Knitters needed for Penguins

The Penguin Foundation has a global callout for knitters to make pullovers for penguins in rehab.

Penguins caught in oil spills need the little jumpers to keep warm and to stop them from trying to clean the toxic oil off with their beaks.

Knitter Lyn Blom is the receptionist at Phillip Island Nature Parks in Victoria and has knitted many penguin jumpers over the years.

The Penguin Foundation is based at Phillip Island, which is known for having a large penguin colony.

Lyn Blom says it's not just major oil spills that cause problems for local penguins.

"Fishermen might clean out a container or something while they're at sea," says Lyn.

"It's a continuing problem," she says. "We get probably about 20 birds a year."

One advantage of knitting a penguin sweater is that they are small.

"They're very quick," says Lyn.

While the Penguin Foundation's website says it has a 'good supply' of the little jumpers, the organisation also uses them in educational programs as well as selling them as a fundraising measure.

In 2011 the foundation raised money for a new Phillip Island Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre which can house up to 1500 penguins in the event of a major oil spill.

You can download more information about how to knit for penguins, including the knitting pattern and where to send the finished product.

Larf - too true!

The mind of a writer ...

American Life in Poetry: Column 466 BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

Li-Young Lee is an important American poet of Chinese parentage who lives in Chicago. Much of his poetry is marked by unabashed tenderness, and this poem is a good example of that. I Ask My Mother to Sing  She begins, and my grandmother joins her. Mother and daughter sing like young girls. If my father were alive, he would play his accordion and sway like a boat. I’ve never been in Peking, or the Summer Palace, nor stood on the great Stone Boat to watch the rain begin on Kuen Ming Lake, the picnickers running away in the grass. But I love to hear it sung; how the waterlilies fill with rain until they overturn, spilling water into water, then rock back, and fill with more. Both women have begun to cry. But neither stops her song. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©1986 by Li-Young Lee, whose most recent book of poems is Behind My Eyes, BOA Editions, Ltd., 2009. Poem reprinted by permission of Li-Young Lee and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2014 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

Plumwood Mountain: An Australian Journal of Ecopoetry and Ecopoetics

Current issue

  Volume 1, Number 1

February 2014

Painting by Kit Kelen. Detail #50 from the exhibition Pictures of Nothing at All (Macao Museum of Art, 2014).
© Kit Kelen 2014

Click here (or the link above the cover art) for the contents of the current issue.

Plumwood Mountain: An Australian Journal of Ecopoetry and Ecopoetics

ISSN 2203-4404

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Mitchell Library petition

Hello,

A library without books just isn't a library at all. Yet such a fate could befall the Mitchell Library, if the government goes through with a planned $25 million "revitalisation." 

Not only is the library's staff being cut. The government is proposing to convert the Mitchell Reading Room into a public space equipped with WiFi but with no books to speak of.

Australian citizens have a right to know exactly what the government's plans for the State Library of NSW are. It is imperative to call on the Chief Librarian of the State Library of NSW to convene a public meeting so people can get answers to their questions about the fate of one of Australia's most valuable and loved national institutions.

I just signed a petition to save the Mitchell Library. Will you sign too? Here's a link to the petition:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/735/923/180/save-mitchell-library

Thank you.

森の木琴 Listen to Bach in the Forest

& : 27th Part of the Alphabet

Johnson & Johnson, Barnes & Noble, Dolce & Gabbana: the ampersand today is used primarily in business names, but that small character was once the 27th part of the alphabet. Where did it come from though? The origin of its name is almost as bizarre as the name itself.

The shape of the character (&) predates the word ampersand by more than 1,500 years. In the first century, Roman scribes wrote in cursive, so when they wrote the Latin word et which means “and” they linked the e and t. Over time the combined letters came to signify the word “and” in English as well. Certain versions of the ampersand, like that in the font Caslon, clearly reveal the origin of the shape.

The word “ampersand” came many years later when “&” was actually part of the English alphabet. In the early 1800s, school childrenreciting their ABCs concluded the alphabet with the &. It would have been confusing to say “X, Y, Z, and.” Rather, the students said, “and per se and.” “Per se” means “by itself,” so the students were essentially saying, “X, Y, Z, and by itself and.” Over time, “and per se and” was slurred together into the word we use today: ampersand. When a word comes about from a mistaken pronunciation, it’s called amondegreen. Find out why here.

(The ampersand is also used in an unusual configuration where it appears as “&c” and means etc. The ampersand does double work as the e and t.)

The ampersand isn’t the only former member of the alphabet. Learn what led to the extinction of the thorn and the wynn.

