My MWF Top 5 Picks!

Hello Darling Readers!

I am so, so, so excited to be involved in the glorious Melbourne Writers Festival once again. It is always a somebody-pinch-me! honour when I get invited to attend and talk books with authors and creators I so admire. 

But this year feels really especially special because I get to talk about my own book, the #LoveOzYA Anthology AND ... there are some pretty spectacular guests I'm thoroughly thrilled to be seeing and chatting to! 

So, without further ado, here are my MWF Top 5 Picks ... 

Angie Thomas: YA & Activism

Giving voice to young black Americans and chronicling their experiences of racism, The Hate U Give is the year’s most outstanding YA novel. Hear from author Angie Thomas as she argues for writing that can turn the political into the deeply personal as a way to inspire action and speak truth to power. Be inspired by this young, outspoken writer who is ready to hit three truths home: that life fuels art, art mirrors life, and books can change lives.

The Bone Season

She’s been called the next JK Rowling for her bestselling fantasy series, The Bone Season – the first book of which was published when she was just 21. Now three novels in, British author Samantha Shannon invites you into her dystopic world.

#LoveOzYA

Celebrate local YA with the best in the biz! #LoveOzYA authors Amie Kaufman, Melissa Keil, Ellie Marney and Alice Pung discuss the importance of representation, telling Australian stories and why YA is important for teens and adults alike. With Danielle Binks (that's me!)

Harry Potter Day

Accio good times! Whether you’re a Muggle, wizard or Squib, join us for a free all-ages celebration of 20 years of the boy who lived. With live performances, a Sorting Hat, story time and more, share in the magic of the wizarding world with Professor Frankie Falconette. Wear your Hogwarts robes for a chance to win prizes. Mischief managed!

Teens at Signal

Emerging creative? Look no further than Signal for a host of great free events over two days, with

podcasting tips, creative writing workshops and a chance to ask your favourite YA novelists about their work.

Workshop: A Seat at the Table – Still Nomads

YA AMA – Danielle Binks, Melissa Keil, Angie Thomas

Workshop: Webseries – Hayley Adams

Live Podcast: Starving Artist – Honor Eastly, Brodie Lancaster, Celeste Mountjoy, TextaQueen

My events at Melbourne Writers Festival 2016

Hello Darling Readers,

Long time no see! I am still in the thick of deadline-itis, but thought I'd interrupt my Blog of Solitude to *squeeeeee* a little, and say how excited I am to be back at Melbourne Writers Festival this year!

I'm going to be involved in two Schools sessions: 

How To Review → Tue 30 Aug, 11.15am, VENUE: ACMI Cinema 2

What are the ingredients of a review that does all the right things? Film reviewer Myke Bartlett and YA book blogger Danielle Binks take students through the craft of reviewing, with special tips for reviewing the page and the screen. Learn from the professionals!

More info here: http://www.mwf.com.au/session/how-to-review-2/

*** 

Opinion Writing → Thu 1 Sep, 12.30pm, VENUE: ACMI Cinema 2

How do you write a killer opinion piece, making your voice heard and maybe even changing minds? Opinion queen Clementine Ford and fellow feminist Amy Gray will open their toolkits and teach you about voice, structure, argument and more.

More info here: http://www.mwf.com.au/session/opinion-writing-2/

News and Appearances

Hello Darling Readers,

I have some news to announce, and some upcoming appearances to list (I know, what is this life?), so here it goes;

I am both thrilled and a wee bit nervous to be appearing at Melbourne Writers Festival this coming weekend, in two panels:

Girls Books vs Boys Books • Sat 22nd Aug 1.00pm

In the past I've written a very little bit about changing gendered reading habits, so I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into this topic along with authors Myke Bartlett and Sally Rippin, to be chaired by Bec Kavanagh from the Stella Schools Program (because this event is supported by the wonderful Stella Prize!) 

Fan Fictions • Sun 23rd Aug 1.00pm

Seeing as I used to write FanFiction (*ahem* between 2002 and 2009 the sum total of my 23 long-form pieces came to a whopping 442, 884 words!) I am so excited to be discussing all things Fandom and FanFiction in this event, along with authors Melissa Keil and Justine Larbalestier, to be chaired by equally fabulous author Amie Kaufman. 

