Today The Book Show on Radio National broadcast the interview I recorded with them on my way to the Gadi launch of Salvage a couple of months ago. I had a lot of fun chatting with Claire Nichols about space billionaires, escape, survival, problematic sibling relationships, and the ambiguous sweet spot between utopia and dystopia. Listen in at this link.

I was so looking forward to being a part of Byron Writers Festival and sharing Salvage with audiences there. I loved the panel discussion on People Power that we were able to have at the end of the day on Friday, amidst torrential rain – thank you to those who stayed and braved the ankle-deep creek that was running under our feet throughout! The subsequent cancellation of many other events was a blow. I was impressed that the festival managed to recover some programming in spite of the flooding.

This was a brilliant and very nourishing conversation with powerful authors who are working for change: freelance journalist Royce Kurmelovs, editor and republican Esther Anatolitis, and unionist and advocate Thomas Mayo. It seemed only right that, while we spoke about our human struggles for justice and a better world, nature had a heck of a lot to say.

I may have joked more than once that we received the full Northern Rivers treatment: wined, dined, and flooded out. But of course, this isn’t just a local phenomenon. A side effect of writing about climate destruction is becoming hyper-aware of its effects, and understanding that these kind of disruptions are only going to become more common. On the Saturday, I popped into The Book Room, Byron’s independent bookshop, to sign some copies of Salvage, shelved in the science fiction section. It’s been interesting to observe how powerfully SF and dystopia framing informs our understanding of what is already happening around us. It’s not always a comfortable place to write from, but perhaps that’s as it should be.

Shortly afterwards, another writer’s festival was disrupted, this time by its own failure of leadership. Bendigo Writers Festival had to cancel most of its events after around 50 authors pulled out due to the sudden request to sign a Code of Conduct which sought to curtail their speech, apparently after some lobbying by a small group targeted at a specific writer who has consistently spoken out about the genocide in Gaza. I spoke with the ABC about this issue and the increasing threats to freedom of expression that writers face. The ASA will be releasing a statement in the coming days.

These are challenging times in which to write, but unlike our colleagues in Gaza, we are not being shot at. Last week I was proud to stand with my union comrades in this video, reading out the names of 174* of the journalists who have been killed by Israeli forces since October 2023 (of course, we know that journalists have been targeted before that date, but the escalation has been significant). It is even more heartbreaking that the video concludes with an update about the journalists who were killed while it was being made, including Anas Al-Sharif who had become a leading voice from Al Jazeera. As MEAA Members for Palestine said in our statement in November 2023, these are our colleagues. Their deaths are union business.

I’m proud of MEAA for taking this action of global solidarity. I hope it has a positive impact on the safety of Palestinians who continue to report, and for the courage of those working here in Australia who have been intimidated or afraid to speak up.

*this figure, via CPJ, now sits at 192. The real number is likely to be higher.