"Be clear"
"Do not explain too much"
"Omit needless words"
"Do not inject opinion"
The author of this article, Geoffrey Pullum, writes for The Chronicle, and he offers up that grammatical style books such as the famous American version written by Strunk and White, has resulted in several generations of college students who feel "vaguely anxious and insecure whenever they write "however"... but can't tell you why."
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Opening Address of the Brisbane Writers Festival
Last night, September 9, was the opening of the 2009 Brisbane Writers Festival. Jane O'Hara, the artistic director, gave an engaging welcome to the audience, describing those filling the seats and those that would come to stroll the halls of the State Library of Queensland as a "hum of authors" - strong, resonant, engaging, soft, loud, but always present.
This was followed by Noel Pearson as the guest speaker for the Opening Night of the Festival. Mr Pearson's words confronted, divided, challenged, moved, outraged, infuriated, offended, inspired - the content ranging from philosophical questions of social versus individual progress, to altruism and self interest in the face of climate change, to the land rights issue in the Wild Rivers area of Cape York. Mulling in the Breezeway tent afterwards, opinion was mixed on the choice of Mr Pearson and the content of his address and conversations could be overheard that sung his praise or disapproved of the choice of him as a speaker. Was this the forum for a long-term activist to be airing his grievances? Did the content of his speech have anything to do with a writers festival? Were his issues, his anger, his outrage, and his emotion, too much for a Brisbane audience to bear at 6pm on a Wednesday evening?
Regardless of what you think about Mr Pearson and the content of his speech - one thing is certain: it got people talking. And that's what festivals are about - debate, ideas, being pushed outside the comfort zone. That's why people attend writers festivals, otherwise they would stay away, preferring to be distracted and comforted by reruns of football finals in the company of those who always agree with their point of view. Writers festivals are designed to expand the mind, to present ideas to the grey cells of the brain that are otherwise stagnated at the desk jobs or Saturday morning soccer matches, and to provoke conversation topics that stray from the usual discussions of the state of road works in Brisbane CBD. The simple act of sitting, listening, and listening some more is something that we have become so unaccustomed to, preferring to be distracted by a palm held device starting with i-. It is incredibly therapeutic to allow yourself an hour, or two or three, to listen to what someone else has to say, and then think about it.
This was followed by Noel Pearson as the guest speaker for the Opening Night of the Festival. Mr Pearson's words confronted, divided, challenged, moved, outraged, infuriated, offended, inspired - the content ranging from philosophical questions of social versus individual progress, to altruism and self interest in the face of climate change, to the land rights issue in the Wild Rivers area of Cape York. Mulling in the Breezeway tent afterwards, opinion was mixed on the choice of Mr Pearson and the content of his address and conversations could be overheard that sung his praise or disapproved of the choice of him as a speaker. Was this the forum for a long-term activist to be airing his grievances? Did the content of his speech have anything to do with a writers festival? Were his issues, his anger, his outrage, and his emotion, too much for a Brisbane audience to bear at 6pm on a Wednesday evening?
Regardless of what you think about Mr Pearson and the content of his speech - one thing is certain: it got people talking. And that's what festivals are about - debate, ideas, being pushed outside the comfort zone. That's why people attend writers festivals, otherwise they would stay away, preferring to be distracted and comforted by reruns of football finals in the company of those who always agree with their point of view. Writers festivals are designed to expand the mind, to present ideas to the grey cells of the brain that are otherwise stagnated at the desk jobs or Saturday morning soccer matches, and to provoke conversation topics that stray from the usual discussions of the state of road works in Brisbane CBD. The simple act of sitting, listening, and listening some more is something that we have become so unaccustomed to, preferring to be distracted by a palm held device starting with i-. It is incredibly therapeutic to allow yourself an hour, or two or three, to listen to what someone else has to say, and then think about it.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Brisbane Writers Festival
Hi friends
The Brisbane Writers Festival is set to launch on Wednesday 9 September. This year, the Festival has a new director, Jane O'Hara, who is featured on the cover of Brisbane News this week.
At the launch of the Festival program on 31 July, Jane said, "In almost 150 events over five word-drenched days, from September 9-13 a perfect storm of writers from around the globe will converge on Brisbane each ready and armed to discuss that lovely little thing: the word."
The Brisbane Writers Festival is set to launch on Wednesday 9 September. This year, the Festival has a new director, Jane O'Hara, who is featured on the cover of Brisbane News this week.
At the launch of the Festival program on 31 July, Jane said, "In almost 150 events over five word-drenched days, from September 9-13 a perfect storm of writers from around the globe will converge on Brisbane each ready and armed to discuss that lovely little thing: the word."
Festival highlights this year include:
- Opening Night address by Noel Pearson, speaking to his Quarterly Essay On Education, and on an educatoin for the future that leaves no one behind.
- Closing Night address will be by Thomas Keneally, a fantastic storyteller, whose new book Australians: Origins to Eureka is the first in a four-volume history of Australia (whoa!)
