A few pics to share from recent events at Dog Eared Readings and Canberra Writers Festival – both events disrupted by what we are still calling “weather.” Sadly Fiona Kelly McGregor wasn’t able to make it to Kaurna country because of extreme heat-related flight cancellations, so we pivoted and I was the surprise featured guest at Dog Eared Readings. A fun night with highly enjoyable readings from Ken Bolton and Olivia De Zilva. Thank you to Heather Taylor Johnson and Rachael Mead for the invitation and gentle interrogation!

A couple of days later, I only just made it to Canberra for the writer’s festival due to electrical storms at this end. After an unexpected night in Melbourne and an early start, I arrived somewhat disheveled about five minutes before my first panel was due to begin. Enormously grateful to Kate Mildenhall for chairing this session and to Omar El Akkad and Madeleine Watts for the beautiful, moving conversation.

My other panel, which I chaired, went off without a hitch except that Richard King, Pip Finkemeyer and Saul Griffiths were so involved in our discussions of technofixes, hype cycles and Gramscian* optimism that we kept chatting until the announcement that the library was about to close came over the PA! I didn’t take any photos from that one, but I believe there is a recording somewhere, hopefully of both these events. Very grateful to the Canberra Writers Festival team for the invitation, and for going above and beyond to support my participation despite travel disruptions. I finished the visit by attempting to walk down to the NGA in the pouring rain, so the wilful optimism must have worn off on me.

While we’re on the subject of climate, it’s good to be reminded that there are some very positive interventions happening, too. My nearest and dearest example, Slingsby’s full production of A Concise Compendium of Wonder, has just been announced as part of the Adelaide Festival – hooray!

I was so moved to see The Childhood of the World a couple of weeks ago in a hall-within-a-hall at Waterside. I was overwhelmed by the magnificent magic, and then by all the comments I have received from those who were lucky enough to see it too. I cannot wait to share this story with the world.

I am currently reading through the page proofs for the book which is coming out with Pink Shorts Press in time for the festival – more details on a launch in good time. The book contains all three stories and the fairy tales that inspired them, and is already available to pre-order here. It will be a perfect accompaniment to the production as we think through the stories we tell about climate destruction, care, and our responsibility to the natural world and to each other.

Finally, some good news for creators this week: the Attorney-General has said that there will be no change to copyright in Australia – tech companies won’t get the TDM exemption they have been seeking. This means AI training is covered by existing Australian copyright regulations, which are stronger than they are in the US. The next step for the ASA, creators and copyright holders is to push for a fair licensing scheme to ensure that we have control over whether our work is used in AI training, transparency about that use, fair remuneration, and compensation for the theft that has already occurred. This tech should be a source of income for creators into the future, just like other copyright payments. It should acknowledge the value of our labour. The in-principle statement from the AG is a significant win for authors and other creators – now we must get on with the rest of the work, and make fair AI licensing a reality.

* Gramsci popularised the phrase “pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will” and like most people I tend to attribute it to him. But he was actually quoting another writer named Romain Rolland – a theatre and fiction guy, as it happens.