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00:24S1
Hello and welcome to hear this. I'm Frances Keyland and you're listening to Hear This, which is the Vision Australia Library radio show here on Vision Australia Radio. On today's show we have Leanne, who is the community engagement coordinator for the library. She organises a lot of events and does a lot of hard work behind the scenes of the library and on the main stage of the library. So we'll welcome Leanne giving us a bit of an update about what's happening in the library in the next few months. And then we have some wonderful samples of some books. So I do hope you enjoy the show.
We have Leanne Surjadi here now to talk a little bit about library events coming up in this wonderful, fresh new year. Hopefully, Leanne is the community engagement coordinator at the library, and you'll be familiar with her. Hi, Leanne.
01:17S2
Hi. Happy New Year to you and all your listeners.
01:20S1
And the same to you. The library has had a bit of a break and back on board. Now, what's coming up that people should be aware of for the library people? Uh, look out for library events.
01:30S2
Yes. So, Frances. So we've got a great year, I think, planned ahead for 2024. A couple of things returning. So our regular Treat Yourself program will be back. We had a lot of fun with that last year. Um, so we'll be doing that every two months with our first Treat Yourself kicking off on 14th of February, which I know that you know, is Library Lovers Day, not just Valentine's Day. Yep. Um, so we've got a range of fun new topics planned for this year. On Library Lovers Day, we'll be talking about romance fiction, which we haven't haven't picked off yet. Um, we'll be doing sci fi. What else? Historical fiction. Animal stories, which I really enjoy. So yeah, some great chats through the year, and it was really great to finish off last year with our little Christmas special. Francis, if you joined us for...
02:22S1
That was lovely.
02:23S2
So it was, wasn't it? It was great to be together in the room with some of our regular Treat Yourself participants, as well as joining all of our other members online, and it was a lovely one to finish off the year.
02:37S1
It was fantastic and so many great suggestions to read.
02:40S2
Yeah, yeah, we always get such a great reading list out of the Treat Yourself program. We'll have to pop some of these online so that everyone can take a look at some of the great recommendations that come through each time. Um, yeah. So that's a treat yourself for our readers. Um, in the latter half of the year, we're going to be starting a new program, um, something we trialled last year, Biblio therapy, which is the practice of using reading to support wellbeing. And so we have Doctor Susan McLean, who's really a world leader in this field, who'll be working with us to set up a monthly biblio therapy reading group. So I'm really looking forward to giving category. That's something a bit new for us, that we can look forward to in the latter part of the year.
03:26S1
Fascinating theory. Will that then concentrate on, um, like self-help type books or could it be anything? Could it be fiction?
03:35S2
Yeah. Not necessarily. So there's different, uh, different kind of categories of biblio therapy. Self-Help is wine. And that Doctor Susan specialty is really using fiction and poetry, um, as kind of reflective texts. So, um, we did a session last year. We did a short series to kind of give it a go. Um, and how it works is, um, Doctor Susan would read out a text that she selected. So we did some, some great classic texts. We did The Drover's Wife. And then lead is almost like a meditative session, um, with some with some questions for the participants. Um, it's a very calming thing to be part of. It was really quite beautiful. So yeah, that's something to consider giving a go, when we open that up. Yeah, later this year.
04:23S1
Yeah, yeah. And, and actually there's a lot of mental health benefits, from being in a library in general, a lot of people talk about the acceptance of diverse in the diversity of people that attend libraries, that there's an acceptance there that they may not find in other areas. And that shared love of books. It's a bit like...
04:46S2
Absolutely. Yeah.
04:47S1
Like dog walking. People who walk dogs can find themselves talking to people from all walks of life and finding that common ground. So it's the same with books and libraries.
04:55S2
Yeah, yeah. And I mean, something that's very nice about the therapy sessions is, that they are a communal experience. So you're sharing your reflecting, you know, sitting, sitting sometimes in silence with other people, but doing that together, and yeah, there's something really special about it.
05:11S1
And there's an exciting in conversation, the first one for 2024.
