I always work best to deadlines.NYC Midnight Flash Fiction gives me a random genre, location and object and 48 hours to write a 1000 word short story.In the last round I came third in my group with Crater Lake. THIRD!!! One of the best things about this competition is the feedback from the judges: ”Crater … More Midnight is a lonely place
Tonight I made the pilgrimage to see Ryoji Ikeda’s Spectra at MONA as part of Dark MoFo 2018. It now has a permanent home there after appearing at the first Dark MoFo in 2013. Here’s what I wrote in 2013: Night after night the column of light scythed a path through the midnight sky. And … More Spectra
I’ve had another couple of comedy outings in the last two weeks. At Side-Splitting Comedy in early April I played my five-string guitar (badly) and sang. Cult on 19 April was the first time I’d done new material without my son in the audience. There was a whole range of new things to talk about! … More Comedy continued
Other people’s junk Delicious in its possibilities Doors without a car Shelves without a book A Christmas tree discarded so close to Christmas Someone’s latest gadget now unplugged and destined for landfill. By-products of someone’s life So much more interesting than my own.
I notice the house by its absence Four paling fences defiantly protecting an empty block. I can’t call the house to mind Was it a simple cottage or a two storey family home? I notice its absence more than I ever noticed its presence. Will people one day notice I’ve gone without being able to … More Where once a house stood…
Fifteen years on, I’ve shared this with my son. I remember the day clearly: it was traumatic for both of us. He didn’t want to go to crèche and I didn’t want to go to work. I came very, very close to leaving my job, but instead wrote this and sold it for $300 to … More Because I am three
How to write a story in just eight words? Thanks to the Queensland Writers Centre for the challenge and for publishing my first attempt: “Killing him was easy, after the chocolate incident…”
In 2009, an Icelandic troupe performed an adaptation of Kafka’s Metamorphosis, as part of Tasmania’s Ten Days on the Island festival. So began my love affair with Iceland and my fascination with island culture – what brings us together and what makes us different. Iceland and Tasmania are similar in size (100 sq km vs 68 … More Two Islands
You know how I said I was only going to do stand-up once? I’ve now done more gigs than I can remember, though I still only have a small amount of tried and true material. On Thursday 26 October I sang “Groundhog Day” at a new material night. I only learned enough chords to accompany … More I will do this only once…
Stand up comedy and family violence? Hardly a match made in heaven. But on Friday 13 October, thanks to the skill of host Sally Rose McShane, an enthusiastic and generous crowd and some kick-ass comedians, we raised a significant amount of money to Share the Dignity. And I discovered that the secret to doing a … More iStandUp Against Family Violence
See Beth Jump 