Lefa Singleton Norton's Blog, page 6
August 7, 2017
FFS: Whose Conception is it Anyway?
Feminist Family Salon (FFS) returns with a conversation about making families in new ways. Our panel will explore conception, pregnancy, birth and our bodies. How do we navigate the many different ways we can bring babies into the world when our family doesn’t fit the nuclear mould? Is how we conceive, grow and birth our child political? Does the ‘how’ of how our babies come into the world matter?
For more details see our Facebook event page. Tickets can be purchased via TryBooking.
2.30pm...
July 28, 2017
Melbourne Writers Festival 2017
Every year when I’m asked to facilitate panels at Melbourne Writers Festival I pinch myself. The festival, particularly in the last five years under Lisa Dempster’s helm, is such a joy. I have found myself chairing sessions with writers I admire or talking about topics I’m passionate about. I love the opportunity to immerse myself in their work and explore what they write. This year I am hosting the following panels:
10am Tuesday 29 August
Budding writers, join author...
June 24, 2017
City of Literature ILS Trip: Norwich
After a week of panels, readings and discussions I’m feeling simultaneously exhausted and excited. The ILS has been an invaluable experience and I expect to be digesting all of the ideas and work I have seen for quite some time.
Coming in to this experience I had a clear idea of what I was hoping to do: talk to women from all over the UK and the world about the situation for women writers in their countries. I wanted to know if we faced similar challenges, if the gender inequality we are add...
June 19, 2017
City of Literature ILS Trip: Glasgow Women’s Library
A quick visit to Glasgow allowed just enough time to pop in to the Glasgow Women’s Library. This facility has recently moved to its permanent home in a gorgeous building housing a lending library, archive, craft space, gorgeous function space and offices. Around 20 staff (some part time) work on the programs run by the centre.
Imagine a place where feminism, literature, words, collectivism, politics, community and access are at the heart. The Glasgow Women’s Library is this utopia. I had a t...
June 18, 2017
City of Literature ILS Trip: Norwich
The main reason for this trip, the International Literature Showcase, is finally here! I’m in Norwich and feeling incredibly overwhelmed at the program of events and sessions I have to look forward to. I’d encourage you to check out all the ILS sessions on the website as they will be broadcasting live daily and available in archive form afterwards.
June 13, 2017
City of Literature ILS Trip: Edinburgh
I visited these two fine literary establishments yesterday before leaving Edinburgh. Between the laneway location, cobblestones and dumpster I felt like I could have been in Melbourne. I think the five books I left with (despite my determination not to buy more than one) are a testament to the quality of the stores.
Deadhead Comics had a great display of independent comics, from which I managed to select a pair made by local artists.
Lighthouse Books (formerly Word Power Books) is a really sp...
June 4, 2017
Feminist Family Salon: What is Feminist Parenting?
Yesterday an idea that has slowly germinated and grown finally reached full bloom. Our first Feminist Family Salon took place with a sold out audience and over 100 people watching the live stream of our event.
Our guests Joyce Watts, Nelly Thomas and Amy Gray spent the better part of two hours talking with me about feminist parenting and the many aspects that we consider as we go about the business of helping our kids navigate the world.
If you would like to watch the panel it is available a...
June 2, 2017
Reading Matters 2017
There are some gigs you get asked to do and you do a little fist pump sitting at your desk. For me, Reading Matters is one of those. For those who don’t know, Reading Matters comes around every two years and is the Centre for Youth Literature’s conference on all things YA for librarians, booksellers, teachers and YA artists. The CYL team always put together an exceptional program – informative, engaging and surprising – and I’ve been lucky enough to be asked to host panels for the past two ye...
December 9, 2015
2015
This year has been one of the toughest of my life, professionally and personally. It has been a year where the highest of highs have been reached, but the lowest of lows have seemed to dominate. I’ve written less than I wanted to, but done amazing projects such as the Independent Publishing Conference. I’ve met wonderful people I haven’t had the opportunity to work with before, and said goodbye to a friend and co-worker I admired and loved dearly. I’ve read more books than I have in a long ti...
November 24, 2015
Independent Publishing Conference 2015
After an epic three days, the Independent Publishing Conference is finished for the year. I’m exhausted, but very happy with how the event went. I hadn’t planned to run an event of this size in 2015, but when the Small Press Network asked I couldn’t say no. The organisation is such an important part of our literary ecosystem, and I felt like this would be the perfect opportunity to learn more about the publishing/publishers aspects of our industry. Mostly when programming I work with artists,...
