Category Archives: MWF staff musings
Farewell, MWF 2011
As we decamp from Beer Deluxe, accept that no, we can’t live in the magnificent BMW Edge, and unplug our laptops from ACMI powerpoints, I have to admit it’s nice to have some breathing space and an opportunity to reflect on another brilliant MWF.
Of course, there were some low points. For example, when the MWF team thought up the theme ‘Stories Unbound’, I’m pretty sure they didn’t mean that I should accost festival guests with questionable snippets of my life experience every time I had a wine (or eight). Plus, the usual festival dashing about meant that I didn’t catch all the sessions I wanted to; despite daily trying to one-up festival director Steve Grimwade in terms of how many I managed to see, I had to lie to beat him.
But I am always energised when I reflect upon MWF events, and my memories from the past eleven days provide no exception. Here are my 2011 festival highlights, in no particular order:
1. Peggy Frew’s reading at the launch of The Big Issue fiction edition. Like a lot of festival punters, I’m often in two minds about readings, but when Frew finished reading from her Big Issue story, ‘Camping’, you could hear the audience collectively, finally exhale.
2. Speaking with debut and early-career novelists Melanie Joosten, Jessica Au, SJ Finn and Raphael Brous about love, growing up, work and ghosts in Melbourne’s New Wave
3. The passionate and incendiary Mona Eltahawy on the uprising in Egypt and how it was inspired by and will influence the politics of the Middle East
4. Engaging in a bit of Julia Zemiro-love at Friday Night Live
5. The modest but utterly original César Aira discussing his slim novels and his unusual no-editing, ‘flight forward’ technique
While all these experiences are defined by having been part of MWF 2011, they are also springboards that will propel me into directed and engaged reading for the rest of the year and beyond.
As always, my thanks to the MWF team for an inspiring, varied, well-run and exciting festival. And this year, a guernsey too to Melbourne weather, which was mostly salutary, mostly kind.
What were your highlights from MWF 2011?
Some Class Clowns never grow old
My glasses kept shaking free of my head with each impact. This. This is what happens when Steve Grimwade, director of the Melbourne Writers Festival, denies your request to pump child-safe dosages of Valium into the air ducts during the Schools Program. The back of my chair was being gleefully kicked by tiny Clarks shoes, and the squeals of over stimulated kids gave me flashbacks to being a barrista in a café.
If you’re unsure whether you want to have children, work in a café for a month. You will give yourself a ghetto vasectomy using a butter knife and a biro after your first shift. Still, I could forgive their hubris. The source of their excitement was seeing one of their favourite authors. I can’t resent any kid loving to read. I was that kid.
So there I was, sitting at the end of a row of babbling children. Looking like a lone spike of activity in a bar graph measuring bitterness by age. I was attending a talk given by an old acquaintance from my early stand-up days in Sydney. Oliver Phommavanh, a teacher by trade, had written two kids books. The covers of both exuded the quirky Asian persona that had made him popular in the comedy rooms of Sydney. Having seen Oliver perform a bunch of times I was ready to see him start with a few self-deprecating quips designed to make a predominantly white audience feel slightly better about any underlying racist thoughts they weren’t ready to acknowledge.
Those quips were still in there, but they were buried in a tirade of chaotic rants punctuated with the word ‘woooo!’. Oliver ran about the small theatre whipping the already agitated youngsters into a state of vibrating exuberance. He didn’t just have verbal diarrhea, he had Mexican tap water verbal diarrhea. One topic frenetically slammed into the next, leaving myself and any one over the age of puberty glancing at each other in amused bewilderment. He barely even acknowledged his books, instead reveling in the howling adoration of his target audience.
Phommavanh is clearly someone who never grew out of being the class clown. Watching him pull care bears from a bag of plush toys that he’d brought along left me feeling the same way I do when I watch video clips on MTV. Old, out of touch, and with no real idea of what on earth I’m looking at.
