Aussie Readers discussion

This is the place for the people of Perth to patronise!
You may have already introduced yourself above, but how about a 6 word intro here, so that we can see who's who.

Here's mine:

Roller-skating grandma. Poetry. Classics.Goodreads. Genealogy.


This is also the place to drop in anytime and say hello.
And if you know of anything on in Perth or other parts of W.A. Please post!

Today and tomorrow, I believe you can go to the 46th floor of the Bankwest tower for free and take a look around.

Congratulations Jan. I knew you could do it.

I'm just visiting from Qld but I once worked as the nurse in a tiny town east of Port Hedland called Marble Bar. It's a real wild, one-horse town and one of my jobs was to drive the ambulance around behind the horses on their annual race day! It was hilarious.:)

Nice one Jan, hehehe!!couldn't resist it (-:

Marble Bar...hottest town in the world as far as I know.
Hello David. Please keep us informed of any contests you know of here in the West, and congratulations on your success in the Bush Poets contest. Welcome to my visitors, now we just need a few West Australians to find out about this thread.

Here you go Jan.

http://www.wabushpoets.com/upcoming_e...

Thankyou so much!

Still waiting for some West Australians to pop in here and say hello. It's going to be 39 in Perth today! Currently 35 at 9am.

Hi Jan, the trick is to be persistent like Dee-Ann in the NT. She keeps posting updates, people like to read them, sometimes comments are made sometimes not.

PS.You will be happy to know that we are freezing our butts off here in Sydney.

Ahhhh..tropical rain, high 20's to 30's beautiful (-:

Usually around 26 to 30 here but dry, dry and dry. We rely on winter rain, but this year there was so little, that the storage in the dams did not increase at all, so we have to be very careful with water usage.

I wish we could send some rain your way Jan. It has been so wet on the east coast this year and they are predicting a very wet summer.

We don't usually get much summer rain, but La Nina is supposed to bring us a wetter summer...with our local sea temperatures a couple of degrees warmer than usual, we could get the odd storm. Last March we had a couple of extreme storms, one of which caused millions of dollars of damage.

Hello Jan, I'm Jill and I live in the north of WA - the Kimberley. It's cracking hot here today and humid. Blech. But we have nice beaches :)

OK let's see if I can be succint (not one of my traits lol)

Receptionist. Married 33 years as of last week. Three adult kids. Fiction. Bird watching. Gardening. Walking. Wish I could rollerskate. (Damn I suck at brevity)

Never mind about brevity...you've conveyed a lot right there, and let's hope some more West Aussies find us and have a go. I've been married 34 years...35 on January 3rd.
Bird watching? That must be interesting up there. A honeyeater just stunned itself against my window, but fortunately fell amongst ferns and was able to get flying again. It's been 36 here the last couple of days, and again same predicted for today. Have you always lived in the north?

G'day Jan, I did post this in the Indigenous literature page, but thought I would post here as well, these people are doing a wonderful job.
Please have a look at this site, the editor of their monthly newsletter has asked permission to publish one of my poems in their Christmas edition, I have also sent a couple of my indigenous related poems.

http://www.hiwg2005.websyte.com.au

Thanks for that link, David. It's ironic that indigenous people could go off to serve in war, at a time when they didn't even have the right to vote. We somehow imagine that we come from a long tradition of democracy, yet half the population only got the vote about a hundred years ago,(the female half) and in the case of the indigenous people it was less than fifty years ago! In England, to this day, the House of Lords remains an unelected body!

What's on in Perth?

Tonight and tomorrow night:

John Williamson Live at the Quarry.

Great work Jan. Keep it up more people will join in.

The Kimberley for 5 years Jan, before that, the Perth hills. I so badly miss my jarrah forest ...

What about you?

