FIRST LESSONS IN WRITING
One of Australia's most talented young authors, Alice Pung, is offering inspiration to aspiring writers. The author of the memoir Unpolished Gem and editor of Growing Up Asian in Australia most recently published Laurinda, a young-adult novel about schoolgirls that examines the topics of identity and belonging, power and fairness, conflict and bullying. Her publisher, Black Inc., invites students in years 9 to 12 to write their own short stories inspired by Laurinda, with a chance to be published next year in My First Lesson, an anthology edited by Pung. Entries close on September 18. All proceeds from sales of the book will go to Room to Read, an international organisation that very effectively supports literacy and girls' education in developing countries. Pung, who is a Room to Read ambassador, says: "Reading and writing changed my life, and took me to unimaginable places – literally. This is why Room to Read is so important. Having come from a refugee family that survived war, I personally understand the transformative power of literacy to build better lives." Details of the competition for students and their teachers are at myfirstlesson.com.au.
A CRITICAL POSITION
There's a rare job opportunity for the literary-minded as editor of the Sydney Review of Books for the Writing and Society Research Centre at the University of Western Sydney. Melbourne-based James Ley was the inaugural editor of the two-year-old online journal and his fine work as editor and reviewer earned him the Pascall Prize for critic of the year in 2014. The ideal candidate is "a literary scholar [with PhD or first-class honours] or practitioner of outstanding achievement and potential, with experience in the writing, editing and publication of literary criticism, and a wide knowledge of contemporary literature". You'll also need to to apply for funding, organise events and publicise the journal – all in 0.6 of a week. The three-year position is based at the Bankstown campus. Applications close on May 4. Details at uws.nga.net.au or from Ivor Indyk at i.indyk@uws.edu.au or 9772 6350.
SAVING FACE
Tara Moss was both pleased and frustrated to see my praise last week for the cover of her book, The Fictional Woman, which is shortlisted for the Australian Book Design Awards. Full credit was given by ABDA to Matt Stanton, who designed the cover, but in fact Moss was co-designer. She came up with the concept and worked with artist Becca Gilmartin, photographer Steve Baccon and a crew to create the image of her face covered with handwritten labels and shoot portraits of the process over five hours. As she wrote in a blog, the idea came to her in September 2013 when the book was written: "Close up portrait … over the face are the words or labels used to describe (the fictional) me. Each label is a common stereotype – both bad and good – and many are contradictory." Moss' name was omitted from the first printing of the book but later included. It is, as she points out, ironic that such a mistake was made about a book about women's struggle for recognition beyond the stereotypes.
