Everyday

IWD

on international womens dayi stand at the check out chatting to the assistant she’s friendly, young, and beautifulwe talk about how some customers glare at her if they think she’s too slow, or comment on how she should speed upand i say really, are people sometimes mean? rude?and she says, sometimes, customers say, can they […]

Very old QCC invitation from the 1970s
Environment Writing

QCC: A 50 year history of Queensland Conservation Council

In 2019, Queensland Conservation Council (QCC) celebrated a milestone — Queensland’s peak environment body turned 50. To commemorate the event, I researched and wrote a (reasonably brief) QCC history. It took a lot of willpower not to let the research take over! Fascinating information is hidden in the hundreds of boxes of documents held at […]

Chrysalis4101 supporters from Jet Black Cat Records
art Books COVID-19 inspired west end Writing

Chrysalis 4101

Local art emerges from Brisbane’s cultural heart Caroline Gardam It’s just passed 9am on a warm Saturday in Brisbane, and already the temperature is nudging 30. At West End’s Hope on Boundary, a popular, earthy social enterprise café, it’s market day. Between a plant stall selling $2 begonias and justice advocates Micah Projects’ sausage sizzle […]

Books COVID-19 inspired

Our Inside Voices

I was delighted to be invited to co-edit Our Inside Voices: Reflections on COVID-19 recently. It contains essays, fiction, and poetry from a wide range of Queensland writers. My mate Brad Marsellos, whose amazing locked-down playground pic features on the cover, said he felt calm after reading the stories. Getting back behind the red pen […]