writers during COVID-19

[image error]
Image: a book, open on a piece of white patterned cloth – its pages are fanned out. Its spine is black. Above is text “SUPPORT THE WRITERS” with two black lines horizontally either side of the text.

With writers festivals and events being cancelled due to COVID-19,, it’s so important we keep supporting authors where we can. I know many authors who have been affected – their in person launches cancelled, replaced by online events. This will only continue while we .socially distance.

Writers will lose a huge amount of income due to a lack of purchasing, and also cancellation of events. Most writers don’t make a lot of money from writing books.

Personally I’ve had countless events postponed or cancelled – all speaking events to do with my book. Writers festivals have been cancelled. My second book has been postponed. While I will miss the income, I will miss t he contact with writes and audiences more. I expect there will be more cancellations.

So I urge you to help writers survive through this. Here are some ideas:

share what you’re reading on your social media – take photos of books, you reading them, bookshelves etcwrite to writers to tell them you like their workleave reviews of bookslisten to book related podcasts (and review them)give new or lend out your books to friendsread unread books on your shelves (I have so many!)donate your old books to charitybuild a street librarydownload ebooks and audiobooks if you cannot get outif you can afford to, buy physical books instore if they are open and you can get out, or online if you cannot (and some stores are delivering)support independent bookstoresattend online launches and festivals buy a friend a subscription to a writers centre or pass to a future festivalpledge to writers’ Patreons or PayPals if you are able toattend events that are rescheduled escape this doom by reading for at least 15 minutes a dayfollow writers on social mediagive your refunded ticket fees back to the writersread and share writers’ media articles and other writing share this post if you are unable to give financial support.

I was featured in this article about writers in the midst of COVID-19 on the ABC – along with a lot of other writers.

If my work has helped you, or you’ve used it in your work; please consider buying me a drink.

You can buy my memoir Say Hello here, and preorder Growing Up Disabled in Australia – it’s been postponed until February 2021.

Book review – The Year the Maps Changed by Danielle Binks

I will be launching Danielle Binks’ debut middle grade fiction book The Year the Maps Changed with Readings online at 6.30 pm on Thursday 30 April. Danielle is my literary agent and she’s become one of my best friends in the three years since I started working with her. She’s my confidante, fashion advisor and curly girl idol, and I was thrilled when she asked me to launch her book. We planned to do it in the Readings children’s store in Carlton, but then COVID-19 happened, so we are doing it online. You can book tickets here. 

[image error]Image: a photo collage featuring a book cover next to two women smiling. The book is called The Year the Maps Changed (in big red letters), and features roads in many directions, dotted with buildings, trees, cars and buses, a sea front with a pier and boat in the sea, and beach houses. The Two women are wearing bright clothes, standing in front of a hot pink and cornflower blue wall. They’re smiling. The woman on the left is pale skinned with blonde curly hair and the woman on the right has a red face and short dark hair tied back.

I read The Year the Maps Changed almost in one sitting. It was just brilliant. It reminded me of the books I’d get engrossed in as a kid, reading late into the night because  I wanted to stay immersed in the story with the characters.

Fred is in grade six – and she is struggling to find her place within her family, and also the world. She has an eclectic family – her Mum died when she was six years old, and she lives with her Pop, Luca – her late Mum’s partner, Anika and Sam – Luca’s new partner and her son, a year younger than Fred. Luca and Anika have a baby on the way. I really liked how Danielle wrote a non nuclear family unit, and also such diverse communities – something I didn’t experience growing up in regional Australia in the 1990s. 

Fred has a really tight friendship group – Aidan, Jed, Keira. While they are mature, aware of worldly issues, they’re still kids – riding their bikes around town, loving Lipsmacker lip gloss and being asked to check in at their parents’ work during school holidays. Fred is trying her best, even though she doesn’t always get things right, and the feeling of disappointing the role models in her life – especially Luca and her teacher Mr Khouri, is a weighty feeling. 

