Lefa Singleton Norton's Blog, page 8

Stella Prize Longlist 2015

Stella time! Today saw the announcement of the Stella Prize longlistfor 2015. Of these I’ve read Laurinda, Foreign Soil and This House of Grief. I have The Strays and Heat and Light sitting in my to-read pile already, but that leaves so many more to enjoy before the announcement of the winner in April.

As an aside, how beautiful is this collection of covers?

January/February 2015 Update

It’s February! This is exciting, because it means I’m relieved of my summer childcare duties and back to the writing desk. Lots of ideas have been percolating over my break, and I’m very eager to get back in the swing of things. Obviously there isn’t much work to update you on, but I can report that my reading challenge for this year is well on track. In fact, I’m two books ahead of schedule. Lets see if I can keep that up once my writing hours increase.

I have spent what little time to work I...

The outlook for 2015 and a look back at 2014

At the precipice of a new year it is often tempting to set enormous goals, or to think about radical change. For the past few years the outlook at this time of the year could be boiled down to ‘more of the same’. That wasn’t a bad thing, per say, it was just that with my main work focus being Express Media I didn’t have a great deal of wiggle room in setting ambitious goals in other areas. The thing I most keenly wanted, and aimed for, in 2014 was professional development.

I wanted to be chall...

#writingwhilefemale

Maxine Beneba Clarke

Maxine Beneba Clarke has launched a brilliant initiative gaining some attention at the moment. Her hashtag #writingwhilefemale is a fascinating view into the experiences of women writers.

The Wheeler Centre published an interview with Maxine today where she talks about why she started the hashtag, which you should read.

Make sure you check out the hashtag on twitter as more people add their experiences, or even better, contribute your own.

Leaving Express Media

After three and a half years, I leave behind this familiar (now empty) desk and set off on new adventures. My time at Express Media has been rewarding in so many ways, but it has also been exhausting and all-consuming. It was well and truly time to move on, but I’m sad to draw a close to this chapter of my life.

When I started at Express Media, working with Joe Toohey as General Manager, my son was barely one, my CFS/ME was in remission, I hadn’t yet been diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder...

National Young Writers’ Festival 2014

My last act as Creative Producer at Express Media isto go to National Young Writers’ Festival. I’ll be appearing at three panels, all of which seem to be perfectly created to explore my favourite topics. If you haven’t been to NYWF, this is the year to make the trip to Newcastle and find out what has kept people like me coming back for 10+ years.

Reading update

As August draws to a close I thought it might be worth checking in on my reading goals for this year. As in previous years, I set myself the goal of reading 52 books this year. One per week always sounds entirely reasonable, but I’ve been shocked to see how short I have fallen from the goal in some years. As I check in on my Goodreads stats for 2014, it tells me I’ve read 46 thus far, and am ninebooks ahead of schedule. Awesome. I’m pretty sure I got a substantial boost from the large collect...

The Noobz

I’m proud as punch to have a short contribution included in this collection by if: book Australia and Editia, The Noobz. Focussing on expermients in reading and writing, it’s a short and sweet collection featuring wonderful writers such as Romy Ash, Ronnie Scott and Benjamin Law. Not bad company to find yourself in. The ebook is only $9.99 which is great value. You can read more on the Editia website, but here is a taste of what to expect…

“Change your tools for storytelling, change your routi...

Building Community

Last year I had the pleasure of being included inThe Emerging Writer, produced by the Emerging Writers’ Festival as a compendium of advice and thoughts about the business of being a writer. I wrote a chapter on community; what that means, how you can find or build your own, why you should bother. It was niceto see my chapter crop up again, in this case being quoted by Justin Heazlewood in his book Funemployed. The book is a rumination on what life is like for artists and writers in Australia....

SBS: Female sensibilities the undoing of kids’ books? I don’t think so

Are women in publishing the reason young boys aren’t reading? Some within the industry would have us think so, and I wrote about it for SBS News’ Comment and Analysis section. Here’s a taste:

“Women are relegated to working in children’s publishing because, like many other services or industries, books for children are considered lightweight, easier, less important. Like their counterparts in academic publishing, women are found in higher concentrations in ‘soft’ pockets. Their expertise is fi...