Lili Wilkinson's Blog, page 16

Why Hello There!

Look at how I have a fancy new website! (please update links/etc)

It's brand new so let me know if anything isn't working for you.

And thanks to Chris Miles who built it all and made it so very pretty (and functional).

Philip Pullman on Lewis and Tolkien

Tolkien was a Catholic, for whom the basic issues of life were not in question, because the Church had all the answers. So nowhere in 'The Lord of the Rings' is there a moment's doubt about those big questions. No-one is in any doubt about what's good or bad; everyone knows where the good is, and what to do about the bad. Enormous as it is, TLOTR is consequently trivial. Narnia, on the other hand, is the work of a Protestant - and an Ulster Protestant at that, for whom the individual...

Request

Hello There.
Are you wondering what to do with your life? Are you looking for a niche that needs to be filled? Somewhere where you will be needed, appreciated?
LOOK NO FURTHER.
Somebody, please, open a butcher on Queens Parade.
There are two empty shops available, or you could take over one of the 8 cafes, 4 hairdressers, 4 bakeries, 2 chicken & chips shops/pizza places/florists/fruit&veg.
Thank you,
Lili

Ron Mueck

I went to the Ron Mueck exhibition at NGV yesterday. It was extraordinary.

Ron Mueck is an Australian-born artist, who creates hyperrealistic sculptures at adjusted and unusual scales. He had a good education in the surreal and uncanny, working for Jim Henson as a sculptor and puppeteer (he played Ludo in Labyrinth - squee!).
The first piece - Dead Dad - was a very vulnerable naked replica of Mueck's father after his death. The sculpture is scaled down about 2/3, and is the only one of his...

Looking for a girl who can make her own clogs?

Among the awesome loot I got for my birthday, there was this book:I am curled up on the couch with endless cups of tea today, learning how to guddle (or tickle) trout, skin a rabbit, make cider, sweep a chimney, lay out a hedge maze, make a weathercock, right a wheel, craft a Welsh love spoon and paint a canal boat.
Is it wrong that now I'm actually kind of looking forward to the apocalypse? So I can wow everyone with my ability to work scrimshaw and make my own besom broom?

Juvenilia

My agent recently shared some of her teen writing, and as it's my birthday and you're not allowed to be too mean to me, I'm going to be brave and do the same.
Between the ages of 10 and 14, I wrote a novel. It's about 65 000 words long, and every one of them is crap. Looking through it for a suitably embarrassing passage to share, I was struck by how totally and thoroughly I stole from other books. It's like a list of my teenaged reading:
(Cold Comfort Farm)
The gateman closed one eye in specula...

Newses

1. Angel Fish is a CBCA Notable book for 2010! I'm so very happy about this. Pink and Angel Fish came out at the same time and everyone was very excited about Pink, and Angel Fish was like the quiet child who people often don't notice. So it's nice to be noticed. I'm also just really pleased with the Older Readers shortlist this year (despite not being on it) - it's a great mix of books, with some fresh new faces as well as some old favourites. And LOTS OF GIRL PROTAGONISTS!
2. There's a new S...

Best YA titles

Adele from Persnickety Snark is compiling a list of the Top 100 YA Novels of All Time. I've just agonised over my own personal Top 10 to add to the list. It was HARD, and I'm sure I've forgotten some. But here they are:
Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne JonesObernewtyn by Isobelle CarmodyReady or Not by Meg CabotThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark HaddonNick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David LevithanMandragora by David McRobbieAlanna: The First...

Rant. Women. Writing. Chicklit.

So there's been a bit in the media lately about women writers and some other related bits and pieces. And I know this is a soapbox that I've jumped up and down on before, but I'm going to have to keep jumping for now.

First, there's an article in the Telegraph about the Orange Prize, a literary award for women writers:

Given that women have won five out of the last six Whitbread/Costas, does the level of injustice remain enough to justify the Orange?

Women are predominant, in...

Pink Highly Commended

I'm so very pleased to tell you all that PINK has been Highly Commended for the Barbara Jefferis Award.

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Barbara Jefferis was the founding President of the Australian Society of Authors, and the Award is for "the best novel written by an Australian author that depicts women and girls in a positive way or otherwise empowers the status of women and girls in society".

Last year Helen Garner won, so it's pretty nice company to be in.

You can view the shortlist and the other Highly Commended title her...