Australian Women Writers Challenge 2012

There’s nothing I like more than a reason to spend time with my nose in a book. The Australian Women Writers Challenge has been set up to actively promote the reading and reviewing of a wide range of contemporary Australian women writers’ work. I’m starting small – setting myself the Stella goal of reading at least three and reviewing two, but who knows, if I get on a roll I may just do a few more.

These are the ones I have my eye on right now:
Caleb’s Crossing – Geraldine Brooks
A Common Loss – Kirsten Tranter
Animal People – Charlotte Wood
The Light Between Oceans – M. L. Stedman

Are you up for the challenge this year?

Find out more at: http://www.australianwomenwriters.com/p/australian-women-writers-book-challenge_25.html

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So I survived my first interview… big thanks to Alice O’Keeffe at The Bookseller for being so nice and making it so painless.

White Rabbit Gallery

A rainy Sunday morning and off we went to the White Rabbit Gallery in Chippendale, Sydney.

It was a lovely hour, wandering the four floors, checking out its contemporary Chinese art collection.

There was a lot to like and provoke thought but my favourite exhibit was Lu Zhengyuan’s seven life-size sculptures entitled ‘Mental Patients’ (2006). Made from fibreglass with what looks like textured grey mud slathered onto them, the only burst of colour is the red flower in the hair of one woman lying slumped in bed. They’re amazing figures. So life-like even in their strange, colourless form. I went face-to-face with one for what felt like ages, just gazing into his eyes. The more I stared the more real he felt. You couldn’t help but think of the man he represented.

Apparently Lu Zhengyuan created them all from memory after spending time visiting a friend in a mental institution.

Powerful and heartbreaking stuff.

http://www.whiterabbitcollection.org/artists/lu-zhengyuan-卢征远/