Elaine Forrestal, Author in Perth, Western Australia | Public figure

Elaine Forrestal, Author

Locality: Perth, Western Australia

Phone: +61 411 863 034

Address: N/A 6019 Perth, WA, Australia

Website: http://www.elaineforrestal.com.au/

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17.01.2022 Endings Sneak Up on Me One of the nice things John Bowler, Mayor of Kalgoorlie, said while launching Goldfields Girl was, 'There was one thing I didn't like about this book. It ended too soon.' that got me thinking about endings and how they sneak up on me. It's not a case of start at the beginning and don't stop until you come to the end. That works for some authors, but for me it's more a case of 'just get started!' Don't wait to work out where the beginning is. If I did th...at I'd never start. The enormity of the task would overwhelm me and I would go on procrastinating for ever. I have to leap in anywhere, grab an idea and run with it. Often, by the time the ending reveals itself, those early pages have been trashed long ago, replaced by better and better ways of telling the story. So thank you John Bowler, and all those other friends, colleagues, mentors and helpers and helpers. Goldfields Girl has been a long time coming, but it has been a fascinating process and would not have been possible without you. More information, Teaching Notes, Activities at: http://www.elaineforrestal.com.au See more

15.01.2022 Bush Ballads and Folk Songs In September 1892 the only actual building in what would become the town of Coolgardie was a bush hut with a bar the Exchange Hotel. It was the only meeting place in the spreading cluster of tents where 2000 men and two women lived and worked. Within a month of the first rush of prospectors arriving, the 2000 had swelled to 6000 and a trading post had opened for business. But it would take years for the tents to be replaced by proper houses. From 1...892 to 1894, 14 year old Clara Saunders lived in the outback settlement and worked in the pub. Water was more precious than gold and she was often called upon to patch up gun shot wounds, broken bones and all manner of problems brought on by lack of food, too much alcohol, loneliness and the harsh conditions in general. Find out more about the remarkable Clara on the 25th September, 2020, when the Lord Mayor of Kalgoorlie comes to Perth to launch 'Goldfields Girl', the true story of Clara Saunders written by Elaine Forrestal. #elaineforrestal website http://www.elaineforrestal.com.au/news/ See more

13.01.2022 Only one more week to go! If you’d like to join us please let us know. Details below The outback bush pub is coming to Perth for the launch of Goldfields Girl on: ... Friday 25th September 2020 State Library Theatre, Francis St, Perth 5.30pm for 6pm Places are limited so don't miss out! Reply to Elaine on 0411 863 034 See more

09.01.2022 Iso City Limits A wordsmith like me is always fascintated by the way new words enter our language and, by way of common usage, stay with us, at least until our next burst of necessity. Then that word may well be superseded and a different one take its place. Given the dramatic way coronavirus has swooped in and changed our lives, it was inevitable that a whole bunch of new words come into our everyday speech. Take 'iso' for instance. In a relatively short space of time iso ha...s moved from being an abbreviation of the words isolation or isolated, to a stand alone word, as in iso city, iso year, iso family. And the other new word that springs immediately to mind is 'covid'. With or without the number 19 attached covid is now a single word, made up of the shortened 'cod' for coronavirus and 'id' for identity. As we know our present enemy is not the only coronavirus to attack this world. By the number attached to this particular one there would appear to have been at least 19 previous incarnations of this nasty little beast. Of all the words we humans have invented over the centuries few would strike at the heart of our culture in the way coronavirus has. Our natural instinct as homo sapiens is to come together. to live in groups for company, security and to protect the diversity of our gene pool. Coronavirus has forced us apart and turned us, temporarily at least, into iso-phones. Or should that be iosphobes? Keep yourself amused during lockdown by checking out the other fun activities on my website at: http://www.elaineforrestal.com.au/books/ See more

01.01.2022 I must admit I was alarmed, this weekend, to discover that some university music students were gaining their degrees without ever having learned to read music. Does it matter in this technologically obsessed era when a simple app on the student's phone can 'listen' to a piece of music and almost instantly reproduce it as sheet music? Surely if music students no longer learn to read music, much of our music history will be lost? For instance, how will we decide which played ve...rsion of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony should be recorded for posterity in this way? Which orchestra will play Brahms' Lullabies, which Strauss Waltzes, which Chopin Sonatas? And does it follow that not only music, but our early literature and history will be lost if students in schools don't learn to write? Recent studies have shown that technology changes so fast the machines to read these precious records will be obsolete before the digitally preserved version can be saved. Student composer, Dante Clavijo, says he is constantly being asked what kind of digital device or music software he uses to create his works? the ANU student, who has already had an orchestral piece performed by Canberra National Capital Orchestra, invariably replies, 'I still use pen and paper.' See more