New and emerging author Emily Bitto speaks at Ashburton Library on her book The Strays #emergingauthors

Ashburton Library hosted Emily Bitto as part of our New and Emerging Authors series.   Emily's debut novel The Strays which was as shortlisted for the 2013 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript. She read from her book which was lovely and she spoke about how she constructed the sense of place in her novel.    

The house in The Strays functions as a separate place that links together things on the fringes; people, art and ideas.  It is a metaphor for all who don't belong.  Eva's garden is a magical place and Emily spent her childhood in a house in Glen Waverley with an amazing garden, the train carriage and the high fence. 

Emily finds inspiration in the short stories of Nabokov.  She wanted to create a sense of place and space in her novel that can only exist in the memory and imagination.  She is interested in people who cut themselves off from mainstream society to try and start something better.  The 1930s seems like a complex and fascinating time in history and the art world to set a novel like The Strays.

A member of the audience asked 'how important is empathy when it comes to writing'?  All the writers that Emily loves are those that deal with people and their inner worlds - so empathy is essential. Emily Bitto loved The secret history by Donna Tartt, The line of beauty by Alan Hollinghurst and Brideshead revisited by Evelyn Waugh. 

Emily also talked about the process of writing - she completed a Masters of Creative Writing in which she had to write a novel and complete research.  This was similar to Hannah Kent’s model for writing Burial Rites and it really seem to produce a very polished and refined debut novel that doesn’t feel like a debut novel.  There were some excellent questions from the audience and because it was a small group we could have a discussion about the book and the writing process.  

This post was written by Ros at Ashburton Library.

Sian Prior author talk

This week at the Camberwell Library we were lucky enough to listen to Sian Prior talk about her memoir titled Shy.

Sian even though she has been a public figure over the last few decades  in her various roles as a journalist, a broadcaster, a musician, a composer and/or  a teacher just to name a few….she is an incredibly shy person.

Hard to believe I know, even after reading her book I still had doubts but after listening to Sian I now understand.

Sian calls herself “a shy extrovert”. She suffers from social anxiety or shyness and has so all her life.

Sian has developed two different personas, who have been known to have conversations with each other during difficult times.

There is the ‘Professional Sian’ who appears calm and confident on the surface and then there is the ‘Shy Sian’ who is often paralyzed by fear and anxiety and what if questions.

Throughout the book Sian shares with us some very personal stories from her own life. Many people who attended were able to relate to and sympathize with Sian’s past ; they also felt comfortable enough to open up and share some of their own experiences.

Sian also provided us with valuable information that she has discovered as a result of her own experiences and research during this time.

Sian understands that her shyness is not something that will ever go away and it will always be a part of her genetic makeup but she has learnt how to manage her condition on a daily basis.

This book is a must read for anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed in social situations or someone who constantly fears what others will think of them or suffers from embarrassment….. actually I think everyone could benefit from reading this book. So do yourself a favour and book a copy at your local Boroondara library.

This post was writte by Michele G at Camberwell Library.

Photography of dogs with Melanie Faith Dove at Kew Library

Last night at Kew Library we met and chatted with photographer & author MelanieFaith Dove. 

Melanie spoke about how she works and the journey through her various books with a slide show showing some of the people and beautiful dogs she has photographed. She has travelled all around Australia looking for those special pictures.

 Her first pitch to a publisher was rejected and it was only after she collaborated on Working dogs with Andrew Chapman and it became a best seller that the publishers realised people love to look at dogs. Her latest is Best mates a black and white collection she compiled in around 3 weeks. 

One amazing shot has a man and his dog on a motorcycle, he has goggles on and his dog has 'doggles' they have identical expressions as they ride on the Bolte bridge.

Janis Sheldrick and her book about George Goyder

A full-house enjoyed Dr Janis Sheldrick’s talk about George Goyder.  Nature’s Line is a book of  environmental history and biography, interesting elements of which Jan managed to balance in her excellent talk.  

With accompanying maps, photographs and illustrations on the big screen, Jan outlined the life and work of a remarkable man: explorer, Surveyor-General of South Australia, the person who selected and surveyed the site of Darwin. Goyder was a man of far-sightedness who battled the often shortsighted parliamentarians of his day.  A fascinating story has been brought to our attention in Nature’s Line and was enjoyed by the audience attending a very interesting talk at Hawthorn Library.

Living with anxiety and depression with Bev Aisbett

Bev Aisbett has written several books on anxiety and depression. Her most recent book is a memoir called All of it: a memoir of love, fear and art.  

On Monday night at Ashburton Library, Bev Aisbett talked passionately about her own experience with anxiety from being told by a doctor that she was the most afraid person she had ever met all the way to running workshops for people also suffering. Lots of people ask ‘why me’ when they are starting to deal with anxiety.  They tell themselves a lot of junk and a lot of it is negative self-talk.  Bev says that if you can change your thinking you can often change your anxiety levels.  Anxiety and panic attacks are often a warning sign that you are not being true to yourself.  She encouraged us to not get hooked on the misery of staring deeply into anxiety and negativity.

Bev created the ‘anxiety monster’ IT character in her books to portray the negative self talk and self-critic that is often present in anxious people.  Bev also runs workshops for anxiety sufferers and she is a artist who will soon open a gallery in Yarraville.

Check out her books in the library catalogue here

We were tweeting live from the event on Monday night - check out our twitter feed here.

Special National Year of Reading talk

Don't sit at home all by yourself this winter!  Come out and meet some people who love reading as much as you do!  This week at Balwyn Library author Narrelle Harris will give a special National Year of Reading talk.  Narrelle is an accomplished author of several books and short stories and short stories.  On Wednesday, she will talk about her love of reading and how growing up in a house of books set her on a path of lifelong reading.


Come and share your love of reading and meet some other like-minded people.  


For more information visit our website or book here or phone 9278 4666.

PD Martin at Ashburton Library

If you missed the author talk by PD Martin at Ashburton Library, here's an update!

Philipa asks the audience which cover they prefer.

PD (also known as Philipa) started her path to writing through singing and writing songs.  Then she wrote her first book and sent it off to a publisher.  While it didn't get published she kept writing and writing, each book getting better and better.  Finally, she hit gold with Body count.  The main character, Sophie Anderson, starred in five more books!

Philipa's book shelf is full of 'not very nice' books - on murder, dead bodies, serial killers. She has received some fantastic advice from a friend on where to dump bodies in Los Angeles for her book The Killing Hands.   Even so, she had almost finished writing it and even she didn't know who the murderer was!

Body count was based on a real nightmare that PD kept having.  She has interviewed real life vampires for an article she wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald.  Philippa loves the ebook world - she says it's great for authors and readers alike.