Laura Bloom | Public figure
Laura Bloom
Reviews
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24.01.2022 "Mika & Max is the story of an unusual friendship, and a coming of age story that will resonate with readers. Bloom handles these two characters with a deft touch, resulting in a captivating story."
23.01.2022 Leo and I are in a podcast! This important series is hosted by the wonderful Cheryl Akle, from #betterreading. Happy Listening.
23.01.2022 My brilliant friend Stuart Barnes has two wonderful poems in Poetry Magazine. This one is clear eyed and true about trauma and survival. Highly recommended. You can also buy his award winning collection Glasshouses at the link below.
22.01.2022 I'm thrilled to be in such fine company.
22.01.2022 When I discovered reading, I realised I was never going to be lonely again. Do you remember what your reaction was when you realised what reading meant to you? #Reading #BookWorm #Author #LauraBloom #ReadMoreBooks #DiscoverReading #Bookstagram #BooksForKids #bookstagrammer# BooksBooksBooks #BooksAreEssential #BooksForAdults
22.01.2022 As you may remember, this is the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo landing. I contributed to this anthology with two new pieces.
21.01.2022 It's very difficult to comprehend that the amazing Jesse Blackadder - writer, 'writing-activist' (I just made up that word, but it's what she was), and my co-creator and author on the 'Dream Riders' novels for young people - is no longer with us. The loss to the writing community, and Australian publishing, and the Northern Rivers Region where she lived, is immense. Vale, Jesse. I will miss you.
21.01.2022 'Unsettled', by Gay Lynch, is a big, absorbing and compelling novel which, along with The Drover's Wife, by Leah Purcell, will change the way you think about Australia. This review pairs them, perfectly.
21.01.2022 Stevie Nicks - poet, mystic, rock star. It was so much fun researching fashions for my characters to wear in my new book, The Women and The Girls. I set the novel in the 1970s because it was such a hopeful time in terms of what suddenly became possible for women like my three main characters - Libby, Carol and Anna - and me. ... #feminism #1970s #whitlamera #StevieNicks #1970s #GoodReads #NewBooks #NewNovels #LauraBloom #BookClub
18.01.2022 Australian Friends - it's breeding season for one of our national icons. "Be careful if you come across an echidna, and don't move them if they are on the move." Whenever I see an echidna I think of this wonderful poem by Lisa Brockwell, from her debut collection, Earth Girls: Echida ... Where is your motorbike? You look like you should own one Snuffling around the edge of town, leather jacket, spiked hair. A lift of your head at my car radio: biodiversity, two speed economy. You get on wiht your business around the rubbish and gravel, too shy to chat and too tough to run. http://www.imprints.com.au/Poetry/earth-girls
18.01.2022 Important and original commentary from the brilliant poet (and my brilliant friend), Lisa Brockwell.
16.01.2022 'Mika and Max', my novel for younger readers aged 10 yrs + was launched in Sydney this weekend, 'in conversation' with the amazing author Jaclyn Moriarty, at one of the world's best bookshops, Better Read Than Dead in Newtown. Learn more about the book at Goodreads, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45845152-mika-and-max, or just go ahead and buy a copy at your local bookstore if you are in Australia, or online for only $12.25 at Booktopia, (https://www.booktopia.com.au/search.ep) or anywhere you can buy good books.