Originally from Melbourne, my family headed north in 1967. Not finding suitable work for my Dad, we travelled across the top and eventually down to Perth where the mining boom was taking off, and here we stayed. I did a reverse trip around Australia with my husband and two boys in 1989, and have flown back and forth with my daughter and husband in recent years. We are less than 2 km from the beach, and also a short walk from Star Swamp with its Tuarts, Marri, Jarrah, paperbarks, candle banksias, galahs, lorikeets, twenty-eights, wattlebirds and rainbow birds. So, from home, I can do a beach walk or a bush walk.

Free event tomorrow night. Sunday 5th September.
Carols by the Swan. Sir James Mitchell Park, South Perth
Free family activities from 5 pm
Carols from 7:30 pm

Jan wrote: "Originally from Melbourne, my family headed north in 1967. Not finding suitable work for my Dad, we travelled across the top and eventually down to Perth where the mining boom was taking off, and h..."

Sounds like a gorgeous place to live Jan...love the thought of it all!!!

Oh Jan, that sounds like heaven! I miss all of that. Do you have Christmas trees gowing in the bush as well? They would be about to flower ...

Oh now I am thinking about white tailed and red tailed black cockatoos ... and how the white tailed cockatoos "weelah" when it is about to rain. They never let me down!

It is raining! And yes, Bluesky, the West Australian Christmas trees started with their beautiful orange display in mid-November(probably because it was such a hot month).

G'day Jan, I noticed on last nights news/weather there is a cyclone west of you mob, if it can move a bit closer without making land fall you might get some more rain eh!

Not a cyclone but a tropical low, hence cloud cover and some rain. If you stand still long enough you can occasionally get a spot on your face!(of rain, that is)

Are you going to the Perth Writers Festival? We're looking for volunteers who'll give us some feedback on all the happenings at festival time! Here's an update on the Festival:

Situated on the beautiful grounds of The University of Western Australia, the Perth Writers Festival is a celebration of the written word in all its forms. With something for everyone, the long weekend includes a fabulous opening party, readings, talks, workshops and our always popular Family Day.

Full program of events will be released Thur 27 Jan but many of the visiting authors have already been announced. International authors include Annie Proulx, Joanne Harris, Andrew O'Hagan, Damon Galgut, 'Dexter' author Jeff Lindsay, Armistead Maupin, Tariq Ali and Simon Armitage. Aussie authors include Jon Bauer, Carmel Bird, Gregory Day, Will Elliott, Tim Flannery, Raimond Gaita, Kate Holden, Toni Jordan, Caroline Overington, Kim Scott, John Tranter, Chris Womersley, Sophie Gee and her husband Lev Grossman.

http://perthfestival.com.au/events/pwf/


If you like poetry there is the WA Bush Poetry Showcase on 26th January at Wireless Hill, Ardross between 1-5pm. Enjoy an afternoon of Real Aussie Rhyming Poetry, includes musicians 'Terry and Jenny'.

http://www.wabushpoets.com/

Here's a great audio piece from the ABC Radio National on the literature of WA.

The literature of Western Australia

"What are the defining characteristics of Western Australian literature?

In many ways Western Australia is geographically more aligned with parts of South East Asia, particularly Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

It's the Indian Ocean that meets the land in the west, not the Pacific.

The Book Show explores how this Asian orientation is reflected in the writing and fiction of the West." Listen to the audio download here.

Hi all, new to the group and Goodreads! I've been in Perth for close onto 4 years now. It's reassuring to know I'm not the only person from WA on here :D

Can you believe the heat wave? 27 days straight above 30 degrees is miserable without AC. I'm hoping it manages to stay below 30 today.

Right, 6-word intro.
Student. Bibliophile. Originally American, now Australian.

I don't know how you are coping without air con, Joyce!! I think I'd have to move to Tasmania...the comparison in weather is incredible..!!!

Haha, I've been mostly somewhere else other than our apartment during the hottest parts of the day, whether it be at uni, or the city, or with my in-laws (who DO have air con). As long as it's not the apartment, that's all that matters!

There are ways to sort of lessen the impact of the heat, but it's still obviously not fun. Can't wait to see the back end of this heat wave.

