Board members, we need to talk about menopause | The RITP events in Naarm
Plus the power of digital poetry and some indie news recommendations
Board members, we need to talk about menopause
On International Women's Day, my latest ‘and another thing’ vlog talks about menstruation and menopause in the context of governance and duty of care, as well as a logical extension of occupational health and safety.
These vlogs are exclusively for my Patreon followers. You can access the full version and archive by joining me as an advocate, ally or accomplice from just $2.50/month on Patreon).
The RITP events
HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY to The Relationship is the Project, which was officially launched into the world on the first of this month, thanks to NewSouth Publishing.
Naarm friends, we hope you can join us for the upcoming events:
Naarm/Melbourne launch with Jade Lillie, CQ Quinan, Ruth De Souza and Esther Anatolitis
Tuesday 12 March 2024 at 6:00pm
Readings, Emporium Melbourne, Shop 1-016 287 Lonsdale St, Melbourne
All going well with technology, we also aim to live stream the event on Instagram from just after 3pm AWST / 5pm AEST / 530pm ACDT / 6pm AEDT
The event is free and Auslan interpreted, but bookings are essential
Working with Communities Conversation Series with Claire G. Coleman, Jen Rae, Alex Kelly, Scotia Monkivitch, Jade Lillie and Yarra City Arts
Thursday 4 April 2024 at 6:00pm
Community and Linen Rooms, Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers Street, Abbotsford
The event is free and includes light refreshments from 5:30pm
Please book on the City of Yarra website
The power of digital poetry
At last month’s Perth Festival Writers Week in Boorloo/Perth, I began my Tiny Little Digital Poetry workshop with the following:
Given Perth Festival Writers Weekend brings writers and readers together in a colonial city built on unceded Noongar Boodja, it’s impossible as a guest writer not to acknowledge that our writing colleagues here and overseas are currently being killed, threatened and censored at unprecedented rates.
This includes: more than 100 Palestinian and multi-national journalists killed by Israel in the last few months alone – the largest number in the history of modern warfare; the ongoing incarceration of Julian Assange for reporting on another unjust military incursion; the recent sentencing of Australian journalist Yang Hengjun to death in China; and artists, writers, actors, academics and journalists here in Australia who have been fired or denied work, censored or censured for expressing their support for Palestine.
This may feel like an overtly political way to begin a writing workshop. But writing – like all art – is inherently political: in who's stories get told, who tells them and how, in who decides, and who gets to access them. Which makes social media and other digital platforms inherently political too, including how platforms are monitored, censored and controlled.
We are all here because we love writing, so I cannot imagine there being any disagreement on the principles at heart of all of these big issues: That writers have a right to life and livelihood. That their stories are important and necessary. And that if we want to be safe and for our stories to be told, we have an obligation to fight for those same rights for others too.
Grateful to be able to point to powerful, of-the-moment examples from Omar Sakr, Rupi Kaur and Rafaat Alareer (even as we mourn his horrific loss - vale vale vale). And delighted to see participants getting onboard (and online) in celebration of the immediacy, politics and possibilities of digital poetry. Give Julz, Malissa, Melissa, Sky and Ash a follow for more.
If you’re in a position to do so, you can donate to the Gaza Journalists Appeal via the MEAA website.
Everything is (not) fine in news journalism
At a time of blatant media injustice and extreme loss of faith in traditional media outlets, independent media has never been more important. Recently, I have been particularly grateful for:
Bisan Owda and her fellow writers, reporters and photojournalists risking their lives to share what’s happening in Gaza
And many more (and I’d love to hear yours).