01. It’s Melbourne Writers Festival! I went to four events over the weekend.
I picked really, really well this year. All of the events I attended were fabulous. So much laughter, so many insights, and I cried twice… (thanks to Rosie and Yael). The highlights of each –
- Yael van der Wouden: The Safekeep – spoke about her experience being Jewish in Holland (having moved there from Israel as a child) – “I had never had to explain my Jewishness until I moved to Holland…and people would jump to ‘You’re Anne Frank’…”, given that Anne Frank was the most familiar representation of Jewishness to most Dutch children. Yael grew up in a remote part of Holland and said that the ‘footprint of war’ was always there (for example the local lake was created by a bomb and subsequently filled with water) – “I was a receiver of stories…” because she was Jewish. The highlight of the session was Yael reading one of her ‘Dear David’ columns. I urge you to read them – they are stunningly beautiful.
- Broken Brains: Jamila Rizvi and Rosie Waterland – the two friends discussed their very different experiences of having ‘broken brains’ – Jamila had a rare brain tumour, and Rosie suffers from trauma. Many years ago, in the midst of her treatment, Jamila told Rosie that many people had delivered lasagnas to help her out. Rosie, in psychiatric care at the time, reflected that there would be no lasagnas delivered on her release. Despite the difference in social attitude toward mental health versus physical health, they found many similarities between their experiences (specifically that a physical diagnosis comes with mental health challenges, and that a mental health diagnosis impacts your physical health). Rosie discussed the long-term impact of her trauma and the expectation that she ‘should just get over it’ – she wryly observed, “If someone had their leg amputated, you wouldn’t tell them to get over it…”.
- Samantha Harvey: Orbital – Orbital came about because Samantha became a bit obsessed with pictures from the ISS and realised that there was virtually no ‘writing about space realism’. She said that given that space is a ‘real environment that people have lived in for 25 years’, it was odd that most of the writing about space was speculative. She set about writing something ‘pastoral’ (which she achieved beautifully in the ‘plot-less’ [her words] Orbital, which is structured over one day, and told from a range of perspectives) – “The thing you most want to say in your book you can’t say [directly]… You have to articulate through its structure, its architecture.”
- Bitten – A Snake Performance by Carrie Tiffany – three short stories – one fictional, two drawn from Carrie’s experience as a park ranger in Central Australia – presented with the addition of images and percussion. A stunning performance. I have always loved the spareness of Carrie’s writing, and her meticulous attention to the small details that tell so much – all on display in each of the stories.
02. Yes, I know I was there only a month ago, but Walsh Street for an evening of autumn cocktails and discussion about modernism.
03. Are you an NYT subscriber? The Well Festival (live-streamed) was excellent (subscriber or not, you might be able to see the whole thing here). I was there for Orna Guralnik but also enjoyed Robert Waldinger talking about ‘happiness’ research; Suleika Jaouad on finding meaning in the face of adversity; and Sarah Bareilles on finding joy in an anxious world.
04. Watched: The Four Seasons (Netflix) – light and funny, just what I felt like this week.
05. Sparkly green top.
06. Sandwiches at Juniper in South Melbourne – cauliflower, kasundi, cheddar, pickles, dill & minmayo on focaccia AND roast chicken, salsa verde and aioli on a sourdough roll. My fave was the cauliflower (so tasty!) and my friend loved the chicken. But we both agreed that Juniper was our favourite new (to us) sandwich venue this year.