The Perth Writers Festival is on RIGHT NOW!! Is anyone going? Should be heaps of fun.:)

http://perthfestival.com.au/events/pwf/

An open invitation to one and all.
If you happen to be in Perth during the weekend 26 - 29 May, please come to my exhibition launch. This is probably a first for Perth - a book launch accompanied by mysterious yet reverential pictures taken from the narrative, painted by an award-winning artist. Please come, and bring a friend. You can view an invitation (and print, if you like) here:
http://www.rosannedingli.com/invitation...
According to Luke is my best book so far, and is getting great reviews. I will be very happy to meet readers in person. (Please come up and say you are from Goodreads!)
(I had no idea this thread was here - Brenda so kindly pointed it out. I'll be sure to join more from now on, if you'll have me.)

All my books will be available from May 18 at special prices at the newsagents shop at the Mega Centre in Innaloo, just across from Ikea, near the new Rivers shop.

Of course Rosanne, we'd love to have you participate in as many of the threads as you wish! Join in the chatter about your fav books, and anything else you'd love that talk about..we're all friendly, and love to chat!! :)

Hi everyone, does anyone know of a book club in Perth that is looking for new members? Thanks!

Christine, maybe contact your local library, they might have a book club there...that's where mine is:)

There are some excellent book clubs that meet at BookCafe and also at some bookshops in Fremantle. Asking the counter staff might bring some results because they usually have to reserve selections for book clubs, and they have contacts. So Christine, keep asking - there are quite a few around. I know because my new thriller was ordered in multiple numbers for two book clubs so far.

Hi all, I'm a local boy who reads and writes. I was born here, and am back here now, after a six year detour to Sydney for a bit of a change.

Boy am I enjoying the slide into winter!

Thanks guys... I will keep on looking!

Colin wrote: "Hi all, I'm a local boy who reads and writes. I was born here, and am back here now, after a six year detour to Sydney for a bit of a change.

Boy am I enjoying the slide into winter!"

Ah, Colin, your winter, and winter over this side of the country, is a little different!!! haha...

I know you've introduced yourself to us in that particular thread, but if you'd like, you can add your story to http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/4... a fun get to know you section:)

Want to hear something funny - I started another giveaway for According to Luke, but something happened and the only people who can enter have to live in Mexico! That leaves us Aussies well out of it. No wonder participation is so low this time! Last copy I gave away 1070 people wanted a piece of the action. So no worries, I'll run another one for Aussies only, as soon as the sombreros are out of the way.

Oh dear..how did that happen Rosanne!!! LOL

Hi Everyone,

I live on a farm in the Central Wheatbelt. I've lived here for 22 years, but I've been in WA for 42 years, having immigrated here as a child. I work in a school library and write in my spare time. I'd like that to be the other way around, but my family don't see writing as work...yet.

Katie, that's a long time to live in one place O.o!! Keep on going with the writing, it won't be long until they change their opinions! Would be great to work in the school library too, I reckon!! :)

You'd be best to wait until wildflower season in early spring when a good number of titles become available.

Other than that, Simon Nevill does a range of WA titles and used to conduct wildflower sight seeing tours. I don't know how widely available his books are, but if you can't find them anywhere, try the Boffins Bookshop in Perth who stock his range.

http://www.boffinsbookshop.com.au/boo...

A question for those of you in Perth...Hubby and I are thinking of going to visit your beautiful city early next year, and were wondering if mid/late March would be suitable, weather wise? We don't want too hot weather, or cold either....

Thanks in advance!

March is very unpredictable, Brenda, but generally the weather starts to cool towards the end of the month and there isn't usually much rain. I can't remember it being really cold in March.

We were going to do the end of March/beginning of April, until I saw Easter is 6th April - 9th April, with school holidays until the 20th, so thought to bring it back into March. I guess it's hard to pick, Mother Nature being who she is...but at least mid/late March wouldn't be terribly hot?

Thanks Katie:)

but at least mid/late March wouldn't be terribly hot?

Let's just say it shouldn't be. I hope you get the best weather possible!