That being said, Oliver’s insanity isn’t meant for me. It’s for the children, and they bloody loved it. Bouncing in their seats, overjoyed at the unpredictable delivery, and hopefully taking in the subtle message that your imagination is your most valuable asset. I dare say that if I was their age I would have been just as enamoured by Phommavanh’s boisterous mile-an-hour rants.
From funny bones to creepy bones: The best of Friday Night Live
One of my favourite events of last weekend’s MWF was Friday Night Live with Julia Zemiro – a night of great entertainment, with a smart, funny host and guests to match.
Ahead of tomorrow’s second (and final) edition of Friday Night Live, I thought I’d share some highlights from last week’s interviews. My advice: book in, come along. You won’t be disappointed.
Steve Hely: “Have a delicious meal in the book”
I was very pleased that host Julia Zemiro dug for some dirt on 30 Rock, a show she said she’d “walk over hot coals to write for” – pretty much my feeling too.
Julia asked him if the actors improvise with the lines, to which Steve replied, “not at all”. Not surprisingly, given that writer/creator/star, Tina Fey, is first and foremost a writer, he said it’s a show that expects the actors to say the lines as they’re written.
“Some actors are better at saying words than others,” he said. “Alec Baldwin, he’s really good at saying words. Tina Fey is really good at saying words. [Pause] We also have Tracy Morgan on the show.”
Steve said he grew up in a house where he wasn’t allowed to watch TV. “My parents made it tantalising.”
He said they were very happy if he was reading books, no matter the book – books were just a good thing. One book he vividly remembers was Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, which he read aged 13. “Five pages in, there was the filthiest sex scene ever.”
What are his tips for writing a bestseller? Just one of them: “Have a delicious meal in the book.”
Tess Gerritsen: “I have been creepy since I was a kid”
At pretty much every festival I attend, there’s at least one author who surprises me: a new discovery. This year, it was the utterly charming crime writer Tess Gerritsen.
As she came on stage to sit beside Steve Hely, she quipped, “That’s not fair. First you get the funny one. Now I’m the creepy one.” She joked that, while Steve has a funny bone, she has a “creepy bone”.
“I have been creepy since I was a kid. I blame it on my mother, who loved American horror films. I spent my childhood in horror films.” The first she saw was Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Why did she become a doctor, and then a writer? “I was the daughter of Tiger Parents,” she said, referring to Amy Chua’s controversial ‘tiger mother’ label for immigrant parents who push their child to be over-achievers. “My father told me I’d never be able to make a living as a writer.”
She said that she grew up feeling that “the height of entertainment was to scare people”. Spirit readings around the dinner table were a regular, everyday occurence. “During dinner someone would often go into a trance.” How did she react to this, asked Julia? Tess shrugged.
What was the first rock concert she went to? “I never went to one. I went to Beethoven. We were only allowed to go to classical music.” (This led Steve Hely to quip, “We’re taking her!”)
But this question led to an unexpectedly terrific anecdote. “I did get a private concert with Don McLean once.” (He’s one of her neighbours.) How did this happen? “He said ‘what’s your favourite song of mine?’ I told him Starry Starry Night. So he went to get his guitar.”
Jon-Jon Goulian: received a postcard from his seven-year-old self, aged 37
Cross-dressing memoirist Jon-Jon Goulian, whose book The Man in the Grey Flannel Skirt tells the story of being determined not to follow in the footsteps of his high-achieving family – had a much cooler answer to Julia’s ‘rock concert’ question. “The Cure, 1984, at The Hollywood Bowl.” When the audience made appreciative noises, he continued: Howard Jones, Depeche Mode, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Duran Duran.
Jon-Jon told the story of receiving a postcard addressed to himself, written when he was seven years old, at the age of 37. The young him had given instructions to his postman to hold onto the postcard and mail it 30 years later – and he did! The questions posed by his seven-year-old self – Do you still play soccer? Do you still surf? Do you still live in La Jolla? – formed “the structural conceit” of his book, he reflected, as he tried to answer those questions.
“When I sold the rights to this book, I got a three year reprieve from my parents,” he said – a rest from the ongoing question of what he would do with his life. They recently told him his three years are up. So what will he do next? He’s not sure.
