Misrule
Edith Betty Ridge: Our Mum
This is the eulogy my sister Alison gave for our mother at her funeral today. It is a word-perfect honoring of Mum’s long life. You can watch the video of the slideshow I made for the service on YouTube. Edith Betty Ridge, nee Dykes, was born on May 8th 1928 in Enfield. She was the…
Read MoreBook Launch: Quark’s Academy by Catherine Pelosi
I taught a short course in writing for children and young adults for more than ten years, and over those years, I must have taught hundreds of people, and some of them became and remained friends (online and in real life). I’m always excited when one of them finds success with their writing, and I’m…
Read MoreOur Dark (Curriculum) Materials
There’s an article on The Guardian today getting a fair bit of traction, by Alice Pung, along the lines of “teens can handle dark topics” and I have to admit, it’s been bugging me all day. Look, I know I am eleven hundred and twenty years old (give me a frickin’ beer, thank you Buffy…
Read MoreTalking great kids’ books on ABC Sydney Radio
This last Sunday (10th September 2017) I was part of a panel talking about great kids’ books on ABC Sydney, my local radio station of our national broadcaster. There was me, host Simon Marnie; my dear friend, the exceptional children’s author Anna Fienberg; Lucy Robertson, teacher-librarian from Culburra PS; Li Gin, the t-l from Sydney Grammar School, and Richard Neville,…
Read MoreDad’s eulogy
My father, Barry John Ridge, died in the early hours of 9 August 2017. He was 89 years old, and had been living with Lewy Body dementia for around seven years. This is the eulogy I gave at his funeral. Growing up, the four of us kids were what’s known in the trade—the church trade,…
Read MoreCBCA Shortlists 2017
I presented my choices for the Book of the Year: Older Readers at today’s Children’s Book Council of Australia (NSW) shortlist announcement event. 5 of us “industry experts” were asked to give our picks prior to the announcement of the official shortlists at 12 noon. Here’s a potted version of what I said: I had…
Read MoreThe Book I Made: The Book That Made Me
I am thrilled and excited to announce that my first book, The Book That Made Me, will be published on September 1, just a couple of weeks away, by Walker Books Australia. The Book that Made Me was inspired by my fascination with the reading lives of writers. As a teacher, editor and a devoted…
Read MoreCircle
I attended the launch of Jeannie Baker‘s new picture book, Circle, tonight, at the Maritime Museum in Sydney. I don’t remember how many launches of Jeannie’s books I’ve been to, but I know I’ve been attending them for well over twenty years, and I was privileged to work with her on the education kit that accompanied…
Read MoreBehind every great artist…
There’s often an arts worker. Much has been written lately about the high-handed and, frankly, insupportable decision by the Federal Arts Minister, Senator George Brandis, to remove a massive slice of funding from the Australia Council for the Arts in order to establish a National Program for Excellence in the Arts. If you already know…
Read MoreMisrule Manuscript Assessment Services
I have just created a page for my manuscript assessment services, which can be found here. Due to the vagaries of wordpress pages versus posts, I am adding this post so I can attach an image for promotional purposes. Link is in menu bar above. With more than twenty years experience in children’s and young…
Read More