WOMEN OF LETTERS

I cannot recall if I have written a book review here before, odd as books are my profession and my first love.

May as well start with Women of letters : reviving the lost art of correspondence curated by Marieke Hardy and Michaela McGuire.

Being based or taken from staged readings it fits well within my blog scope.

This is the description of Women of Letters from the website:

http://womenofletters.com.au/

"Women of Letters is Melbourne’s newest literary event – an afternoon that celebrates a diverse range of strong female talent whilst simultaneously raising funds for Victorian animal rescue shelter, Edgar’s Mission. Co-curated by writers Marieke Hardy and Michaela McGuire, the monthly occasion will bring together five of Melbourne’s best and brightest writers, musicians, politicians and comedians in celebration of the beautiful lost art of letter-writing."

Sounds divine, the book has transcribed some of the letters.

Subjects include:

To the night I'd rather forget...my favourite being Lorelei Vashti's teenage years and becoming a vegetarian...long nights of sitting at the dinner table with her father waiting for her to eat something she just didn't feel right eating.

To my first pin-up...a toss up between the divine Catherine Deveny's tribute to Olivia Newton John or Adalita's obsession with Paul Stanley

To my nemesis...a on target rant to Sarah Jessica Parker after the second Sex in the City movie...whilst I would never call SJP my nemesis (never!), I totally understood her anger and upset.

To my first boss...Music by Clare Moore was humorous, dramatic and incredible clever, much like the gorgeous woman herself. Whereas Sophie Black retold her work experience story with a lot of gossip and satire from her weeks spent at New Idea!

A love letter...the best kind!!! Claudia Karvan went from heart on her sleeve to pen on paper and wrote about love! Tara Moss dripped with gothic sensuality and wrote to Bela Legosi.

To my most treasured possession...Michelle Law went straight to my heart with her stories of hair loss at a young age. Whereas Rowena Grant-Frost marvelled at the modem...I concurred, it would be in the top five treasured possessions...more on that later.

To the woman who changed my life...where the men got in on the act...Paul Kelly and Desdemona, Dave Graney on seemingly every woman he has ever met, and the beautiful letter from Eddie Perfect to his wife.

The letter I wish I'd written...Helen Garner with a whole selection of brief letters to people living and dead...succinct and spare, but perfect as always.

My favourite was: To the best present I ever received...Julia Zemiro wrote a funny story about Christmas, many of them, good and bad...but no real mention of presents. Then just as the letter was ending she packed a punch I am still feeling days later...it was about the present she has never received, her belief of the real reason for Christmas...children...you need to read it to understand...I understood...it broke my heart...still does...

So in the spirit of Women of letters my next few posts will be letters with subject matter fitting my blog on cultural pursuits.