Other guests included house band The Bamboos (“the best funk band in Melbourne,” my husband tells me), musical guest Gareth Liddiard (pictured below) and stand-up comedy from Felicity Ward.
Guests on tomorrow’s Friday Night Live are: Simone Felice, John Elder Robison, Rachel DeWoskin, Casey Bennetto, Leslie Cannold, Charlotte Smith, Julia Zemiro, The Bamboos
Book your tickets here.
You’re not on the list
The volunteer at the box office flashed me the usual puzzled expression I receive when I tell people my surname.
“Keck? That can’t be right.”
“So it’s not on the list?”
“No, I mean it doesn’t sound right. Is it a real word?”
“No, it’s a real name.”
“Oh… Is it like your nom de plume?”
“Just the nom really”
Some people have the type of surname that is easily ticked off a list.
Smith? Check.
Jones? Check.
Not me. I have a German surname that roughly translated means cheeky or impudent, a more apt name I could not have hoped for. However, the English definition is “the noise made before vomiting” and in the north of England kecks refer to your underpants. So cheeky vomit knickers is apparently my legacy to any unfortunate children I spawn. Although with me as a parent the surname is the least of their worries.
I watched the volunteer’s pale finger run down the page, her slender nail gliding past the names of frustratingly talented writers, illustrators, and musicians. Not a huge surprise that mine wasn’t there.
There’s a wonderfully awkward moment when you realise you’re not on the guest list of an event. It’s akin to that feeling you get when no one jumps out and yells ‘happy birthday!’ at your surprise party because everyone forgot to turn up, and the only person to greet you is your cat licking his privates while maintaining an unsettling amount of eye contact.
The volunteer gave a sheepish grin. “Sorry, you’re just not on the list. Are you a writer?”. I had pondered this very question the week before. “How do you know if you’re a writer?” I asked. The volunteer fidgeted with her lanyard for a moment. “Do you write full time or do you have a job?”. I told her I had a fairly shitty rent paying job. “Ok, so when you meet people at parties do you bring up the shitty job or introduce yourself as a writer?” I stared at my sneakers. My silence was all the answer she needed. “Congratulations” she said as she took my hand in hers, “You belong here now”. She handed me a lanyard with the word ‘industry’ printed on it. My bottom lip quivered.
I knew the Melbourne Writers Festival volunteers were helpful. I had no idea they were crush your lump of soul until it became a diamond kind of helpful.
Picks of the festival: by MWF staff
Looking at the MWF program and wondering just which events to book in? Wishing you had an inside guide to what looks extra good?
Well, the MWF staff are at hand to share their very own picks of the festival:
6.30pm tonight, BMW Edge
Development manager Megan Dench says, “I wasn’t sure (maybe it would be too theoretical?), but then I heard her speak at our subscriber launch and kapow, it was, of course, incredibly impressive. Sophie is on the committee for the Stella Prize (Oz version of the Orange Prize) and I am a keen supporter and interested to hear more.”
Edinburgh Unbound
Tuesday 30 August, 8pm, The Toff in Town
Our marketing assistant Elaine Gibbs says, “Edinburgh International Book Festival is the second greatest literary festival in the world, according to me. And as a former Edinburgher, it’s one of the things I miss most about the city. So I’m very excited about this wee taste of Scotland that’s coming to the Toff.”
Thursday 1 September, 7.30pm
Romy Zwier says “The best music always tells a story – this will be an intimate look into stories behind songs and music as well as hear some great tunes! Always love to hear Melbourne singer/songwriters (esp. at the Corner)”
This event is much-anticipated by marketing manager Juliette Kringas.
The Family Laundry: with Ann Patchett, Maile Meloy and Georgia Blain
Friday 2 September, 2.30pm, BMW Edge
Elaine Gibb says, “Other people’s families are fascinating, and always seem so much more normal than one’s own. Except in books, where they are equally crazy, if not more so. Fiction is full of family dramas, and this session with American writers Ann Patchett and Maile Meloy, and Australia’s own Georgia Blain will air the best of them.”