Fred is very wise – and often says profound things. I loved this line, where she worries about Luca being her father longer than her Mum was alive:

“I wonder if there’s a worse feeling than knowing that no matter what you do, you’ll hurt someone you love without meaning to.”

In the letter to her readers at the beginning of the book, Danielle said she wrote The Year the Maps Changed as a way of learning something she wanted to know – about the true story of the settlement of Kosovar-Albanian refugees on the Mornington Peninsula during the Howard-Ruddock leadership in 1999. She was the same age as Fred when these refugees arrived, fleeing the war between Kosovo and Serbia in the late 1990s. 

Fred becomes involved in the refugee community when Luca, a local police officer, volunteers at the safe haven (an old quarantine station). She also befriends a few refugees – Merjeme and Arta who are the same age as Fred and Sam, and Nora – a patient at the hospital. She learns a few Albanian words through her friendships.

Many of the community welcome the refugees, but a few oppose. I loved how Danielle wrote about a 12 year old boy whose  family planted negative thoughts about refugees in his mind, but his mind was changed when Fred set the record straight about them, based on Luca’s time volunteering at the safe haven. 

Geography is a big theme in the book – stemming from the title, and mentioned in most chapters. Mr Khouri, who reminded me of my own favourite teacher (Mrs Crossley), is excellent and asking his students to question what they know. I was moved by many things he taught his students, including:

“Sometimes maps are used to take power away from people, along with their land and language. And sometimes they  help to change history – or erase it.” – said of how often Africa is depicted as much smaller than North America on maps – when it is actually much bigger.

And

“What is the purpose of a national anthem, and what does it mean when a country refuses to live by its tradition?” – referring to the seemingly false in our national anthem – “with boundless plains to share.”

While I am a few years older than Danielle – I was in my final year of high school, I did not know a lot of the history Danielle wrote about – including Aboriginal history and about the refugees. She drew attention to the misnaming of Uluru by colonisers, and also some of the Aboriginal history of Mornington Peninsula. I learnt so much reading The Year the Maps Changed.  

It’s a story for our time – highlighting the terrible way the Australian government continues to treat asylum seekers (including the inaccessibility of a detention centre for disabled, older and pregnant people), the welcoming spirit of many Australians and also the method of quarantining new arrivals to Australia due to illness ms death – both colonisers and refugees  (which was unforeseen at the time of writing).

I know Danielle quite well, and could see she wrote herself into the book a little – a father who was a police officer; a grandparent who lived out the back; her love for the Labor Party and Ten Things I Hate About You; and her support for her favourite local bookshop, Farrells. I love that she wrote about her local area.

Danielle has a beautiful way of writing about big issues for young people – including refugees and infant loss. She has created politically aware, independent thinking, compassionate young people – and this book will shape many minds. 

I finished reading it feeling so satisfied – full of new. knowledge for myself, and the feeling that this book – based on historic events – will remain with Danielle’s young readers for a long time.  It is beautifully researched and written.

I am so proud of you, Danielle. 

Your Story Matters – intro to memoir with City of Melbourne Libraries

I am so grateful to City of Melbourne Libraries for still keeping my presentation on Introduction to memoir in their calendar. This is the only event that hasn’t been postponed due to COVID-19. I got to film a video in my kitchen.

While I’ve been getting dressed as I would for office work every day, Igor especially dressed up for filming this. I used a ring light on my laptop, as My kitchen was dad, even with the light on, and it made my face VERY shiny! Ha! While my dress was glam, I was wearing my fauxgboots!

[image error]Woman with red face and short dark curly hair tied back, wearing a colourful dress over a yellow jumper, and a brooch that’s a jacaranda tree in – window. She’s smiling.

Download a copy of my presentation; Your story matters (PDF 514 KB)

Accessible version of my presentation: Your story matters (DOC 128 KB)

Hope it’s useful!

If you want to book me to speak or write for you, send me an email. I can film videos or do live video conferences – in my fauxgboots, though. I hope that’s ok!

[image error]The floaty skirt of the dress, and rose gold fake ugg boots on tiles.

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