I've never really been one to apply for residencies: something to do with having young children I suppose. But, now that my husband works from home, and I'm only one year off all three kids being at school, it seemed like a good idea to start.

Especially when I read the prizes associated with the inaugural Jean Cecily Drake-Brockman Poetry Prize. Two weeks reading and writing in Canberra would be pretty cool, but two weeks doing the same in Ireland would be amazing. Particularly as there's a good chunk of research for my current project I could do while there. Not to mention the cash.

A couple of days ago I learned that I'd been shortlisted, with my poem Family secret #8, which was originally published in issue 1 of Vine Leaves, and later, in the Vine Leaves Best of 2012 Anthology, in an interview I did with Lisa Wardle over at her blog: because writing is my vice, in the Queensland Poetry Festival's 2012 Anthology, and here, below.

It was a bit tricky to continue reading bland articles for uni after finding out about making the shortlist, and I wondered how hard it would be if the wait was longer than a few days. The winner was announced today, and with this news, I'll have to remain stoked with my highly commended. Massive congratulations to joint winners Gerard Butera and Todd Turner (follow the links to read their winning poems). I wonder if one of them will be happy to look up a few records for me in Ireland?

Family secret #8

She’s on the lounge room floor, an eighteen
year old foetus, clutching her own through
layers of blouse and skin, her undies stained
with thick blood. Her cries are heard by
neighbours, though nobody comes.

Her mother is in the kitchen, pouring
gin into three glasses, the ice chinking
while she laughs with her friends.

After four nights in a clinical bed, she
returns home to her own, continues
to rest. When she comes to breakfast
her mother makes tea and toast and says
you don’t have to marry him now.
She stares into her tea, whispers
but I love him, I want to get married
and so she did
                        for a while.

I'm sure it's no great surprise that I'm somewhat fond of stationery. I'm not sure whiteboards fall under that category (even though they come with markers) but I am more excited than I perhaps should be to have these four new boards stuck to the wall (okay, the wardrobe doors) of my study/writing space. Pink and blue may seem like odd colours for whiteboards, but I think they're pretty cool (unfortunately purple were sold out). Anyway, I'll probably mostly use them as magnetic boards, with the very cool magnets I also bought.
This means I now have a sensible place for all the opportunities (with deadlines) for poetry submissions that are coming up. Oh, and a to-do list that I will have to see often (which is much longer than the picture suggest).

I've been thinking for months about blogging again, and because I haven't been able to shake it, here I am.  I won't be back at Words in Progress, but here instead, though I can't promise you how often I'll stop by.  Or what I'll crap on about (where is that cross-out font option?).

But as a first topic, I'm very excited to have a poem in the current issue of Quadrant: my first appearance there. I am very impressed with their fast turn-around: the poem was accepted mid-January and the March issue arrived in my mailbox on 1st March. With a cheque, and we all love to see one of those.