News & Blog by Anita Heiss
Read the latest news and bulletins, essays, features, opinions from our bestselling authors. Find out what's being said, debated, and discussed in the world of books and ideas.
Many people have commented to me about writing a memoir at such a young age (yes, 43 years is still considered young!). In my case, the story of my identity was not something that was going to change as I got older, but the need for it to be told had proved more necessary in recent years. I had specific reasons for penning this book. I wanted to demonstrate that we as Aboriginal people have...
It’s not easy being a writer. If you do in fact take the research seriously, there is much to consider… here are just five of the hardships of researching in Paris: 1. WEIGHT GAIN: I had to eat an embarrassing amount of bread and cheese, macaroons, croissants and chocolate – so I could actually write about it! This meant I had to put on weight for my job. 2. SORE FEET: Paris is a city for...
After three disastrous relationships, Libby is on a man-fast when she heads to Paris, but in no-time at all, the smorgasbord of lotharios tempt her like never before. Some of the characters she meets that momentarily distracts her from her work include: 1. Michel - the pastry chef tours her around the Père Lachaise Cemetery, walking through what seems like endless paths with the occasional...
Some people have asked me why and how I included country towns like Deniliquin and Moree in a sexy novel largely about arts and mostly set in Paris. Well, I personally love both towns so it was easy to write about them and I wanted to put them in the hearts of those who may never get the chance to visit either or both. Here’s a few things Libby also loves and learns about: 1. Moree has great...
As a method writer I get into character and travel to the places I write about, or have been to the places I write about. Canberra is a city I love, but I’m not thirty, like Libby, so I enlisted some young and funky ‘researchers’ on the ground to help me find some fabulous ‘settings’ for Libby and her tiddas – Lauren, Caro and Denise – to meet and talk about their work and their relationships. Five...
Libby Cutmore was born in Moree, studied in Melbourne and now lives in Canberra. She wanted to take herself and her work to the international stage, and Paris was the most obvious option for the following reasons: 1. MUSEE DU QUAI BRANLY: It makes absolute sense to head to the Paris, home of the Musee du Quai Branly which houses the extraordinary Australian Indigenous Art Commission, co-curated...
I’m sure I wasn’t the only author with a book in her bag queuing along Macquarie Street yesterday, heading towards the woman who runs the biggest book club in the world. One must think positively and, let’s face it, it’s free to dream. As I marched silently with 6000 others through security to ‘Oprah’s Australian Adventure’ stage in the forecourt at Bennelong Point, I was excited about seeing the...
Lauren, as you know already, is a curator at the National Aboriginal Gallery in Canberra when she gets the chance of a life-time to go to New York. The job that awaits her is at the National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian, downtown at Bowling Green. The actual building is set in the Old Customs House and there are marine references throughout. Lauren and I enjoyed our research time...
As you can imagine it’s not very romantic researching with your character in tow, especially when they are the same sex, then years younger than you and pining for their footy-head ex-lover back in Australia. But, determined to stick to my research schedule, we did manage to find some romantic moments along the way to include in Manhattan Dreaming. Here’s our top three: * The Rockefeller Centre:...
Shopping with Lauren and Anita in Manhattan! It’s fair to say that doing the ‘shopping research’ in New York City was exhausting. Lauren and I took the task very seriously, and have summarised our favourite ‘exhausting’ experiences here. 1. MACY’s: because it is simply AMAZING! It’s not only the world’s largest department store, occupying almost the entire block bounded by 7th Avenue on the...