15.01.2022 From fellow writer Sarah Armstrong, "This magnificent memoir was written by my friend Hayley Katzen (who Ive been in a writing group with for something like 15 years). Hayleys been working on this book for many years and, by god, the work and her craft show on every single page. Apart from the beautiful writing, Untethered offers a tender and frank portrait of a relationship, and of life on a cattle farm out west (quite an adjustment for a very urban law lecturer) and is a ...record of one womans thoughtful examination of what makes home. Hayleys out on the farm right now, COVID-19 having put paid to the whirl of festival appearances and launches. Social media has become even more important now in letting readers know about new books, and I really do commend Untethered to you; its entertaining, touching and left me thinking about what home means to me. Which seems very appropriate in these strange times. in Mullumbimby." See more
15.01.2022 Almost time for another Neurochemistry Set session. Tune in tonight at 10pm Sydney time to Bay FM 99.9MHz or stream it at www.bayfm.org. This week's program foc...uses on the fertile experimental electronic music scene that was happening in Sydney Australia in the 1980's. Featuring Severed Heads, The Makers of the Dead Travel Fast, Cut With The Kitchen Knife, The Horse He's Sick, The Good Chamber, Browning Mummery and more... See more
15.01.2022 Last year, Cheryl Akle was looking for books for her great nephews and wondered why there was so little diversity in kids' books, so she created a podcast talki...ng about just that and it's fascinating. https://podcasts.apple.com//conversation-abo/id1225214412 Walker Books Australia Penguin Random House NSW School Library Matters CBCA NSW Branch Discussion Group CBCA (NSW) Newcastle Sub-branch CBCA (NSW) Central Coast Sub Branch CBCA NSW Branch Inc Eastern Suburbs Sub-branch Cbca Victoria Children's Book Council of Australia - NSW Branch Childrens Librarians The State Library of New South Wales Will Kostakis Laura Bloom Maxine Beneba Clarke Magabala Books Randa Abdel-Fattah See more
15.01.2022 Sincere thanks Rochelle Jewel Shapiro for this beautiful #review in Empty Mirror of Giant Steps #MoonLanding #50thAnniversary #poetry #anthology Recent Work P...ress edited by Shane Strange and Paul Munden. Very grateful to be mentioned with Melinda Louise Smith, Lisa Brockwell, Moira Egan, Keijiro Suga, Helen Mort, Eileen Chong and many more! See more
15.01.2022 My new book, The Women And The Girls is set in the 1970s. Here's one of the outfits that I envisaged Anna wearing. Here's an excerpt to match: ‘Anna eyed herself in the mirrored columns of the hotel’s glorious atrium as she waited in line at reception. Her new aqua argyle polyester suit worked well with her pearl accessories, and the heels were worth it for the extra height they gave her, despite the slippery discomfort she felt on the parquet flooring.’ ... #TheWomenandTheGirls #LauraBloom #GoodReads #1970s #NewNovels #NewBooks #BookClub
15.01.2022 Somehow it's the final week of season two of The Listening Place but we still have the goods! Kicking off our last three readings for now will be the fabulous Gay Lynch, sharing an extract from her newly published novel Unsettled. Tune in this Tuesday night at 8:30pm ACST/9:00pm AEST for a taste of Gay's spellbinding historical fiction. Gay works as an adjunct academic at Flinders University, Adelaide, publishing essays, hybrid memoir pieces, novels, papers and short stories.... Unsettled, her Australian frontier novel, was launched by Hannah Kent in December 2019. Shorter works can be found in Best Australian Stories, Bluestem Journal, Edições Humus Limitada, Glimmer Press, Island, Meanjin, Meniscus, Griffith Review, Westerly, TEXT and Sleepers Almanac. From 2011-2015, she was Fiction and Life Writing editor at Transnational Literature ejournal. See more
13.01.2022 Wonderful article full of recommendations perfect for this time of the year. My novel, In the Mood, is included, and ever more appropriate, sadly, here in NSW, where it's set, as it's about a couple getting back on their feet after the trauma of war. After the trauma of these bushfires - not even begun to be counted or known yet, but we know it's coming - more people than I care to imagine will be able to relate to the concerns of the story. Especially to the strains hardship and stress and trauma exert on relationships, and communities, and how precarious the road back to togetherness, can be.
13.01.2022 A big and beautiful Pavlova is one of my baking favourites. I use @nigellalawson 's recipe from How To Be A Domestic Goddess. I ’ve played around with trying to use less sugar over the years, but I’ve concluded that the recommended (huge) amount of sugar is essential. #Pavlova #AussieDessert #Nigellalawson #FoodForThought #HowToBeADomesticGoddess
11.01.2022 Hello Sydney Peeps, this should be a good afternoon's entertainment: Jaclyn Moriarty and I 'in conversation' about my new 10+ novel, 'Mika and Max' - although I think it's got something for every age, actually.
11.01.2022 Did you have a favourite outfit as a child? I did, and my concept of loving it was to wear it, right down to the same stockings and hair ribbon, every time I wanted to ‘put my best food forward’. Now that I think of it that must have become a bit repetitive for my friends .... Here I am, in the 1970s, around the age the girls are in my new novel, ‘The Women and The Girls,’ in my green cord pinafore and luxurious two-tone skivvy, feeling groovy. What was your Special Outfit as a child? #LauraBloom #1970s #FavouriteOutfit #1970sFashion
11.01.2022 Find out why I made threats in Pidgin English as a child; what I know now which I wish I had known then, and other fascinating facts about me ...
