NEW LITERARY SALON MELBOURNE

I'm organising a new monthly salon in Melbourne featuring only the best Oz writers, poets, artists and thinkers. Info for 4 Feb Debut Night here. Have been no recent postings on blog as I'm engrossed in finishing the new book of poems THE BOOK OF SKINS, to be published by John Leonard Press early 2013, and ruminating on a couple of challenging book reviews which are worthy truly of the rumination. Will be posting them soon - 

NEW MONTHLY LITERARY SALON STARTS 4 FEB 2013

A new monthly literary salon starts this Monday 4 February in South Melbourne, featuring Melbourne-based writers Alison Croggon and Stephanie Honor Convery. A well-known novelist, poet and critic, Croggon will be reading poetry. A novelist, blogger and activist, Convery will be reading work based on her in-progress book on the politics of exercise and the body. The event will be MCd by writer and performer, Bo Svoronos, with an open session for writers following the features. The event is on Monday, 4 February, at Evening Star, corner Cecil and York streets, South Melbourne, 7.30 pm for 8 pm. There is no admission fee. Organised by writer Jacinta Le Plastrier and Evening Star restaurateur and writer Renan Goskin, the salon is part of the venue’s Port Phillip Gilgamesh Readings. Upcoming writers at the salon, to be held the first Monday of each month, include Petra White, Steve Smart, Gig Ryan, Kent MacCarter, Ali Alizadeh, Matt Hetherington, Elizabeth Campbell, Cheryl Overs, Kevin Brophy, Elizabeth Campbell and Jacinda Woodhead.  The idea of the salon, says Le Plastrier, is to create a serious but enjoyable forum for literature, politics and culture. (For more information, the Port Phillip Gilgamesh Readings FB page.)

BIOS

Alison Croggon has published several collections of poetry, which won the Anne Elder and Dame Mary Gilmore Prizes and were shortlisted for the Victorian (twice) and NSW Premier's Literary Awards. Her most recent collection is THEATRE (Salt Publishing 2008). She is the author of the best-selling fantasy quartet THE BOOKS OF PELLINOR, which has been published worldwide, shortlisted for two Aurealis Awards and named one of the Notable Books of 2003 by the Children's Book Council of Australia. The US edition of THE NAMING, was judged a Top Ten Teen Read by Amazon.com. Her new novel BLACK SPRING has just been released in Australia and the UK. From 2004-2012 she ran the review blog THEATRE NOTES for which she won the 2009 Geraldine Pascall Prize for Critic of the Year, and was formerly Melbourne theatre critic for The Australian and The Bulletin. She has written several works for theatre, including the operas THE BURROW and GAUGUIN with the composer Michael Smetanin, and MAYAKOVSKY, commissioned by Victorian Opera in 2013.

Stephanie Honor Convery is a writer of fiction, non-fiction, criticism and commentary in the fields of feminism, politics, Indigenous Australia, literature, art and travel. Her work has been published by Meanjin, the ABC Drum, Overland Literary Journal, the Melbourne Writers’ Festival blog, harvest, Voiceworks, The Wheeler Centre and The Big Issue. She has completed a first novel, BIG RIVER, a magical realist drama set in the Australian tropics. She is presently writing a non-fiction book on the politics of exercise and the body. Stephanie is also an activist and academic. She blogs regularly at www.gingerandhoney.com 

MC: Bo Svoronos recently completed his doctorate in Indigenous Festivals and Reciprocity. He has been an independent producer and tour manager for the Global Poetics Tour and chairperson of WELL Productions inc. In his role as Indigenous Arts Officer for the City of Port Phillip, he founded, produced and programmed five Indigenous multi-disciplinary festivals, curated visual art exhibitions and established significant cultural programs. Bo re-founded, produced and co-directed two St Kilda Writers’ Festivals. He also writes and performs his own works across various disciplines and genres.