Lauren Chater: Mother Midnight – In Praise of the Midwife
I spent last week at ‘virtual’ Varuna on a writers’ residency that didn’t require leaving home or breaching isolation restrictions, but meant I could mix with other writers, share and discuss writing, and basically feel normal again. It was...
Natasha Lester: These Are the Times for Stories
This week’s guest in the attic is my very good friend, Natasha Lester. Ten years ago when I started writing, Natasha was one of the first authors to offer me a helping hand, an encouraging word or an answer to a question. Over the years, we’ve become...
Suzanne Moore: Writing Mothers – Living in The Place Between
Writers in the Attic is back for 2020! I was actually planning on taking a break while I finished my second novel, but Covid’s thrown all our 2020 plans into disarray! Authors rely on book tours, writers’ festivals, library talks, workshops and book clubs...
Joanna Nell: Confessions of an Introvert Writer—How I found my Quiet Tribe
This is my last Writers in the Attic for 2019 and I’m delighted to end the year with this beautiful and insightful post from Joanna Nell. Everything Jo mentions in this piece, every single detail, resonates with me, as I’m sure it will with every other...
Favel Parrett: When Fiction Becomes Truth
We’re into the final month of 2019, and I have two more guests in the attic to come before I take a break for summer. I feel incredibly lucky that so many wonderful writers have agreed to write for the attic this year and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading...
Heather Rose: A Few Thoughts About Writing
Today’s guest in the attic requires no introduction—she’s one of Australia’s best writers, as well as one of the kindest, most down-to-earth people you could ever meet. (That’s how they breed them in Tasmania. 😉 ) I’m thrilled and...
Morna Seres: The Process
This week, another Varuna-housemate-now-lifelong-friend* joins me in the attic. Morna Seres has worked as an actor, actor’s agent and even as a salesperson of virtual reality funerals. She fell into writing and in this post talks about managing the ups and downs...
Jacqui Brown: Screw You, Mrs Bennett
Today’s guest in the attic, Jacqui Brown, is warm, vivacious and humorous, all of which is evident in her writing. Jacqui’s one of the group of writers I met while at Varuna who helped make my stay so special. I hope you enjoy her post—there’s...
Claire Varley: Realistic Fortune Cookies for the Discerning Writer
Varuna Writers House is possibly my favourite place to write. It’s writerly history seems to shroud and uplift you as soon as you enter, and it’s location in the Blue Mountains, with majestic views from every window and a national park on the doorstep,...
Pam Cook: Finding the Courage to be Yourself
I’m delighted to welcome well known and well loved Australian author, Pam Cook, to the attic today. Many of you will know Pam from her four published books, as well as the Writes 4 Women podcast she hosts with Kel Butler. Pam is about to publish her fifth book,...