05:15S2
Yes. So we are looking forward to a really wonderful In Conversation program this year. And we are starting off with, um, and also that. I really proud to be hosting. We'll be hosting Alexis Wright, the First Nations author, on the 25th of March. There's still a bit of time for that one. Um, but she's she's really magnificent. So she's written some brilliant works. Um, praiseworthy. The tracker Carpentaria. And we have most of her titles in the library. Praiseworthy, which is her latest novel, um, is not currently available in audio, but I can share, um, that we are. It's in production. Um, it's being narrated at the moment in our Vision Australia studios, so it will be available in Audio Position Australia library members. Um, hopefully in time for the conversation. I know the teams are working on it.
06:07S1
Oh, I hope so. And the interviewer, the person that will be conducting this, in conversation, she's...
06:13S2
We're bringing back Astrid Edwards, who, if you joined us last year for our Melbourne Writers Festival in conversation with Richard Fidler, she was the wonderful interviewer who sat with Richard. And so she's joining us for this one. So she'll be interviewing Alexis and she's brilliant. So yeah, we're really, really excited that she can join us as our interviewer for this one.
06:39S1
And as you said, the 25th of March is still plenty of time for people to, um, express their interest and sign up, to attend that as...
06:47S2
Yes, the registration will be opening soon. You can check on the website for details on that once we once we get the registration off in the coming weeks. And we will also, of course, include it in our first newsletter. Our first newsletter will be heading out in early February.
07:04S1
Okay. That's great. I'm writing all of this down to remind myself as well. And then, is there anything else that's coming up this year that you'd like people to be aware of?
07:17S2
Oh, so we will be continuing with our wonderful writing program. So we've got some great things planned for the year. Um, we'll be starting off with, um, a bit of an advanced memoir writing course. So we've had we've had a couple of hundred people come through our Write Your Life memoir series over the last couple of years. And often they keep coming back for more. So we're doing a next steps one, taking it to the next level. So that will be happening in late February. Um, but some other writing topics that we'll be looking at through the year include writing for children. So writing for an audience of children, picture books or young adult writing, um, flash fiction, which is, I think, just another word for short story writing. So that'll be a fun one. A few people have expressed interest in that.
Shaun Pryor will be back to lead us in her writing for Wellbeing Workshop series, which was a really, really special one to be part of last year. And so that'll be happening closer to media. And we will be doing again the introductory memoir writing series as well. So lots of different opportunities for the writers in our community.
08:34S1
Oh that's fantastic. So the advanced one. So people who've done at least one memoir writing course by further steps, do you mean like publishing or is it is it more like a how to practical way to market your work or...
08:49S2
Oh no, not quite, though we will be covering that at the end of the year. We're looking at doing a publishing series, which we did a couple of years ago, and it's probably time for us to do it again, because we've had a whole range of new writers from our members come through our program. But it's really just this, right? Your Life Advance series is just kind of a deeper look into memoir writing, a bit of a chance for people to share more of their own work during the workshops, and have their own kind of work. Yeah. Workshopped with the group.
09:20S1
What have you been reading over this... break?
09:23S2
Oh, yes. I've been doing a lot of reading. I finally got around to reading Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garman. Which... have you read it?
09:33S1
Yes, I've read kit. Yes, I loved it.
09:34S2
Yeah, it was great. A lot of fun. A wonderful, wonderful protagonist. Elizabeth is the main character, and she is. Yeah. It's a really unique, rational human being. I really, really enjoyed it. It's a book with something to say. Yeah, which I kind of really appreciated. I felt challenged by, it's funny at times also has, has some really hard hitting moments as well. There's a gorgeous dog character was probably my favorite in the book. But yeah, really, really enjoyed Lessons in Chemistry.
10:15S1
Yes. One of our listeners recommended it a few, oh, a couple of months ago. And, it was and also it's been released on one of those streaming services as a as an example. Apple is it I are all right. That's good to know too. Yeah yeah.
10:31S3
Yeah.
10:31S2
So I enjoyed that one. I'm currently reading The Book of Dirt, which I think you featured perhaps on the show some time ago. Yeah.
10:40S1
Yeah. Bram Presser.
10:42S2
That's right. Yes. So the Book of Dirt by Bram Presser. So I've just started that beautiful writing, a really, really interesting approach, kind of an interesting approach to family history, really. His grandfather was a Holocaust survivor. But after his grandfather's passing, Bram realised some information kind of came to light. That helped him realise just how little he knew his grandfather and his grandfather's story. And The Book of Dirt is an attempt to kind of recreate his life. So it's a work of fiction, which weaves in, and what he does know, what might be connector. And we've been also kind of Jewish myths as well. So it's a very rich story, really beautifully written. Yeah.