This event is also a favourite pick for Romy Zwier and Jo Case.
Melbourne’s New Wave: Melanie Joosten, Jessica Au, S.J. Finn & Raphael Brous
Friday 2 September, 2.30pm, ACMI The Cube
Website intern Annur Yusuf says, “I’m ashamed to say I don’t read enough Australian fiction – and in particular Melbourne fiction. I’m interested to see what Melbourne’s new young writers have got to say.”
Friday 2 September, 4pm, ACMI Cinema 2
This was a pick for social media intern Jeff Hoogenboom, who said, “Stasiland was amazing, heartbreaking and revelatory, breaking me of my ‘fiction only’ stance. I’ve waited patiently for something else from Anna Funder to arrive. Finally it’s here.”
Friday Night Live with Julia Zemiro
Friday 2 September, 9pm, BMW Edge
General manager Liz Chappell says, “I have been waitlisted for Rockwiz for years and years and years – and now I get a JZ fix with my kind of content.”
Social media coordinator Jo Case says, “Last week’s FNL was so much fun, and Julia Zemiro was a terrific interviewer. Can’t wait for next week!”
The Art of Criticism: with Geordie Williamson & Nicholas Hasluck
Saturday 3 September, 10am, Wheeler Centre
Elaine Gibb says, “Anyone can be a critic, but how do you ensure that people will listen to your recommendations? This seminar with two leading names in the field is suitable for bloggers, journalists, reviewers, and anyone else who wants to make their opinions heard.”
Saturday 3 September, 2.30pm, BMW Edge
Sponsorship intern Romy Zwier is “looking forward to this discussion: excellent world-renowned panellists each with their own expertise and sensitivity to a complex issue.”
Writing the Spectrum: John Elder Robison and Anthony Macris
Saturday 3 September, 2.30pm, ACMI Cinema 1
Annur Yusuf says, “I work with two young kids who have Autism Spectrum Disorder. I find John Elder Robinson really, really fascinating. I am very grateful to those who are able to share their experiences dealing with ASDs.”
This event is also a top pick for Shelley McCuaig – and for Jo Case (who is chairing the event, and has a particular interest in ASD).
Dressed for Murder: Fashions from the World of Hitchcock
Saturday 3 September, 4pm, BMW Edge
Box office manager Justin Yuritta is keen on this event. So is Mgean Dench: “The marvellous Charlotte Smith will host a catwalk fashion show, new territory for MWF so I want to be there.”
Sofitel Salon: with Anna Funder, Ann Patchett and Eleanor Catton
Sunday 3 September, 3pm, Sofitel Hotel
Megan Dench is looking forward to this one: “I only got around to reading Stasiland this year (I know, behind everybody else in the world!) and as a mostly fiction reader, was quite taken with Anna’s style. Of course, she’ll be releasing her new work of fiction, so it will make excellent conversation with the other remarkable authors whom I also admire (and really, who can argue with afternoon tea and the charm of host MWF Chair Michael Webster as accompaniment?).”
http://www.mwf.com.au/2011/?name=event-info&event=206
How to ask questions without people wishing death upon you (a guide)
The first day of the Melbourne Writers Festival is almost at a close. With the onset of the weekend and more and more crowds pouring into various events, I thought it might be helpful to post a small, yet thoughtful, guide to the art of asking questions. Towards the end of each session the audience is invited to talk directly to the speaker/s they have excitedly come to see. It sounds wonderful, and it is, but it’s not without its pitfalls. So dear reader, read on.
1. Be prepared.
Asking a question is a lot like ordering in a cafe. Don’t wait until the last second to fumble through your handbag to find your purse, you are holding everyone else up. Think of your question as loose change – add it up in your mind before handing it over. People love getting exact change, and they love exact questions even more.
2. It is the size that counts
Keep your question short. If you can’t say what you need in one sentence, then you don’t really understand what it is you’re trying to say. So if you’re not sure what you’re asking, imagine how everyone else will feel. You don’t want your mouth to be ground zero for an explosion of furrowed brows.