- Tracy Chevalier, Girl with the Pearl Earring, is launching her new book Remarkable Creatures.
- Clive Small, Australia's most famous policeman, launching his book Smack Express - How Organised Crime got Hooked on Drugs
- Bettina Arndt - and a mature discussion about intimate relationships and her book, The Sex Diaries
- Krissy Keen - Affection
- Gretel Killeen - The Night my Bum Dropped
- Julia Morris - Don't You Know Who I Used to Be?
- The Chaser Boys - Dominic Knight and Chris Taylor
- Christian Lander - who wrote the now famous blog stuffwhitepeoplelike.com
- Jeb Brugmann - Welcome to the Urban Revolution - speaking about revolutions to make cities sustainable
- John R Talbott - The 86 Biggest Lies on Wall Street
- Tania James and Padma Viswanathan on their Indian heritage
- James A Levine - The Blue Notebook
- A photography exhibition on Afghani women, post-Taliban rule, by Lana Slezic
- Joris Luyendijk - Fit to Print
- Wayson Choy's moving memoir - Not Yet: a memoir of living and almost dying (about reflections of what a family is to a gay man)
- Brissie authors Amy Barker (Omega Park) and Kirsten Reed (The Ice Age)
- Ben O'Donoghue cooking events
- Cold Chisel's Don Walker
- The Sports' Stephen Cummings ...and about 100 more sessions!
The program is available via searching online at www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au.
I am chairing the following sessions, with these fabulous authors:
Friday 1:45pm - Sex and Marriage with Bettina Arndt (The Sex Diaries) and Kate Legge (The Marriage Club)
Friday 4pm - The Lost Mother, with Anne Summers
Saturday 10am - Coming of Age, with Tania James (Atlas of Unknowns), Kirsten Reed (The Ice Age), Chris Silvey (Jasper Jones)
Sunday 9am-11am - BBQ Breakfast and Talking Food with Ben O'Donoghue (Ben's BBQ) and Rebecca Huntley (Eating between the Lines).
All ticket information is available through the website.
Please, have a look at the program - there is something for everyone!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Magic powers?
If you could have a magical power, what would it be? Invisible? Flying ability? Mind reading?
I must admit, ashamedly, to only recently becoming a convert of Harry Potter. Prior to this, I had been a sceptic. Yes, I was one of those people who screwed up their nose at anything that required any kind of thinking outside the square of reality. Aliens? No thanks. Space machines and time travel? I don't think so. Boy-child with broom and magic wand? I don't think so, that doesn't happen in the real world.
Basically, if it didn't happen in reality, it wasn't to be read. Moreso, I wasn't going to spend money on supporting J K Rowlings "childrens' books for adults", aka Harry Potter. I don't watch Star Wars, Star Trek, or Star Anything. I don't like the idea of small, slimey goblins chasing rings, even if it is in the green bliss of New Zealand. No. Science fiction, fantasy, speculative fiction - not for me.
Sigh.
A dear friend of mine couldn't believe that I could be so narrow minded. So, for my birthday, I received a box containing a blissful set of Harry Potter books.
I have recently dived in - held my breath, put aside my bias and scepticism, and tried to open my mind.
I now want my own Owl.
Ah, the bliss of the open mind. May it hit us all. I am only sorry it has taken me this long.
Who knows, maybe J R Tolkien is next...
I must admit, ashamedly, to only recently becoming a convert of Harry Potter. Prior to this, I had been a sceptic. Yes, I was one of those people who screwed up their nose at anything that required any kind of thinking outside the square of reality. Aliens? No thanks. Space machines and time travel? I don't think so. Boy-child with broom and magic wand? I don't think so, that doesn't happen in the real world.
Basically, if it didn't happen in reality, it wasn't to be read. Moreso, I wasn't going to spend money on supporting J K Rowlings "childrens' books for adults", aka Harry Potter. I don't watch Star Wars, Star Trek, or Star Anything. I don't like the idea of small, slimey goblins chasing rings, even if it is in the green bliss of New Zealand. No. Science fiction, fantasy, speculative fiction - not for me.
Sigh.
A dear friend of mine couldn't believe that I could be so narrow minded. So, for my birthday, I received a box containing a blissful set of Harry Potter books.
I have recently dived in - held my breath, put aside my bias and scepticism, and tried to open my mind.
I now want my own Owl.
Ah, the bliss of the open mind. May it hit us all. I am only sorry it has taken me this long.
Who knows, maybe J R Tolkien is next...
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Are book characters your friends?
Try this. Find yourself some time (easy if you're a freelancer like me), but find it somehow - on a holiday, a weekend, a night when the TV doesn't go on. Find the time, and then spend AT LEAST an hour with your book. This will ensure that you're immersed in it. Totally. And it has to be a fiction book - non-fiction simply doesn't do it, sorry boys!
You will find, I guarantee it, that you start to find that the characters in these books become your friends.
Trust me.
You will find, I guarantee it, that you start to find that the characters in these books become your friends.
Trust me.
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