11:33S1
I was amazed at how he was able to recreate a vanished life in the first, you know, a couple of chapters, the whole intricacies of living in a in a village and the relationships and everything. And already because, you know, the history, you kind of go, Oh, this is so sad because this is what disappeared, for many people.
11:54S3
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
11:55S2
So yeah. Really powerful book. So we're really looking forward to working my way through that one. How have you been reading Frances?
12:03S1
What have I been reading? Oh, my gosh, you know, you've put me on the spot [indistinct]... I'm trying to think, oh, dear me. Oh. Well, I've, I started reading Susan Sontag's The Volcano Lover, which is in the library. I'm not that crazy about the narration, though, because I sort of thought, Oh, I'll hear a little bit of the narration and, unfortunately, I feel the narration. Let's sit down, because it's a beautifully written novel. And, so yeah, I kind of would hesitate to recommend anybody that's listening to it. But as a novel itself, it's just extraordinary. Set in the 1700s. And it's at a time when people were mad on collecting. So the rich were collecting all volcanic samples. So it was this sort of pseudo science of examining things and coming up with theories. And I guess before Darwinism had come into being. So it was mainly focused on rocks and strange animal skeletons and things and, um, yeah. And it's all set around the volcano Mount Etna in Sicily. So there's a whole kind of English aristocracy that are living there. And. Yeah, just, I'm sorry because I haven't finished reading it yet, but anyway. Yeah. So I love it.
13:19S2
Sounds great. Kind of natural history.
13:22S1
Yes, very much so. With the love story with Emma Hamilton and Lord Nelson, the central characters of this book, and he was the collector as well. Anyway, Susan Sontag, she died a few years ago. But I love her books and her philosophy and her attachment to her craft.
We're at the end, thank you so much for coming in, and telling us a little bit about what's happening coming up in 2024. And I hope you have a lovely New year. And, yeah, I'm glad the library's back and running. Yeah.
13:56S2
No, thanks very much, Francis. Great to have you back in the chair for this. So it's always wonderful to chat.
14:03S1
All right. I'll talk to you next month and have a great day.
14:06S2
Bye. Thanks. Thanks, everyone. Bye bye.
14:13S1
Good morning. And you're listening to Vision Australia Radio and the program Here This, and big thanks there to Leanne Surjadi coming in to let us know what exciting things are happening with the library. The Biblio therapy is so interesting and that sounds like a great monthly event. And I was kind of looking for some books. I know there are some in the library on the therapy that books provide, and I also found out there's a book called Biblio Maniac. This is by a British author and comedian, Robin Ince. The full title of the book is Biblio Maniac an obsessives tour of the bookshops of Britain. Why play to 12,000 people when you can play to 12? In autumn 2021, Robin Ince's stadium tour with Professor Brian Cox was postponed due to the pandemic. Rather than do nothing, he decided he would instead go on a tour of over 100 bookshops from Wigtown to Penzance, from Swansea to Margate, packed with anecdotes and tall tales, Biblio Maniac follows Robin up and down the country in his quest to discover just why he can never have. Have Enough books. It is the story of an addiction and a romance, and also of an occasional points failure. Just outside of Oxenham Laodicea, a sample of Biblio Maniac by Robin Ince, and it's narrated by the author Robin Ince.
I've been browsing the bookshops of Oxford since I was eight. Oxford was always my mother's favourite day trip. There are so many past browses to recall the most important Oxford book for me with Danny Peiris cult movies. It opened me up to weird movies beyond the horror genre. Now it wasn't just Karloff and Lugosi, Cushing and Carradine, it was Divine and David Lynch, Kubrick and Cocteau. As usual, I judge this book by its cover, and I was right to do so. It had on it the famous monochrome image of a cinema audience, all in their cardboard glasses. But this had the lenses all colored red and green. The audience are watching Bwana Devil, the world's first feature length motion picture in natural vision.
