Scarborough Beach is one of my most inspirational places to be, whether I’m writing, drawing or even photographing. It’s one of the reasons I love WA so much and couldn’t possibly imagine myself moving. Once I’m done driving around Australia, I think I could see myself settling down here, or at least renting a writing studio. This photograph is dedicated to my Fiance, Benjamin Lowry, because it wouldn’t have happened without him.

Canon 400D, 35mm, f22, 1/1000 sec, ISO 1600

I like to fancy myself as a photographer. Although I’m still amateur, I’m learning and getting better at it everyday. These are a series of photographs I took on a trip to Fremantle with my father and my fiance. We walked down to the beach to watch the sunset before enjoying fish and chips for dinner at Cicerellos. It’s the first time I’ve taken photos using my own tripod, which is definitely long overdue! I’m looking at including a couple of these in a zine of poetry I’m currently working on. If you have any suggestions as to which ones, please comment! Otherwise, make sure you watch this website as more sneak peaks and details are coming soon!

Canon 400D, 35mm, f22, 4 sec, ISO 100 Read more

For those of you that don’t know, The Perth Poetry Club is a regular poetry reading in Perth that runs every Saturday at The Moon Cafe in Northbridge from 2 to 4pm. It is with great delight that I get to express my absolute joy towards being asked to perform as a featured guest on Saturday, April the Fourteenth with Jo Clarke.

For me this is such a big deal as, although I’m very confident with my poetry, I’ve never been that confident with my performance. I’m a very shy person by nature and I have a horrible habit of trying to talk as fast as I think, which can make it rather hard to understand me. However, as performance is such an important aspect of poetry, especially when you’re trying to make a living from it, I’ve been working very hard on improving my technique. For me, being invited to perform is an acknowledgement of the hard work I’ve put into improving and working myself up to a professional level. Read more

Lately I’ve been really interested in reading Rage Comics on Reddit. I’ve become quite obsessive actually so it only made sense to progress to making Rage Comics as well.  This particular comic, I’m sure most writers can relate to.

This post is for all of my fellow peers out there studying their undergraduate degree, or toiling their way through their honours year. The Monash University Prize is being presented in conjunction with the Emerging Writers’ Festival and has a $4000 prize. All genres of creative writing will be accepted including poetry, short stories and non-fiction. The maximun word count is 3000 words and entries close on 23rd of April so we’d all better get cracking!

To be eligible you must be a student enrolled in an undergraduate degree at any Australian University. With your submission you need to include your student number as well as your course code as proof of enrolment.  The prize will be announced at the Emerging Writers’ Festival which runs from the 24th of May until the 3rd of June and travel to and from the festival is at the writers’ expense. However the short list is announced much earlier, on the 7th of May. The theme for this year is Revolution and you can upload your work online via the form.

For more information visit the Emerging Writers’ Festival website.

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been very busy. I’ve felt run off my feet, which I’m sure all of you can relate to. There has been so much work to do, it’s been hard to juggle it and still include some time for myself, which I think is ultimately, why I got sick. I got Acute Bronchitis and all of those responsibilities I’d been trying so hard to keep up with, were suddenly impossible to do at all. Luckily, most of those responsibilities were almost done, and today, I finished the last one!

The last couple of weeks started with writing the WA Poets Inc grant applications. Each application was forty pages however only twenty pages contained the actual application. Those twenty pages were easy to write, as vain as I sound, it’s something I’m fairly good at, and I could write it in my own time on my own terms. The next twenty pages is where I started to run into problems, as those pages contained all of our support material. I couldn’t do this on my own terms as, for most of it, I was relying on others getting back to me and this made me want to pull my hair out. However, despite all the drama, I still got both grants submitted, and a big thank-you needs to go out to the entire WA Poets committee, as without them, I probably never would have been able to compile all the support material in time. Read more

I have a lot of trouble writing at home, although most of my writing is done here, I like to break it up every now and then to find some fresh inspiration. This little Gem is Sherbet Cafe and Bake Shop in Maylands. I discovered it through a very dear friend of mine and fell in love immediately. Read more

After weeks of not being able to say anything, it has finally been announced: I’m the new WA Coordinator for Australian Poetry. Director Paul Kooperman initially approached me in December 2011 about the position and I felt truly honoured not only to be considered for this position, but to be offered it. After a reasonable amount of collaboration with the WA Poets Inc committee, I decided to take the position and have been waiting ever since, to blog about it.

When I accepted the position of Co-Chairperson for WA Poets Inc, I did so because I wanted to help poets in their craft and professionalism. I wanted to make poetry more accessible. WA Poets Inc organises an annual WA Poetry Festival that gives local poets the chance to explore and challenge their craft by bringing together different poetic expressions, languages and traditions.  We hope to develop a diverse, inclusive program that will provide opportunities for local poets to engage with and challenge their own craft, and to develop poetry culture in WA. As a result of this, we hope to promote local poets so that they may develop professionally, and engage with a broader public readership. This is the same reason I accepted this position with Australian Poetry, to help poets and poetry bodies connect with the organisation and the opportunities it provides. This position gives me the tools I need to support local artists and activities to ensure that their organisations and careers are promoted through the national Australian Poetry networks. Read more

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Claire Potter during Perth Poetry Club at the Moon Cafe in Northbridge. Potter is a Perth born poet that trained in Sydney and re-located to Europe. Living currently in London, she comes out to Perth once a year to visit family and friends. The first time I saw her, I knew I had to talk to her. She is one of those woman that looked like they have everything in their lives sorted, everything perfectly balanced. I say this, because of her smile.

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You shouldn’t believe in new years resolutions, I don’t believe in new years resolutions. Every year I’ve made one and every year I fail to stick by it. This year, I made one again. I decided I wanted to be a more pro-active writer. It’s a good thing I don’t believe in new years resolutions, because this is my first post since new years. In my defence though, I’ve been sick for two weeks. My lack of writing since New Years has re-enforced a very old cliche that most writers ignore. There are hundreds of quotes about it from some of the most famous writers, but I won’t bore you with those because it’s actually very simple, even I can say it: if you don’t write, you’re not writing.

Now bear with me for a second, you’re probably thinking, well no shit. But think about it a little more. I set very high standards for myself when I write. I look at the best poem I’ve written, the best piece of prose and I use that as my benchmark when I write something new. I have a lot of talent and skill (I know I’m sounding vain) so I need that challenge, but it’s also a lot of pressure. If what I write is any less than the last thing I wrote, I throw it away, and rarely keep any evidence of its existence. So understandably, if I’m too sick to write for a couple of days, it’s very hard to go back, because that’s a couple of days I wouldn’t have normally had to brew on exactly what I what to achieve with my writing and how hard it’s going to be to get there.

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