Fresh Takes & But Won’t I Miss Me

There are a few events I’ll be appearing at coming up including Fresh Takes Winter at the State Library. This is always a cool event because it is a great opportunity to discover new writers. When I have attended in the past, I may know the work of one or the writers featured but inevitably I end up discovering new writers.

I went to Fresh Takes at the end of March which had Fiona Wright, George Kemp, Lee Lai, Toby Fitch, Lulu Houdini and Helen Pitt. I was familiar with Fiona Wright’s previous work and I had seen Cannon by Lee Lai around but it was great to hear all the writers speak about what inspires them along with sharing from their latest book!

At the next Fresh Takes (Winter ’26), I’ll be reading along with Michael Winkler, Angela O’Keeffe, Ayesha Inoon, Mary Colussi and Roy Marshan. This will be the first time I read from the Parramatta dictionary from an actual physical copy of the book.

Parramatta: A Dictionary of Place and Memory will be released on the 1st of July and there will be a launch on August the 6th. Fittingly, it’ll be held at PHIVE in Parramatta. Details are still being finalised but it is now less than two months away!!! Save the date!!!!!

In terms of reading, I just finished But Won’t I Miss Me by Tiffany Tsao. I have been following Tiffany’s work for a while and I love both her writing and also her translations. A full list of her work can be found over at her website.

But Won’t I Miss Me is a book to devour! It is very thought-provoking and original, and it plays on the mind. Tiffany’s book was a breath of fresh air and I’m hoping that there will be more fiction by Tiffany on the way very, very, very soon. She also wrote the essay Grave Years and the Undead Woman about the erasure of mothers: their world, their needs, their sense of self, and this essay complements But Won’t I Miss Me!

So there’s a book and an essay to check out, and I hope that I can discuss this novel with other people, preferably a book club because there is so much to unpick in But Won’t I Miss Me!