Three dimension A lion in your lap. A lover in your arms. I obsessed about the films within this book, many of them totally unwatchable in the 1970s and 1980s, so I had to make them up in my head. Pink flamingos was a prime fascination. Divine Crackers and Cotton enthusiastically decide to move to Boise, Idaho. Spotting a small dog defecating on the sidewalk, Devine scoops up the feces with her hand and puts them in her mouth, proving that divine is not only the filthiest person in the world, but is also the world's filthiest actress. I think that is one of my favorite Wikipedia entries. Succinct and to the point.
And that was a sample of Biblio Maniac by Robin Ince. Robin is Robin, that's R-O-B-I-N, Ince is I-N-C-E, and that book goes for eight hours. He's also written co-written a couple of books with Professor Brian Cox. One of them is The Importance of Being Interested Adventures in Scientific Curiosity. He presents one of the world's most popular science podcasts, along with Brian Cox. So that's another book you may want to borrow. The Importance of Being Interested adventures and scientific curiosity. I can't get that word out today. Curiosity, um, and also How to Build a Universe again with Brian Cox. He's written this and they take the musings of the great and the good of British science, producing an insight into the multifaceted subjects involved in building a universe with pearls of wisdom from leading scientists and comedians peppered throughout. So a fun and interesting take there on science. But our Biblio maniac is purely about the books.
The next book is The Naturalist of Amsterdam, which Leanne mentioned briefly. This is by Melissa Ashley. Amsterdam at the turn of the 18th century. Maria Sibylla Merian is one of the greatest naturalists in Europe. Maria becomes entranced by the plant and insect life of surname. She is determined to record it for herself, taking her daughter Dorothea with her. All the family savings are ploughed into the dangerous expedition. The metamorphosis of the Insects of Surinam will be Maria's masterpiece, but ensuring its legacy and her own survival will become her daughter's burden. When offered a chance of happiness, will Dorothea have the courage to take it and risk everything her mother built? Let's hear a sample of The Naturalist of Amsterdam by Melissa Ashley. It's narrated by Esther Wayne.
19:04S5
The great oak doors parted with a loud creak and in rushed my parents voices. Startled, I glanced at the print of the merman with his lion's face and devil's horns, his fish tail, and webbed fins. I shut out of Andy's Mostraram Historia. I needed somewhere to hide in the vast library, with its floor to ceiling shelving, its dark wooded curiosity cabinets and sumptuous settee and tables. The stuffed Siberian bear near the window, frozen in a pose of attack upon its hind legs, claws and teeth bared, seemed a likely cover. Quickly I slipped behind it, stowing the heavy book under my skirt. Walking in step, my parents entered the draughty room. Papa had laid aside his silk breeches and jacket for the plain attire which enabled work in the fields, the iron forge or dairy. Ma wore the dress of the sex. Women black wool inhabit boss rock cap heavy, dull black shoes. You needn't have come, said Ma. Why won't you believe me? Replied Papa. The pleading in his voice made my stomach twist. It's not me you must convince. But you have sway. Protested Papa.
20:27S1
That was The Naturalist of Amsterdam. Melissa Ashley. Melissa is spelled M-E-L-I-S-S-A. Ashley is A-S-H-L-E-Y. That book goes for 14 hours. There are two other books by Melissa Ashley in the library in audio. There is The Bird Man's Wife and that set in 1838 with another Englishwoman, Elizabeth Gould, who was the wife of celebrated ornithologist John Gould, who made a trailblazing tour of Australia to collect and illustrate our various wildlife. So it's inspired by real life letters and weaving, the discovery of some of the country's unique species. So that's the bird man's wife and the bee, and the orange tree is another one. Set back in 1699, the salons of Paris are bursting with the creative energy of fierce, independent minded women. But outside those doors, the patriarchal forces of Louis the 14th and the Catholic Church are moving to curb their freedoms. Marie Catherine Dorney invents a powerful weapon fairy tales. When Marie Catherine's daughter Angelina arrives in Paris, she's swept up in the glamour and sensuality of the city where a woman may live outside the confines of the church or marriage.
