This is the bedtime story I read as part of the Society of Women Writers Victoria online festival ‘For the Love of Writing. The story,’Wrinkles’, was written by Errol Broome, a much-loved and respected long-time member of the society.
Author: maryjonesthewriter
Festival Launch Online
The live launch of the SWWVic ‘For the Love of Writing’ festival has had to be cancelled at the last minute because of Victoria’s Covid lockdown. Events for the day have been switched to Zoom – unfortunately, there’s no way the celebration cake I made for the launch can be cut and consumed online! It’s now in my freezer, awaiting the chance to be enjoyed at a later date.
For The Love of Writing
The 50th anniversary year of the Society of Women Writers Victoria is being marked by a week-long writers’ festival, beginning on Valentine’s Day.
I’m involved in this festival – I’m introducing a poet, hosting a discussion panel on writing for theatre, presenting a session on sonnets, and reading a bedtime story for children.
Details of the full programme can be found on the society’s website, here
‘I Protest’ Anthology
My poem ‘Shame the Devil’ appears in the Ginninderra Press anthology ‘I Protest’, subtitled ‘Poems of Dissent’.
‘In these poems of protest and dissent are to be found anger, anxiety, compassion, insight and sharp observation, expressed in the way that is the special gift of poets. There’s humour, too, to leaven the more serious poems.’
The anthology is available here.
The poem can be found on the ‘Extracts’ page of this website.
New Book
And now for something completely different! This is my first novel, after four poetry books. Its full release has been delayed by Covid 19, but for anyone in lockdown it should prove ideal – you can curl up with a nice cosy murder mystery set in the Channel Islands.
It’s available on the main Amazon site here.
(but it can’t at the moment be delivered in Australia.)
For Australian readers, you can order it from Green Olive Press here.
For readers in the UK, it’s available on Amazon uk here
The cover photograph is by my grand-daughter Rosalie Ritter-Jones.
‘Mountain Secrets’ Anthology
Mountains are constant but continually changing. Captive to the seasons, they reveal many faces: in winter shrouded in snow and mist, yet so visibly majestic in the summer months that they appear to touch the sky. Lost in clouds at times, so discernible at others. Places of solitude yet at the mercy of mountaineers who swarm them. Both revered and feared; mystical and earthy; elusive but tangible. Does the mystery of mountains lie in the many paradoxes that surround them? Join more than 150 poets from across Australia in a tantalising exploration of mountains around the world, real and imagined, literal and figurative.
This is the Ginninderra Press anthology ‘Mountain Secrets’. It includes my poem ‘Tai Shan’.
The anthology is available here.
Wyndham Awards Anthology Launch
The Wyndham Writing Awards Anthology was launched on November 7th. It contains all the shortlisted works in the Short Story, Poetry, Flash Fiction and Graphic Short Story categories of the 2019 Writing Awards. It includes my short story ‘Graffiti’.
Poems and Short Stories
I’ve had poems accepted for The Mozzie, Unusual Works, and the Ginninderra Press anthology ‘Mountain Secrets’.
My short story ‘Graffiti’ has been shortlisted for the Wyndham Writing Awards and will appear in their anthology.
Pocket Poets: Cast of Supporting Characters
My second book in the Ginninderra Press Pocket Poets series, Cast of Supporting Characters, is now available. It can be ordered from the Ginninderra Press website here.
The 20 poems explore the viewpoints of the ‘supporting characters’ in the title, giving a sometimes unexpected twist to stories from literature, plays, the Bible, Shakespeare and history. The stories and characters may be well-loved or less familiar, but I hope all of them gain something from having a quirky sideways spotlight turned on them.
You can read one of these poems on the Extract of the Month page, here.
Aesthetica Magazine Anthology, and New Collection
The poem ‘You Are…’ which won me the Kathryn Purnell Poetry Award, has now been selected to be included in Aesthetica Magazine’s Creative Writing Award Anthology, which will be coming out by the end of the year.
The collection ‘Cast of Supporting Characters’ has been accepted by Ginninderra Press for publication in their ‘Pocket Poets’ series. This is a collection of 20 poems giving a sideways look at lesser-known or neglected characters from plays, literature and history. (This includes two characters, Lord Bracknell and Godot, who famously don’t appear at all in the plays in which they’re referenced!)