3. One question, that’s all folks.
Writers like writing. They love their writing in particular, and they love talking about their writing almost as much as fantasizing about giant golden idols of their likeness erected outside public libraries. So every time you’re wrestling the microphone out of the poor volunteer’s hands to ask a second follow up question, you’re greedily taking the spotlight away from a writer. Big mistake. The moment you move the focus off an author is the moment they invent a character that looks exactly like you who will be killed off horribly in their next book.
4. Don’t open with a joke.
It’s not open mic night. You’re not the best man in a wedding speech. Just ask your question. The volunteers have all been equipped with iPhone apps that play crickets chirping, and they WILL use these ruthlessly.
5. Avoid being too clever
You’ve bought tickets to see some of the great intellectuals of the world engage in heated debate and passionate analysis. You chose mental stimulation over watching television. We get it, you’re clever. You have nothing to prove at this point. Foisting a novella of a question upon a speaker usually makes you seem like a twat, unless you’re trying to stump Jonathan Franzen during his keynote address, that’s actually pretty damned funny.
6. Save it for your fan fiction.
It’s wonderful that you’re so invested in the characters the author has created. It’s just that when you ask about the likelihood of the lead character hooking up with a roving band of sexy space gypsies, you have painted yourself into a creepy, creepy corner.
7. Beware the doubt loop
The doubt loop occurs when you haven’t really planned out your question. As the words tumble out of the lower part of your head, the top part begins to doubt the relevance of those words and tries to overcome this problem by throwing more words at it. It’s like trying to put out a fire by smothering it in petrol. Take a breath, pause for a moment to reflect on what you’re trying to say, and try again. If you’re truly frozen with panic, don’t even finish your question. Just tap your finger on the side of your head with a smirk and say “Never mind, I’ve already figured it out. Jesus I’m awesome”
There you go, a few key things to remember.
Further to this list I would add: If you’re watching an all female panel discuss relationships in fiction. Do not ask why there isn’t a guy on the panel, and if that is symptomatic of the stereotype that men don’t enjoy talking endlessly about relationships. Jane Smiley will freeze you with her mystical ice powers and spit directly into your heart. Especially when the audience is 99% female and you preface your question with “As the only bobbing dot of testosterone in a sea of estrogen”. Lesson learned.
Short thoughts: on Jonathan Franzen
Last night’s Franzen-fest for me ended in a bottle of wine and tweet-ups, but only after listening to the man himself engage in a critical examination of the intersection between life and art. Focusing less on concepts than on craft, and expressing frustration at the question ‘Is your work autobiographical?’ and its implications, Franzen spoke candidly about how the process of writing The Corrections – indeed, the final book itself – was inextricably connected to his personal life. 
At pains to stress that this did not mean his work was littered with scenes taken directly from events in his own experience, he explained that the novel as it stands today could not have been written – would not work and could not be completed – until he had overcome the guilt, shame and misplaced loyalty that was eating away at him as a person. In this way, perhaps there was more of a lesson in Franzen’s talk for writers of fiction themselves than an audience of fans. Citing Kafka as an example, he claimed that the closer a writer gets to accurately portraying those deeper, murkier parts of themselves in their fiction, the less such fiction resembles the narrative of their own life.
I came away from Franzen’s keynote with the distinct impression that under that shuffling but endearing awkwardness, and books so fat they resemble house bricks, here is a writer who cares very deeply about literature as an art form and, I think, as a political tool. His uncompromising stance on the responsibility of fiction writers (and of literature in general) to push past simply churning out what comes easily is readily digestible in quip form but not so easily practised. Unless the writer feels personally at risk, he argued, unless they are attempting to surmount what feels like the insurmountable, unless they are digging deep into themselves and critically examining what they find, then their work is not worth reading, and the book itself was not worth writing.
Jonathan Franzen will be appearing at two more MWF events: discussing birdwatching with Sean Dooley and Michael Veitch on August 27 and In Conversation with Chloe Hooper on August 28.