AGE SLIDES UNDER THE DOOR AS OIL PAINTS by Kenneth Wolman

I needn't shave to see my future in the purple scream.
On TV between shows about predatory big cats
there's a commercial for a scooter chair,
the old fart motorchair for aggressive men sick of their lives
who race down the middle of the boulevard
in Long Branch, New Jersey, trying to stage
insurance collisions because they need a Medicare supplement
or maybe because they might just be killed and end it.

I awaken and, before my daily filter kicks in, I am in a scooter too
and (sing) Do You See What I See?--
I am a paint-by-numbers copy of Francis Bacon's
"Study after Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X"
with the ghastly old dude seated on a scooter throne
looking to play bumper cars with Cardinal Borgia
because they both are waiting for death and it's been
years since Borgia, at least, can remember
what it feels like to get laid.

That makes me feel just a bit better
because if my dreams are not much fun,
at least Bacon's must have been rarer than overcooked dog.
For how else could anyone bear to face a day
with that inner face, truth telling, open to the world,
a purple splotch of skeleton, bleeding rage from every pore,
forcing some sucker priest to take him out in his scooter
to witness his final prayer, slamming at full force on the downgrade
into the back of a tractor trailer to end this holy farce
and send home the painter, his work done for the day.


- Kenneth Wolman
USA poet and friend

Gumboots

from writingWA ...

Novel Writing with OOTA Writers' Group Out of the Asylum Writers (OOTA) presents a new series of novel writing workshops with Helen Hagemann. The series runs each Friday fortnight, alternating with Shane McCauley’s Friday poetry class. Workshops run from 10am-noon, with the next session being on Friday 7 March. The emphasis is on writing chapters, or stand-alone work suitable for the short story. Beginners and developing writers catered for. Venue: Fremantle Arts Centre, 1 Finnerty St. Fremantle; Room: 2 - Upstairs in the north wing. Cost: $20 (OOTA members), $25 others. No bookings required. For details click here. Peter Cowan 600 Short Story Competition The Peter Cowan Writers Centre is calling for entries for this annual competition. Submissions must be unpublished and not have won prior recognition. Max. 600 words per story; open theme. Prizes:1st $200; 2nd $100; 3rd $50; four x Highly Commended; four x Commended Certificates. $10 for one entry, $20/three, $30/five. Entries to be post-marked by 11 April. This year the centre has introduced a new category: the Julian Cowan Youth Award for ages 12-17 years. For details see "Young Writers", below. Entry form and guidelines available soon here.

Kenyon Review The Writers Workshops

Productive. Creative. Supportive. Intense. That’s how participants describe 

the Kenyon Review Writers Workshops.

Is a Kenyon Review Writers Workshop right for you? If you’re serious about writing, here’s what we offer:

• Workshop sessions that get you writing and keep you writing
• Inspiring instructors who coach you towards your best
• Collegial workshoppers as deeply engaged in writing as you are
• Invaluably constructive feedback and support
• A summer week on the stunning, literature-steeped Kenyon College campus

Whether you’ve been writing for years, have recently graduated from an MFA program, or have just now decided to take the leap out of your private notebooks and into a classroom, you’ll find a workshop here to help you accomplish your literary goals.

2014 Workshops

Session I: June 14-21, 2014	Session II:
Fiction Workshop	June 27-July 3, 2014
Literary Nonfiction Workshop	Novel Workshop
Poetry Workshop	June 28-July 3, 2014
Literary Hybrid/Book Arts Workshop	Writers Workshop for Teachers
Writing Online Workshop

Click on any of the links above to learn more about specific workshops.

Click here to learn more about the program.

Haiku on speed – Recycling an ancient tradition

The aim of this workshop is to generate new poems by combining the ancient Japanese haiku form with texts gleaned from our everyday world – contemporary Western Australia.

With found poems writers have to be alert to the world, hunting for words that are

 there already. What writers notice can be far more important than what they think.

-        Bill Manhire

Drawing on what we notice or borrow from the world can sometimes lead us to write in new and unexpected ways...avenues open up that we have never explored before, our poems speak in tongues...

This workshop is inspired by the Bill Manhire’s Mutes & Earthquakes (Wellington 1997) and Paul Janeczko,How to Write Haiku and Other Poems (U.S.A. 2004)

Sponsored by The Fellowship of Australian Writers WA

Sunday 9 March

1.30 – 4.30pm

Mattie Furphy House Clare Copse Swanbourne

$33 ($22 for members of FAWWA)

5 Best Punctuation Marks

Schulz: The 5 Best Punctuation Marks in Literature

• By Kathryn Schulz

   

The muse gets all the press, but here’s a fact: Good writing involves obsessing over punctuation marks.

Read on at http://www.vulture.com/2014/01/best-punctuation-marks-literature-nabokov-eliot-dickens-levi.html

Six Gallery Poets - Exhibition

Are crows the ultimate problem solvers? - Inside the Animal Mind: Episod...