11.01.2022 Remembering Robyn Beeche, who passed away on this day four years ago. Her photos and legacy live on...
11.01.2022 Excited to share my cover! Thanks so much to @loveozya for the shout out and to @wakefieldpress for everything Posted @withrepost @loveozya We are so incred...ibly excited to share with you the cover for The Girl with the Gold Bikini by @lisawalkerwriter! This #loveozya novel will release on February 1, 2020 from @wakefieldpress Inspired by Nancy Drew and Veronica Mars, The Girl with the Gold Bikini is a whip-smart screwball comedy satirising #wellness culture and striking a blow for body positivity, with terrific, quick-quipping characters including Olivia Grace, a teenage heroine for the #metoo era. #ozya #readlocal #aussiereaders #youngadultbooks #bookstgram #bookcommunity #bodypositivity #coverreveal #wakefieldpress See more
10.01.2022 I'm thrilled to announce that my new book, The Women And The Girls, is released today! Please see my website for more details, reviews and where to buy. (link in bio) #TheWomenAndTheGirls #LauraBloom #NewNovels #1970s #GoodReads #BookClub #NewBooks
09.01.2022 Hi everyone, I'm offering the following in the #AuthorsforFireys appeal. a) a characters and a horse, named after you or a person of your choosing in 'Kai, Book 3' of the 'Dream Riders' series about natural horsemanship for young readers, to be published by Walker Books in 2021. b) a signed copy of my adult novel about new beginnings, 'In the Mood', (number three on the list here https://www.theguardian.com//top-10-books-about-new-beginn), as well as a phone or email conv...ersation with me about writing, as a writer or reader. c) a signed copy of 'Mika and Max,' my novel for young readers featuring a boy with #autism. You can place your bid here or in a DM. Make sure to specify whether you are bidding on a, b or c. I will match the winning bids with my own cash donation.
08.01.2022 Hello Sydney Peeps, this should be a good afternoon's entertainment (and even though you need to 'buy' a ticket, it's free): Jaclyn Moriarty and I 'in conversation' about my new 10+ novel, 'Mika and Max' - although I think it's got something for every age, actually.
08.01.2022 OK - I have to admit, I love horses, but they don't love me. A Shetland pony took a big bite from my arm. The result was a tetanus shot. A beautiful race horse ...who knew I was a knit-wit as soon as I mounted her, charged towards a fence and I flew off. The result a fractured bum-bone. Only took 6 months to heal. So here's the positive news. The brilliant Jesse Blackadder (Author) an award-winning author of seven novels for adults and children, is the co-author of Dream Rider series HORSES. A fabulous new middle-grade series about horses and friendship, co-written with Laura Bloom. Here Jesse is with her fans - Deborah Abela Author & Kate Forsyth & me - for the launch of her deeply moving adult book 'Sixty Seconds' HarperCollins Books Australia. We're waiting for more books in the Dream Rider series - so get better very soon. Share this with all kids who love horses! Susanne Gervay Author Hazel Edwards SCBWI Australia East & New Zealand Byron Bay Community Board Children's Book Council of Australia NSW School Library Matters English Teachers Association NSW Children's Book Council of Australia - NSW Branch Pamela Cook
08.01.2022 From the brilliant poet and beloved friend, Lisa Brockwell: I'm delighted to be reading next Monday at Geoff Page's reading series, as part of the wonderful "That Poetry Zoom" coming out of Canberra. And very proud to be reading with Moya Pacey and Adrian Caesar. Hope you can join us on Zoom!