Wednesday 9 September—Sunday 13 September

I'll be popping up to Albury to take part in the wonderful Write Around the Murray Festival! I'll be appearing in a whole heap of events, including chairing an 'in conversation' with authors Isobelle Carmody, Richard Harland and Andrew McGahan, plus I'll be conducting 30-minute Mentoring Sessions as part of the School's Program and SO MUCH MORE! 

For details about all my WAM events, check out my profile page (and if you see me round MWF or WAM, do come and say hey!) 

Australian Romance Readers Convention 2017 

Finally; some extra special joint-news that Adele Walsh and I are finally allowed to share ... we have volunteered to be co-coordinators of the Australian Romance Readers Convention (ARRC) for 2017! AHHHHHH!!!!!

Adele and I attended our first ARRC in Canberra this year, and if you want to know how much I loved it I actually wrote an article all about our experience: Things no one tells you about romance readers. ARRC2017 will be happening in Melbourne, and we are currently looking for Melbourne-based individuals to join the Organising Committee. We have a number of positions to fill and if you've got the skillz and enthusiasm, we'd love for you to be involved! There will be an announcement about this is the near future but in the meantime why not consider becoming a member of the ARRA?

Adele wrote about how excited we are to undertake this task on her own Persnickety Snark blog, so a lot of this is going to be "what she said!" ... but we are best friends and I love her to bits, and I absolutely cannot wait to go on this bookish adventure with her! We did become acquainted via our book blogs, and then we met IRL and became friendly, but I really do think it was discovering our mutual love of both Kelly Clarkson and reading romance that cemented our friendship. 

The moment went something like; 

It is true - books bring people together, and the romance reading community in Australia is a particularly fantastic one that I'm so proud to be apart of ... and I thank all of you who have shown such enthusiasm for Adele and I as 2017 co-coordinators, it means a lot to both of us! 

But if you don't know me or Adele, please feel free to drop us a line over Twitter - I'm @danielle_binks she's @snarkywench - we'd love to hear from you. Or you can trawl through our Instagram accounts (check out just how much fun we had at #ARRC2015!), I'm dbinks and she's snarkywench. OR (and this one really is the greatest) if you see us around town, COME AND SAY HEY! We'll most definitely be at MWF, soaking up some of the romance-y goodness (look at them all! LOOK!) plus the ARRA book-signing event on August 22 ... please do come and say hello :)

•••

That's it. 

That's all the news for now. 

Take it away, Penny Lane ... 

Melbourne Writers Festival - 30 Under 30

Hello Darling Readers,

So I have some exciting news to report - I've been chosen as one of Melbourne Writers Festival's '30 Under 30' which is celebrating the Festival's 30th Anniversary by putting the spotlight on Melbourne's "next generation of writers," and I'm one of them! 

Along with 29 other truly fabulous, writerly individuals - MWF wants to send us to writers Festivals around Australia and overseas, but we need your help to do it! 

A Pozible crowd-funding campaign has been set up to support the 30 Under 30, with a target goal of A$30,000 to be reached by May 9! 

If you would like to pledge to this campaign, that would be awesome. You can donate as little as $2 (which is totes tax deductible, yo!) or as much as $1,000+ (woah, moneybags!) 

MWF explains exactly how the donated money will be used: 

"Melbourne Writers Festival is a not for profit organisation, and funds raised will go directly towards benefiting these 30 young Victorian writers through flights, accommodation and travel per diems towards various literary festivals globally and nationally."

I love books and writing and there's no other industry I'd want to be in, but it can be a struggle trying to forge a path in the Arts world. 

Richard Bach once said; A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit. Well, y'know sometimes quitting is mighty tempting - but then something like the #MWF30 comes along, and just that recognition of your work that is done in solitary, can be quite lonesome and you assume is going by unnoticed, can be enough to keep fuelling your imagination and ambition. 

I'm truly grateful to Lisa Dempster and the entire Melbourne Writers Festival team for this recognition and opportunity - and if you wanted to help all of us by donating to the crowd funding campaign, well that would be amazing and much-appreciated. 

You can check out the MWF 30 page here 

and donate to the Pozible campaign here 

Thank you!