Rural women's writing competition

The inaugural Elyne Mitchell Award is a new national writing competition. The award is named after Elyne Mitchell, "arguably one of Australia's most influential and unique children's authors."

There are two sections in the competition:

• An open category for women over 25 years of age; and
• An emerging writers¹ category for women 15 to 25 years

There is a $1000 prize for each section, with entries able to be fiction or non fiction, provided they have specific reference to an Australian rural experience. Entries close at 7pm on 1 August and the winners will be announced in October.

For more information on the Elyne Mitchell Rural Women¹s Writing Award visit the official web site at www.elynemitchell.com

Learn to play bridge

A social bridge club for beginners is now meeting at Kippax Library, and is encouraging new participants to come along.

Kippax Library
Thursdays
From 11am for an hour or two

A local player will share his expertise in how to play the game, and everyone is welcome to join in whatever their skill level. Bookings are not required.

Knitting & Crochet Companion Group

Come along and join a group of people who are sharing their love of knitting and crochet.

Belconnen Library
Fridays
From 2pm-4pm

The group welcomes new members interested in sharing a cup of tea or coffee, a chat while they enjoy knitting or crochet. If you'd like to learn how to knit or crochet this is also a chance to get some tips.

Carnegie and Greenaway Medals announced yesterday

The 2008 Carnegie Medal has been awarded to Philip Reeve for his novel Here Lies Arthur, a re-telling of the King Arthur legend.

"A page-turner of a novel, with a well-constructed plot and believable characters that engage the reader from the off. The landscape and setting of the time are skilfully drawn. Reeve cleverly makes the story relevant to today by examining the versions of history that are handed down to us, and the ways in which myths are created. An enjoyable and thought-provoking book."

The 2008 Kate Greenaway Medal has been awarded to Emily Gravett, for the illustrated Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears.

"This is a clever, funny and innovative book which is also extremely warm and emotionally engaging for the reader. It’s a book you can explore and spend ages over. The attention to detail is quite astonishing: every part of the book is used, and the production values are fantastic. It works on every single level. A publishing tour de force."

Click here to read more about these awards.

Narnia Children’s Writing Workshop with Lorese Vera

Children aged 7 to 13 are invited to participate in a full-day Narnia Children’s Writing Workshop with Lorese Vera on Friday 18 July from 9am-5pm (including morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea).

• See how C.S. Lewis created his marvellous characters and make up some wondrous creatures of your own.
• Put your characters into a magical landscape just like Narnia.
• Illustrate your creations.
• Play the "So you think you know Narnia quiz" for prizes.
• Have tea and marmalade rolls just like the Beavers do for morning tea.

Lorese Vera (Dip Perf Arts, BA Hons, MA, Dip Ed), is a Teacher Consultant for Creative Writing who has developed an innovative method of teaching writing to children based on her background in Literacy, Creative Arts, English Literature, and Writing. This method ensures that no child fails to have a positive writing experience. She is also a writer, editor, and has worked as a journalist.

• Venue: The Hub, Civic Library, Civic Square (next door to the Canberra Theatre)
• Cost: $96 non-members, $80 ACT Writer's Centre members and children of members. Payment by cash, cheque or credit card at time of booking on 6262 9191
• Bookings: ACT Writer's Centre, phone 6262 9191

Exhibitions at old Parliament House

Old Parliament House is presenting two interesting exhibitions:

• Billy Hughes at War - now open - A travelling exhibition about Prime Minister Billy Hughes, the conscription debate, and Australia's role in peace negotiations. The web site for the exhibition includes some excellent online activities including creating a conscription poster, and how to read a political cartoon. Teacher's guides and other useful information is also available.
• Beyond Reasonable Drought - opens 5 July - An exhibitions of photographs of the extremes of the Australian landscape in drought. The photos were submitted by some of Australia's most notable photographers.

Ask about consumer rights

Come along to Woden Library on 15 July to find out more about the services provided by Office of Regulatory Services (ORS). Staff from the Fair Trading area of ORS will be available to answer general consumer questions and hand out useful information resources.

Woden Library
Tuesday 15 July
Drop in between 10am-2pm

ORS is part of the ACT Government. It is a relatively new office and comprises: Births, Deaths and Marriages; Parking; Fair Trading; Rental Bonds; Land Titles; WorkCover; Business and Industry Licensing; and the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission.

Australian Chamber Orchestra performs The Red Tree

The Australian Chamber Orchestra is presenting The Red Tree, inspired by Shaun Tan's book of the same name. Performances are scheduled around the country, with Canberra's big night at Llewellyn Hall on 12 July.

Bookings open for July holiday activities

Bookings are now open for July school holiday activities, including:

• How to make your own newspaper,
• Creative journeys writing workshop,
• Hip hop dancing,
• Manga drawing,
• First aid for children,
• Paper planes, and
• A Morning in Ancient China

Bookings are essential. Click here for details of these activities.

Recommended - Stardust

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

I really wanted to read this after hearing Neil Gaiman speak at a conference earlier this year, and was able to snaffle an autographed copy of the book! I wasn't disappointed.

The story is reminiscent of old fashioned fairy tales, but is definitely for adults (or at least young adults). It is set in the real world, but is touched by a mythical one, and has many interesting and memorable characters. If you enjoyed The Princess Bride, then you'll probably love Stardust as well. And if you enjoy the book, it is probably also worth checking out the movie which was released last year.

