As social media collapses around us, plagued by propaganda bots, flooded by AI banal regurgitations, and billionaire CEOs monetising whatever remaining fun the internet used to be, I thought: Hey! Time to get blogging again.
Cheaper than therapy, written by an actual human, and doggone it, I finally have product of my very own to talk about and discreetly publicise.
But before any such subliminal hinting that a good book makes an ideal birthday or Christmas gift, what has been going on since the last posting at least one global pandemic ago?
One, Twice, Three times a Publishing
The lovely Linda and Laura of Night Parrot Press are purveyors of new Western Australian fiction. They’ve now released three compilations of fresh microfiction by a range of new and established WA writers.
Once was released back in 2019, an innocent time when coughing and sneezing over each other was practically a sign of affection.
When the dreaded lurgee struck, rather than gathering Hollywood gazillionaires to sing John Lennon songs about doing it tough, Night Parrot enlisted a clutch of writers to do isolation readings of their microfiction pieces.
Possibly due to handwash fumes clouding their judgement, they included one of mine. Luckily, I found an esteemed celebrity to do the reading.
Twice Not Shy soon followed in 2021, providing another rich collection of stories, many of them written while sober.
Three Can Keep a Secret was unleashed last year, garnering great reviews and showcasing another collection of talented WA writers, plus a silly one.
So, do yourselves a favour and grab one or all of the Night Parrot collections, often hidden away in those bookstore short story/poetry sections that people feel odd about loitering in for some reason.
I’d Give it Ten Minutes if I Were You
Plays take blimmin’ ages to write. So imagine my delight in discovering ten minute play festivals.
Get in, muck about with a single significant prop, then exit ASAP quickly clearing your minimalist set before the next extrant.
Short and Sweet runs regular festivals around the world, including Perth up until recently. The more boutique Arkfest in Victoria has been quiet for a while now, but will hopefully return to glory soon.
My long-talked-of-but-never-quite-produced shortie Couch made the finals of both Arkfest and Short and Sweet, thanks to some very energetic performances by the associated casts.
The Retirement Gift and That Little Voice made finals at the next couple of Arkfests, providing a maximal number of bottom and bogan jokes for ten minutes.
And most recently, Possum Play scurried its way into final round plaudits at Short and Sweet, proving a childhood watching The Goodies do horrific things to small furry animals was well spent.
Biggerer Things
“All this micro fiction and micro plays all sounds a bit micro effort” you may well say.
In amongst all the micro this’n’that was a sea-change tree-change house move, a bit of minor surgery, becoming an accredited editor, and reaching an age where “cheeky young chap” no longer applies.
The biggest writery thing to happen is the topic for an upcoming next blog post, regarding temperamental felines of a particular resting position.
Martin Lindsay 