Last week Sophie Cunningham stepped down as Chair of the Australian Society of Authors, where I’ve been a Director since 2022 and Deputy Director this year. I am proud to report that the board has appointed me as the new Chair (Sophie is staying on as Deputy). I’m quite excited about the work ahead – I believe that with ambition and a united voice, we can get some real wins for our members in the coming years. The organisation is in a great place at present, thanks in no small part to Sophie’s wise leadership, to the hard work of our brilliant CEO, Lucy Hayward, and to all the staff. Our membership is growing, and so is our strength.

My first public duty as new Chair was to MC our annual celebration, the Colin Simpson Memorial Keynote, held in Naarm last week. We were treated to a beautiful poetry reading from Nam Le, and then the incredible keynote on “The Limits of Language” delivered by Leah Jing McIntosh – a powerful, intimate examination of the work of some of our finest & most urgent poets, incl Evelyn Araluen & Hasib Hourani.

It was a much-needed reminder of the extraordinary public value of writing and of reading, particularly close reading, that careful attention that honours and co-creates the text. Literature is a social practice at heart, shared between writer and reader. I am grateful for critics like McIntosh who share their thinking and feeling with us, carrying the deeply political work of making meaning together. I am particularly grateful for this work in times where words sometimes seem to fail us, and institutions regularly do.

Also at this event, the ASA medal was presented to our dear comrade Kirsty Murray, with whom I crossed over on the Board of the ASA for a few years while she was Treasurer. It’s wonderful to be able to celebrate writers like Kirsty who give so much back to the community through advocacy, mentoring, voluntary work and care – to name just some of the many non-remunerated kinds of labour that she has done. Kirsty’s speech was so heartfelt and honest and full of love and solidarity. Like the whole evening, it left me feeling deeply nourished and fully charged for the work ahead.

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I’m free of interstate engagements for a few months now, and very glad to be back at my desk. I’ll be working away on the new project all summer, keeping to a steady routine with a few enriching collaborations and visitors along the way – a good balance. Normally this time of year I’m working hard to gather enough funds to get me through the period I jokingly refer to as “freelance winter,” when work slows, people employed in our industry go on holidays, and invoices have to be chased. This year, I have the fellowship to save me from all that hustle and stress, and can focus on my actual work. A small miracle. I’ll be advocating for more of these for more writers, for sure.