WRITERS’ CAMP AT PHILLIP ISLAND: 23rd – 25th May 2014

Writers’ Workshops

What is a Writers’ Camp?

It’s a residential weekend for writers, where we run workshops (classes), readings and discussions. The program of workshops usually focuses on a mix of fiction and poetry writing. We will be running specialised camps in the future on picture books and masterclass poetry (including verse novels).

Phillip Island Writers’ Camp – May 2014 – Fiction and Poetry

Date: Friday 23rd – Sunday 25th May. Arrive and settle in after 3.00pm Friday. Last session will end with lunch on Sunday.

Place: The Island Accommodation, Newhaven, Phillip Island, Victoria. The Island’s website is HERE. The Island has a range of budget rooms. Rates for October will be $125 per night for a double/twin room, and $35-40 for shared rooms. We will provide more details when your booking is confirmed.

Who: Kristin Henry and Sherryl Clark will be teaching the workshops.

Email Sherryl at sherrylc1@optusnet.com.au for full details and an enrolment form!Or contact through http://www.sherrylclarkwritingcoach.com/contact-me/

PROGRAM
Friday evening, 6-8.30pm

Welcome, supper and activities.

Saturday, 9.30-12.30: Choose between

Short Stories – Does “what if” actually work in terms of generating story ideas? We’ll apply this question and a range of tools to come up with short stories you can write in the following week. Also suitable for short memoir pieces. (Kristin)

OR

That’s the Breaks! – One of the things poets wrestle with the most is line breaks, and then  with stanzas. To break or not? Why? What does a line break actually do? Why do you need to make this a key focus in your poem writing and revision? (Sherryl)

Saturday, 2.00-5.00: Choose between

Self-editing and Revision – Does your revision need a sledgehammer, a chisel or a teeny screwdriver? This workshop will show you tools to revise and self-edit your fiction to a much higher level. (Sherryl)

OR

Verse Novels and Sequences – Thinking of writing a series of poems or maybe venturing into a verse novel? We’ll look at what works and what you need to take into account, how to plan a cohesive group of poems. Also suitable for “life” poems. (Kristin)

5-6pm – Free time.

6-9.30pm – Dinner at a local venue and readings at The Island.

Sunday: 9-12: Show, Don’t Tell – How many times have you heard this rule? We’ll show you how to really tackle this issue in your writing via a series of examples and exercises, whether you write poetry, fiction or memoir. Come prepared to read critically and write with gusto.

Lunch and farewell.

COST: The weekend will cost you $209 (incl GST) – this includes Saturday and Sunday  workshops, breakfasts and lunches. It does not include accommodation (so you can choose a share option or not). We have chosen a hostel-type accommodation to help make it affordable for everyone.

THERE IS A STRICT LIMIT ON NUMBERS. We can take only 30 people. If you want to book a place, do it now! Payment will be required by the end of February. Yes, we will have a waiting list. You need to email Sherryl at sherrylc1@optusnet.com.au to book your spot. A full handout with more details will be sent when you enquire. 

For further enquiries, contact through http://www.sherrylclarkwritingcoach.com/contact-me/

Joni Mitchell on ABC's Poetica

Poetica: Enduring lyrics Joni Mitchell wrote poetry from an early age and with the aid of David Crosby found fame as a performer with her writing talent and unique voice. Katherine Monk, author of Joni: the Creative Odyssey of Joni Mitchell , talks to Poetica about Joni Mitchell’s life as a singer/songwriter and the beauty of her powerful lyrics. Saturday 22 February at 3.00pm and repeated Thursday 27 February at 9.00pm

Surfing Down South, published by Margaret River Press

Launch of 'Surfing Down South'                                                                                                                                                 Buy the book. Margaret River Press once again partnered with the Holmes à Court Gallery at Vasse Felix to celebrate the opening of the exhibition 'Coast' and launch our publication 'Surfing Down South'.  Janet Holmes à Court launched both the exhibition and book. In her launch speech she said she loved the book and bought six copies to give  away, one of which will be given to Richard Tognetti, Artistic Director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra who a few years ago had presented 'The Reef'  a performance piece involving musicians and surfers.  She congratulated Sue-Lyn and the Press on the publication which she said was historically and culturally significant. Many pioneering surfers came along with family and friends some of who travelled from Perth for the event.  In keeping with tradition, they retired to Caves House to reminiscent about the good old days. Sue-Lyn in the middle surrounded by surfers and publisher Caroline on the far left. Janet Holmes à Court chatting to surfers. Kevin Merifield paid tribute to Sue-Lyn and the Press on the publication.