Christos Tsiolkas on his experiences of Scotland: Edinburgh Unbound
Christos Tsiolkas is one of the writers taking part in Edinburgh Unbound, a celebration of our fellow City of Literature, next Tuesday 30 August at The Toff in Town (8pm).
We spoke to Christos about his time as a writer in resident in Scotland last year, his ‘falling in love’ with the place and the people, the Scottish writers he discovered – and what he’s reading now.
You spent some time in Edinburgh last year as a writer in residence. How was that experience?
My residency wasn’t in Edinburgh but in a place called Cove Park, on the west coast of Scotland, an hour or so from Glasgow. The residency was offered through the City of Literature Edinburgh and of course I travelled to Edinburgh often. As well, my final two weeks in Scotland were based in Edinburgh, as guest of both the Edinburgh Book Festival and the City of Literature, Edinburgh.
The experience was glorious, I don’t think that is an inappropriate word. Cove is quite a spectacular place, on the Loch Long peninsula and the time there felt like a real Sabbatical, in the sense I was given total freedom to work on whatever I wanted. I think that is such a rare experience and I am very grateful to Cove Park and to the City of Literature Edinburgh for making it possible. I found peace there, a means to escape white noise.
Did writing in Scotland – such a different environment from Melbourne, I’d imagine – influence your work at all? If so, how?
I fell in love with Scotland, with both the terrain and with the people. It was a ‘falling in love’, a swooning. Glasgow in particular is a city I felt immediately at home in. It is rough and it is tough but what I like about it is that it is a city that is not a European Disneyland, that it takes time to discover how it functions, how it works. I think because it has a strong socialist history and a strong Irish heritage as well that it is a dynamic hub for artists, writers, for creative people of all sorts.
It is the light I remember most from my travels around Scotland, and how landscape can change so drastically in such short distances. That, for an Australian, is astonishing. It is the light, the hues and shades of colours that I don’t see back home, a softer palette to what I am used to.
I also fell in love with the Scottish face, felt like I saw where Anglo-Australia came from. Just as with Glasgow, I responded to the harsh beauty. (It is this combination of harshness and tenderness that I think is part of what made Glasgow such an exciting city to be in. It is this combination that is so attractive about the Scottish face). Edinburgh is softer. I loved taking the train between the two cities. In half an hour you would be in completely different urban environments. The cityscapes would be nothing alike, the accents are totally different. Again, for an Australian, that is a little bit of a shock. We have to drive for hours and hours to leave our bubbles.
Every place you respond to leaves its mark on your work, it is inevitable. Seeing it all through ‘Greek-Australian’ eyes was interesting as well. It gave me enough of an objectivity to observe Australia through Scottish eyes, if you like, some strange privileged position where I was both Australian and ‘not-quite Australian’. I think this might be useful if I am to write in voices of newcomers coming to Australia.
Did you discover any new Scottish writers or artists on your travels? Any whose work you’d particularly recommend?
Yes, so many: Andrew O’Hagan, rediscovered James Kelman. Was fortunate to first meet and then discover the work of Alisdair Gray, one of those rare souls, truly himself. The wonderful filmmaker Luke Fowler, the craftsperson Deirdre Nelson (who taught me to look at the art in craft in ways I had never seen before). I discovered Ali Smith, read James Hogg for the first time. And though she is Irish not Scottish, being in Edinburgh introduced me to the work of the playwright, Edna Walsh. I saw her play Penelope which I thought terrific. I have been reading all her work since. The musician Alisdair Roberts was a top discovery.
Look out for the work of Natasha Soobramanien and Luke Williams. Luke’s novel The Echo Chamber has just come out, and Soobramanien has contributed two chapters to it. They are English writers who have made Scotland their home. I like the play and politics of what they are doing with collaboration.
What are you reading now?
Despair by Nabakov and The Death of the Liberal Class by Chris Hedges.
I am studying Joyce’s Ulysses as part of a reading group. I know that sounds pretentious, don’t meant it to be; it is quite a joy to finally crack it (or die trying in the attempt).
