What’s one of the best ways to end the year for a writer?
Well, this is an easy question for me to answer: to know the New Year brings with it more exciting writing milestones.
Next year, my ten-minute play imagining the last meeting of Xanthippe and her husband Socrates has been selected for performance in ARKfest competition AND Sydney Short and Sweet. Utterly thrilled to know my words will re-birthed in a new form and come alive on stage, not only in my own state of Victoria, but also in New South Wales.
I may be flying backwards and forth from Melbourne to Sydney a few times in 2018. Of course, I want to see my play performed in Sydney as well as Melbourne, and I have also put my name down for two winter weeks of intensive writing at Varuna, the Writers House. Besides all that, I want to go the book launch of Lauren Chater’s debut novel, The Lace Weaver in April. Lauren is also well known in Australian literary circles for her Well Read Cookie website. I was very honoured recently when Lauren created a gorgeous cookie inspired by Falling Pomegranate Seeds: The Duty of Daughters.
Lauren wrote a lovely review of Falling Pomegranate Seeds: The Duty of Daughters:
…beautiful book about the youthful days of Katherine of Aragon. Gorgeous writing and Wendy Dunn’s usual light touch when it comes to the challenging dynamics of family life made this a wonderful read. Although the protagonist is a young woman, this is a book for everyone. Loved it.
In those moments of writerly doubt, she also does an excellent job of encouraging me with my latest project, the second novel of my planned trilogy based on the life of Katherine of Aragon.
I cannot really believe 2017 is almost over, but it has been a very good year. All is well with my family, I’ve made new friends, celebrated the release of issues three and four of Backstory and Other Terrain, two writing journals belonging to the writing department of Swinburne University, (I share the role of Senior Editor with Eloise Faichney), co-ordinated the Women’s History month at Eltham library, took part in various writing panels and online interviews (read my most recent here), tutored at Swinburne University, seen the re-publication of Dear Heart, How Like You This and The Light in the Labyrinth, my first two novels, the release of the Spanish translation of Falling Pomegranate Seeds: The Duty of Daughters, and moved forward with writing my fourth novel.
To you and yours, I wish you a wonderful festive season and a joyful New Year.
Warmly,
Wendy
Fellow author Glenice Whitting and me at the recent High Tea at Swinburne University.
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