Click here to visit Neil Gaiman's web site.

People of the Book wins Book of the Year

Geraldine Brooks' People of the Book has won the Australian Book of the Year Award at the Australian Book Industry Awards. The full list of award winners is available online.

For more information about the Australian book industry, visit the Australian Publisher's Association web site.

Miles Franklin Award 2008

Melbourne's Steven Carroll has won this year's Miles Franklin Award for his novel The Time We Have Taken. The Award "celebrates Australian character and creativity and nurtures the continuing life of literature about Australia. It is awarded for the novel of the year which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases."

Steven Carroll's first novel was published in 1992. His work includes:

• Remember Me, Jimmy James
• Momoko
• The Love Song of Lucy McBride
• The Art of the Engine Driver
• The Gift of Speed

Recommended - 100 secret strategies for successful investing

100 secret strategies for successful investing
by Richard Farleigh

Richard Farleigh was born in Australia in 1960. I chose this book because I like to read books from an Australian author who has done it. Despite a difficult start in life, he managed to be a successful businessman. I am inspired by his triumph over the odds. He has built his very successful career on smart investments.

Over the years he has managed to invest in over 50 start-ups, many of which have floated or been acquired. In this book he is sharing techniques and strategies that took him to the top.

This book is fascinating and thought provoking. Richard once said that “For good risk management, the most important thing is to always have a rough idea of how much money you could lose if the markets move against you, and you should be able to withstand that loss if necessary”. So true in this economic climate when so many companies are going down.

A must read – should appeal to beginners as well as more experienced investors

Kids who use technology and read books

Scholastic (USA) has just released their 2008 Kids & Family Reading Report, Reading In The 21st Century: Turning The Page With Technology. It reports a number of key findings, including:

• Nearly two-thirds of kids 9-17 who are Internet users have extended the reading experience online - from looking for more books by the same author, to visiting web sites that immerse a child in content related to a book, to connecting with authors and other readers.
• Kids who extend the reading experience online are more likely than those who do not to value reading, enjoy reading and read books for fun more often.
• Kids who are actively extending the reading experience online are far more likely ro say "No matter what I can do online, I'll always want to read books on printed paper."
• Low frequency readers are far more likely to say they prefer to read things online than to read books.

Click here to read the full report.

New James Bond book

Author Sebastian Faulks, writing as Ian Fleming, has produced a new James Bond novel.

Devil May Care was recently launched with great fanfare, and is set in 1967 following the events of The Man With The Golden Gun.

Charles Dickens memorabilia fetches a high price

The Sydney Morning Herald has reported on the sale of a piece of Charles Dickens memorabilia:

The desk where Charles Dickens wrote Great Expectations and his final correspondence hours before his death fetched £433,250 ($894,000) at auction on Wednesday, about seven times its pre-sale estimate.

The Irish entrepreneur who bought the furniture called the price "a bargain" for such a piece of literary history.

The writing desk and chair from the study of Dickens's Gad's Hill residence near Rochester, Kent, was passed on by descent to Christopher Charles Dickens and his wife Jeanne-Marie Dickens.

She then donated them to Great Ormond Street, with which Dickens had a close association.

According to Christie's, Dickens wrote Great Expectations and a number of other late novels and short stories at the mahogany writing desk.

The auctioneer quotes the memoirs of Dickens's eldest daughter Mamie Dickens saying that, on the evening of June 8, 1870, Dickens wrote letters "and arranged some trifling business matters" in the library where the desk stood.

He went for dinner and collapsed after suffering a stroke, and died the following day, aged 58.

In the same sale, Christie's sold the typescript copy of the first half of Winston Churchill's famous speech to Parliament in 1940 about the war situation during the Battle of Britain for £139,250, in line with expectations.

The manuscript includes amendments in Churchill's own hand.

A first folio of William Shakespeare's plays, one of about 200 copies known to exist to this day, fetched £445,250, compared with a £300,000 to £400,000 pre-sale estimate.

2008 Orange Prize for The Road Home

Rose Tremain's The Road Home has won the 2008 Orange Prize. The Prize is given to the book judged to be best novel of the year written by a women in English.

Here is how the Orange Prize web site describes what happens in The Road Home:

Like so many others, Lev is on his way from Eastern Europe to Britain, seeking work. He is a tiny part of a vast diaspora that is changing British society. But Lev is also a singular man with a vivid outsider’s vision of the place we call home.

Lev begins with no job, little money and few words of English. He has only his memories, his hopes and a certain alarming skill with the preparation of food. Behind him loom the figures of his dead wife, his beloved daughter and his outrageous friend Rudy who – dreaming of the wealthy West – lives largely for his battered Chevrolet.

In front of Lev lies the deep strangeness of the British: their hostile streets, clannish pubs, lonely flats and their obsession with celebrity. London holds out the alluring possibilities of friendship, sex, money and a new career; but, more than this, of human understanding, a sense of belonging.

Click here for more information about the Orange Prize and past winners.

Recommended - The murder bird

The Murder Bird by Joanna Hines

This is the first title I have read by this author and I will certainly be reading some more. In it is a complex web of families and friends of well known poet, Kirsten Waller, who has allegedly committed suicide. Her daughter Sam won’t accept the verdict because her mother’s journal and her last unfinished poem are missing. Sam goes to great lengths to try and find the killer despite most of her friends and family being unconvinced that there is one.