You can see Christos Tsiolkas, Ryan Van Winkle, Ewan Morrison, Emily Ballou, and Rapskallion at Edinburgh Unbound on Tuesday 30 August at 8pm at The Toff in Town. More information and ticket sales here.
Channelling Hitchcock heroines: Dressed for Murder
Growing up in suburban Adelaide, I was the least graceful teenager you can imagine. My wardrobe mostly consisted of torn jeans, tube miniskirts, oversized Public Enemy T-shirts and – horror of horrors – a selection of bodysuits.
But my secret fashion icons – far, far beyond my reach – were Grace Kelly, Ava Gardner, Audrey Hepburn. Especially Grace Kelly. And especially when filmed by Hitchcock. Those sculpted blonde waves, effortless liquid curves, eyes a perfect paintbox shade of blue. But most all – the clothes.
Walking into a room in a cloud of white tulle in Rear Window. And wearing black silk chiffon and pearls to spy on the neighbours with a pyjama-clad Jimmy Stewart. Racing a sportscar along perilous cliffs in To Catch a Thief, clad in a crisp little dress the colour of strawberry ice-cream and buttoned white gloves – a frantically waving scarf the only sign of disarray. Then helping Cary Grant to, well, catch a thief, while poured into a billowy gold satin ballgown. (Or was she?)
After all those afternoons projecting myself onto screen sirens like Kelly, you’ll still find me in my jeans and T-shirts. (No tube skirts or bodysuits though.) I’ve accepted that I just don’t have the resources (financial or physical) to channel Grace Kelly.
Maybe things would be different if I’d been Charlotte Smith?
Charlotte Smith inherited an amazing wardrobe of classic Hollywood vintage couture (along with vintage couture from other eras) from her godmother. It’s recognised as Australia’s largest private collection of vintage clothing and accessories.
Charlotte has produced two fascinating, beautifully illustrated, books about her treasure trove – Dreaming of Chanel and Dreaming of Dior – and she’s bringing a selection of her finest frocks to the Melbourne Writers Festival for an afternoon where you can get up close and personal with the true stars of Hollywood film: the outfits!
Charlotte will talk about the fashion on show, and will host a catwalk parade of elegant daywear and sumptuous evening gowns that capture the mood of Hitchcock classics, and goddesses like Grace Kelly, Kim Novak and Tippi Hedren.
A lot of fun for fashion lovers and fans of Hollywood glamour.
Dressed for Murder: Fashions from the World of Hitchcock will be held at Federation Square’s BMW Edge on Monday 3 September, 4pm-5pm.
Global student: connecting students worldwide through the internet
One of the most exciting uses of internet technologies is the opportunity to link up with like-minded people around the word. It’s a concept that schools are starting to embrace, as a way of introducing their students to a global community, and helping them to engage with their peers around the world.
Our MWF event, Global Student, showcases schools from Suzhou in China, Ipoh in Malaysia and Hawkesdale in Victoria who have been sharing their ideas about books using their own wikipages and other online tools.
The aim is for the students in each country to use books as a tool to describe aspects of their culture to their counterparts across the world. Students from Malaysia have been making shadow puppets, visiting and filming dance gurus. One thing the Australian students have been doing is making videos about books on Australian history.
“The kids on both sides have put in an incredible amount of work,” says MWF Program Manager Jenny Niven. “It’s going to be an amazing showcase of what technology can do to connect schools and kids across the globe – and of the creative things kids can do with it.”
Come along to this free event at Federation Square to see what these kids have done, including movie trailers and photo-stories of their favourite books.
Featuring a live video link-up with overseas schools, this event presents some of the possibilities for empowering learning and student development offered by the new technologies.
This session is a must for teachers and students interested in learning more about innovative classrooms and the ways in which classrooms can connect, communicate and collaborate across the globe.
Global Student will be on at Federation Square Plaza at 12.30pm-1.15pm on Thursday 1 September. It is a FREE event.
