Hello!
April is pretty much behind us in a whirlwind of public holidays and stress that I can’t seem to get my head around. But it’s done, yeah? There’s a double edged sword to short work weeks which, honestly, Yes Please, Yum Yum. But then you start to realise that the work doesn’t go away just because the time does and you’ve had to take a few days off here for a colonoscopy and another day or two there for a trip to Queensland on Author Biz, and before you know it you’re up to your eyeballs in deadlines and you feel a bit out of your depth.
Then you breathe, and remember that you’ve never slacked off and so if the work can’t get done in the allotted time, then that’s not on you. Right?
It didn’t help that a flu made me bedridden for the whole 4 day Easter Long Weekend, and so I watched the delightful weather pass by as I realised that being forced to rest is hard to bear, no matter how much you need it.
I recently received a small amount of money as inheritance from my Grannie. She was the last of my grandparents and she died the day before I left for my big, life-changing trip to the USA in 2022. We were encouraged to buy something we’d always wanted for ourselves as a way to remember her. I haven’t fully decided what I’ll get that’s significant, but I did use nearly a quarter of it to buy this downlighting for my bookcases. I’ve always wanted lights like these for two reasons: they’re awesome! and, now I can avoid turning on the harsh overhead lights.
Announcement!
In other BIG news, Q-Lit has just launched it’s festival program for June!
I’ve been on the board of Q-Lit since last year as the Chair. It’s something I feel passionately about. I’ve always wanted a Queer Literature Festival to be a thing here in Australia, and so it’s exciting to have been able to be a part of the team that has made this happen!
20th - 28th of June, 2025
60 Writers
15 Events
8 Days
1 HUGE festival celebrating LGBTQIA+ writers in any way that they share their stories
I’ve been working closely with Timothy Christopher Ryan to program the festival and I’m genuinely so proud of how it’s come together! There’s something for everyone and every single event has a free ticket option because we don’t want anyone to miss out. (There are absolutely paid tickets for those who have the means to support us and help us run future events, but we wanted to remove as many barriers as we could!)
The amount of time, passion and thought we’ve poured into this event is immense. I have so much admiration for Kate Hall and Timothy who started Q-Lit in 2022 and have brought so many people together simply by providing the space for people who care about queer writing to connect!
We also want to hear from you!
We’re running a poll on the most influential queer books according to you, the readers!
Think along the lines of that NYT 100 Best Books of the 21st Century, but, *you know*…
The results of the poll will be announced live at one of our panels and discussed before we publish it online! Be a part of the fun, share your history of reading.
Or if you’d like to volunteer to help us make everything run smoothly, you can do that, too. Many hands, and all that jazz. But what I’ve always learned from volunteering for things in the past is that I meet great people and get to be a part of some fantastic events.
Anywhichway, I really hope you can come along and be a part of it. We’re celebrating queer voices, but that doesn’t mean you have to be queer to celebrate with us. 😊
Writing the Rainbow - Workshop!
I’m also running a workshop on IDAHOBIT with for Bayside Libraries!
Sandringham Library
1pm-3:30pm, 17 May 2025
Join us this International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) to learn how to include diverse voices and stories in your writing in a respectful and inclusive way. Michael Earp is a non-binary writer and bookseller. They are editor of, and contributor to "Everything Under the Moon: Fairy tales in a queerer light", "Kindred: 12 Queer #LoveOzYA Stories", and "Out-Side: Queer Words and Art from Regional Victoria".
It only costs $10 and is for anyone aged 14 and over (including grown ups!)
I hope you all have a great month!
💚
Michael