So it centres around three women of this time. And and we learn how far they will go to preserve their liberty. So an interesting writer and Melissa Ashley are lovely. Three books if you love historical fiction. The Naturalist of Amsterdam is actually her latest book, published in October 2023. Melissa Ashley is a writer, poet, birder and academic who tutors in poetry and creative writing at the University of Queensland. She's been interviewed by people such as Phillip Adams of the Late Night Live. He interviewed her about the character based on a real life character, Maria Sibylla merian, and you can listen to that interview on ABC Netto. If you do a search for Melissa Ashley, you'll come up with the range of interviews and reviews of her books to listen to. So, for instance, there's the Tuesday Book Club, October the 24th, 2023. Richard Glover I'm talking about not only her book, but also Matthew Riley as well, and a new historical adventure that he's released.
So there's a few interviews there, in fact. ABC listen, if you make your way to the search box, you can find anything in there to interest you, I promise. It's an amazing the array of podcasts that they have on the ABC listen app, or just going to the ABC network and, uh, forward slash, listen forward slash, you'll find amazing material. Any, any book that you're interested in. There's probably something about it in there. It's late January here in Melbourne and for Melbourne, midsummer is such a great event. We have Jason Gibbs, who's been responsible for for us partnering up and being able to live describe, uh, the launch of midsummer. It's still in full swing. So if you want to contact the radio station and specifically Jason Gibbs, you can do that. I'll give the details at the end of this segment. I thought it would be a good time to put in a sample of caught in the Act by Courtney Act boy girl artist advocate Courtney is more than the sum of her parts.
Meet Shane Genic, raised in the Brisbane suburbs by loving parents, Shane realizes from a young age that he's not like all the other boys at a performing arts agency, he discovers his passion for song, dance and performance and makes a promise to himself to find a bigger stage meet. Courtney Act. Born in Sydney around the turn of the millennium, Courtney makes her name in the gay bars of Oxford Street and then on Australian Idol. Over ten years later, she makes star turns on RuPaul's Drag Race and Celebrity Big Brother UK, bringing her unique take on drag and gender to the world. Behind this rise to national and global fame is a story of searching for and finding oneself told with Courtney's trademark candour and wit, caught In the Act is about our journey towards understanding gender, sexuality and identity. It's an often hilarious and at times heartbreaking memoir from a beloved drag and entertainment icon. Most of all, it's a bloody good time. Let's hear a sample of Caught in the Act by Courtney Act. It's narrated by the wonderful Courtney Act herself.
25:01S6
I would always burst out crying when I watched the opening scene to one of my favorite movies, Grace of My Heart, a straight to VHS box office flop. Edna, a young singer songwriter, is trying on outfits for an upcoming performance. Her overbearing mother, after picking out what her daughter is wearing, says. To. The sales assistant will take the dress she has on. Mother Edna says I can't sing and a dress that doesn't fit. Look at it. The dress fits the occasion. It's you who doesn't fit. That line was like a punch in the guts. I never felt like I fit the occasion either. And not just because of the clothes I was wearing. I didn't have an overbearing mother, but I did grow up in an overbearing world, one that constantly told me that I had to dress a certain way, act a certain way, even feel a certain way. And none of that lined up with who I was. The clothes I tried on made sense from the outside, but from around the age of 11, a low lying rumble began. I didn't feel comfortable on the inside. I always felt like I was wearing someone else's clothes. As with Edna, the dress fit the occasion and it was me who didn't fit.
26:20S1
And that was Caught in the Act by Courtney Act. Courtney is spelled Courtney Courtney and act is simply act. Act. That book goes for ten hours and 15 minutes, and so suitable for the wonderful mid-summer celebrations that happen in the wonderful Melbourne. And as I mentioned, there are still events happening in Melbourne. Some of them are audio described, which is what Jason has organised as well. It was launched on the 21st of January this year and is a 22 day event. The station has produced an audio version of the festival's program and will promote audio, describe shows and related tactile tours in the lead up to and during the festival. And if you go to Radio Vision Australian type in the search box. Midsummer. Midsummer is spelled mid, summa, mid, summa and there is a link where you can click to access the program guide in audio format.
Thank you so much for joining us on this today. I'm Frances Keyland and looking forward to hearing from you over the next year with your recommendations for books that you've listened to, that you've discovered, or authors that you like are funny books, quirky books, deep books that make you think any type of books. We'd love to hear what you've been listening to. If you would like to call the library, the number is 1300 654 656. That's 1300 654 656. Or you can email library at Vision Australia -dot-org, that's library@visionaustralia.org.
Have a lovely week and we'll be back next week with more Hear This.