07.01.2022 From Erica Wagner, artist and children's book publisher at Allen and Unwin: Like you all Ive been watching the news with horror. Please, lets stand together and face this pain ... This picture of my bookshelf shows some of the incredible books Ive been privileged to assist into the world. I believe in the healing power of books ... My eyes were first opened by Kevin Gilbert. Later by Boori Monty Pryor when I heard his shocking story of dreadful loss, chronic injustices, an...d how he found strength to visit schools day in day out, working at the grass roots level to educate children, writing Maybe Tomorrow and so many other brilliant books. Working in publishing and on a steep learning curve I learnt to stop talking, to stop thinking I knew the history of this country, to start listening and to keep listening. To educate myself. To support First Nation writers and all the incredible communities in our beautiful country. Please, lets stand together now. Deaths in custody, police brutality, everyday careless cruelty, stupidity, injustice, ignorance - it can stop and it must stop. In the words of Mr Williams Kulinmaya! Keep listening everybody! #blacklivesmatter #educateourselves #facethepast #reconciliation See more
06.01.2022 Sometimes people assume that if you are into 'natural horsemanship' it means you are closing the door to becoming an accomplished rider. Louise Kropach, the inspiration behind the character of Shannon, the magnetic horse-whisperer in the 'Dream Riders' series for middle grade readers, is highly accomplished, winning many prizes as well as forging an incredible connection with her horse, Freya.
06.01.2022 "She Returns Home and everyone is pretty pissed that she left. Who does she think she is? A Hero?"
04.01.2022 Finally got round to reading (and now sharing) this rich and evocative reading of Nick Cave's live concert film Distant Sky by Felicity Plunkett - / "In Janua...ry 2019, Cave replies to a father raising a small daughter after his wifes death. A shared understanding of the house haunted by hyena hymns allows Cave to speak in this new way, consoling and empathetic. He has described actively living our lives in the service of others and using what power we have to reduce each others suffering as the remedy to our own suffering and the essential antidote for loneliness. He depicts his wife: defiant and scoured clean by grief; a woman with a mutinous and ferocious grace, now more open, daring and creative than ever; a woman who has simply defied the cosmic odds and bloomed. Everywhere in these responses, and Caves new work, are the currents of his own mutinous and ferocious grace: 'We are alone but we are also connected in a personhood of suffering. We have reached out to each other, with nothing to offer, but an acceptance of our mutual despair. We must understand that the depths of our anguish signal the heights we can, in time, attain. This is an extraordinary faith. It makes demands on the vast reserves of inner-strength that you may not even be aware of. But they are there.'"
03.01.2022 It's publication week for "Dream Riders: Storm", book two in the series Laura Bloom and I have created for readers 8+. "Storm" picks up where "Dream Riders: Fra...nkie" finished, following the life-changing adventures of four young riders determined to find a different way of riding - one that's about respect, love and freedom. Set just down the road in The Pocket, and inspired by the real-life work of natural horsemanship teacher Louise Kropach, this is a series about horses, friendship and being true to yourself. Published by Walker Books Australia. See more
02.01.2022 Thank you, Sally Piper: "Im not able to make the Brisbane rally in King George Square today. Once Covid-19 is behind us though, I will be back again next year on 26th January for the #changethedate rally. I could read a hundred books like these pictured and still never fully understand what it is to be an Indigenous person in Australia, but I will continue to read books by Indigenous authors, and those by non-Indigenous authors who write humbly and respectfully about Indigeno...us communities and experiences, in an attempt to better understand. In lieu of not attending today I have donated to my favourite charity the @indigenousliteracyfoundation. I would urge anyone else unable to stand alongside our First Nations people today to also support an Indigenous charity or to buy Indigenous authored books. #aboriginallivesmatter #blacklivesmatter #stopblackdeathsincustody See more
02.01.2022 From Sarah Armstrong: "Friday Favourites. How I love this book: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin. I came across it a few years ago when I was looking for middle-grade books with strong girl characters. I found that and more in Minli, a brave and determined girl who embarks on a difficult quest. I so admire Grace Lin’s clean, elegant writing - beautiful descriptions and a fast-moving plot. I read it to my daughte three times and she’s since read it herself. And the good news is that this is the first in a trilogy."
02.01.2022 https://www.poetryonthemove.net/blog I'm delighted to be one of the poets in residence, along with Vahni Capildeo and Yeow Kai Chai at this year's Poetry On th...e Move festival. One of my absolute favourite poetry festivals, I like the way it promotes excellence and inclusion, a rare and difficult feat. I only wish it was all happening IRL this year. Thanks to festival director, the wonderful dynamo of Australian poetry Shane Strange https://www.poetryonthemove.net
02.01.2022 Thank you, Megan Taylor, for your generous donation to #AuthorsforFireys. Megan will have a character named after her amazing, animal-loving, animal-protecting grandma, Mimi, in 'Kai - Book 3,' of the 'Dream Riders' series for middle grade readers, to be published by Walker Books in 2021.
