In 2010 I…me1

fell madly in love

presented/chaired at Perth Writers Festival, Format Festival, the Australian Booksellers Association conference, Byron Bay Writers Festival, Write Around the Murray; and locally here in Melbourne for the Melbourne Writers Festival, Williamstown Literary Festival, Emerging Writers Festival, and some events for Express Media. I also attended other writerly events, such as Writers at the Convent and the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards

taught workshops in Horsham, Echuca, Croydon, Swan Hill, Byron Bay and Albury

interviewed Peter Goldsworthy, Alex Miller (at PWF), Elif Batuman (a ‘responsive’ interview), Maile Meloy, Colm Tóibín (in person), Wena Poon, Bret Easton Ellis (in person, with Kathy Charles), Kabita Dhara, China Miéville (in person, with Benjamin Solah) and Paul Murphy. Plus, Andrew Wrathall interviewed Charlaine Harris for me

showed Tara Moss my desk

visited The Wheeler Centre for different events and participated in a critical culture ‘un-conference’ there

published short stories in The Lifted Brow and Torpedo Greatest Hits Torpedo_GH_Cover

kept up a gym routine, somehow

read my stories to an audience at Read You Bastards and Dog’s Tails

published articles and reviews in A Cafe in Space: The Anais Nin Literary Journal, Miscellaneous Voices: Australian Blog Writing No.1, Bookseller+Publisher, antiTHESIS, Crikey, and Mascara

read plenty of books (of course)

met a muppet

hosted guest posts. Thank you Elena, Lyndon, Matthia, JJ, Raili, Sam, Elizabeth, Chris, Derek, Jonathan, Alice, Genevieve, Gerard and Greg. Stars – all of you

saw Waiting for Godot, Richard III, The Trial and a few other plays

was interviewed in Victorian Writer, Epicure, on Triple J briefly, on regional NSW ABC radio, and for bookish pieces in Women’s Health

‘blurbed’ the Aus edition of Elif Batuman’s The Possessed

read stuff on my iPhoneme2

edited Bookseller+Publisher for a few months… before leaving (to start my doctorate)

shared some anxieties

began a Doctor of Creative Arts in the Writing & Society Research Group at UWS

shared some thoughts on writing

was illustrated

celebrated the blog’s third birthday

had a photo shoot (coming to a newspaper supplement near you)

wrote about my favourite Kafka story for The Gum Wall

participated, with friends, in The Novel Challenge, raising $630 for people affected by MS

began an affectionate side-blog, infrequently updated, called LiteraryMinded Crush

went to Sydney Film Festivalme3

had some awesome times with friends and family

did some consulting work (on blogging and social media)

taught a few classes of online writing at RMIT

was an official blogger for Melbourne Writers Festival

launched Lisa Lang’s Utopian Man

chose a favourite book for 2010

sent out a bunch of tweets

saw Colin Meloy, Daniel Johnston, The Eels and The Eagles live

commissioned reviews on Twitter

drank a lot of boozeme4

revealed the reasons for my Bowie love

test-drove an ereader

made my first vlog

presented my first academic paper

watched about 150 films (cinema and DVD)

became an ACMI member

caught up on TV shows (finally) and especially loved Mad Men and Bored to Death (oh, George)

stayed madly in love

oh, and I drafted a novel…

*

As busy a year as 2009? Perhaps more so (though it felt less busy, which is good). What does 2011 hold? AN OVERSEAS TRIP, that’s what. But also – Perth Writers Festival again (and others I’m sure), some proper Q&A vlogs, second draft of the novel, sending more stories out, plus a very special blog-able reading project, the details of which I’ll announce as soon as I get back on here mid-Jan…

I’m taking two weeks off! One here in Melbourne and one in sunny (?) Coffs. First, a five-day detox, then a retox! Coffs will also involve reading the Richard Yates bio and Christopher Isherwood’s Berlin Stories; plus playing board games, beach walks and riding a horse. All with loved ones. Happy New Year!

Thanks, as always, for reading.