Vanessa Smith

Should we ‘get over’ print books in the digital age – or are they more precious than ever? Print books embody culture. We see it in social media trends for annotating books, community publishing and wartime destruction of books spanning the Nazis to Gaza.

Should we ‘get over’ print books in the digital age – or are they more
precious than ever?
theconversation.com/should-we-ge...

Writers On Writing / / The power of bullet-point plotting with Timothy Daly
writingnsw.org.au/the-power-of...

How braille music opens up the music world for blind people In the 1820s, Louis Braille devised a raised-dot system of letters, numbers and musical notation. 200 years later, it’s still opening the music world for blind musicians.

How Louis Braille’s musical notation system remains relevant 200 years
after its invention
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...

'I took up poetry to help deal with anxiety' Steven Beattie, who works at the Royal Stoke Hospital, is to be Stoke-on-Trent's next poet laureate.

'I took up poetry to help deal with anxiety'.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

A global publishing scam assisted by AI has targeted Australia. Here are 5 tips to avoid scammers Aspiring authors in Australia are among those who have been scammed by a network of publishing houses using cloned websites and AI tools.

A global publishing scam assisted by AI has targeted Australia. Here
are 5 tips to avoid scammers.

theconversation.com/a-global-pub...

These artists weren't just 'messenger girls'. They brought modernism home At the turn of the century, Australian women artists travelled to Europe and returned with new styles and techniques. Their long-overlooked contribution to Australian art is celebrated in Dangerously ...

Dangerously Modern at the Art Gallery of New South Wales re-centres
women in the history of Australian art

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

Plotting and persevering with your novel with JP Pomare This week, we spoke to bestselling author Louise Park about the fundamentals of writing for the education market.

Plotting and persevering with your novel with JP Pomare
writingnsw.org.au/plotting-and...

Hey, I don’t have a separate email list for Oh Shit My Draft, but you can stay in touch with me via my main email list.

What’s the difference between ghosts and demons? Books, folklore and history reflect society’s supernatural beliefs Artists often turn to the supernatural to reflect on and speak to the anxieties brought about by social, religious and political upheaval.

What’s the difference between ghosts and demons? Books, folklore and
history reflect society’s supernatural beliefs
theconversation.com/whats-the-di...

How poetry can help to fight polarisation and misinformation By encouraging people to imagine beyond their own experience, reading poetry can help them see things from a different perspective.

How poetry can help to fight polarisation and misinformation
theconversation.com/how-poetry-c...

'More than meets the eye': The hidden meanings in a US masterpiece School of Beauty, School of Culture is among the exhibits in a major new London retrospective of the US artist Kerry James Marshall. But there is more to it than first meets the eye.

'More than meets the eye': The hidden meanings in a US masterpiece
www.bbc.com/culture/arti...

'Baby Steps' Is a Hiking Game That Trolls ‘Slightly Problematic’ Men The walking simulator, launching September 23 on PlayStation and Steam, stars a jobless 35-year-old “privileged, white male” whose pride stops him from getting help.

Baby Steps Is a Hiking Game That Trolls ‘Slightly Problematic’ Men
www.wired.com/story/baby-s...

What are the key purposes of human writing? How we name AI-generated text confuses things Decolonizing our understandings of how western institutions have positioned English writing will help universities revisit writing as thinking and invention.

What are the key purposes of human writing? How we name AI-generated
text confuses things
theconversation.com/what-are-the...

Who are the worst mothers in literature? Literature is full of dysfunctional families. We asked critics to nominate their least favourite mothers.

Who are the worst mothers in literature?
theconversation.com/who-are-the-...

Who are the worst fathers in literature? Literature is full of dysfunctional families. We asked critics to nominate the most troublesome fathers.

Who are the worst fathers in literature?
theconversation.com/who-are-the-...

'It reinforced the idea that anything can happen': The glitch in Super Mario Bros that obsessed gamers Forty years ago, the series' original game was released by Nintendo. As well as trying to complete it, fans were desperate to access a secret world that became legendary.

'It reinforced the idea that anything can happen': The glitch in Super
Mario Bros that obsessed gamers
www.bbc.com/culture/arti...

What Does It Mean to Have a Compelling Voice in Your Story? | Jane Friedman In storytelling, voice can refer to three different elements: character voice, narrative voice, and author voice—and they can often overlap.

What Does It Mean to Have a Compelling Voice in Your Story?
janefriedman.com/what-does-it...

That is good 😂

Why listening to stories and talking about them is so important for young children Reading stories with young children lays the foundation for language and literacy development.

Why listening to stories and talking about them is so important for
young children
theconversation.com/why-listenin...

Oh that is going to smell delicious for so long 😂

The decision to close Meanjin misunderstands its wider importance. Australian culture deserves better The decision to close Meanjin is the latest in a string of recent decisions that suggest universities are not safe harbours for priceless cultural institutions.

The decision to close Meanjin misunderstands its wider importance.

Australian culture deserves better

theconversation.com/the-decision...

Salt, glorious salt 😂

5 new Australian publishers are making defiant, weird, grass-roots books The launch of 5 new Australian book publishers is good news, for once. Meet Perentie Press, Pink Shorts Press, Evercreech Editions, Aniko Press and Bakers Lane Books.

Pink Shorts, Evercreech Editions, Bakers Lane Books, Aniko Press… 5 new Australian publishers are making defiant, weird, grass-roots books
theconversation.com/5-new-austra...

Convenient, isn’t it?

Flashlight to Katabasis: 18 of the best books of the year so far From an "epic" coming-of-age story to "delicious" dark academia – this is the very best fiction of the year, as chosen by BBC journalists.

Flashlight to Katabasis: 18 of the best books of the year so far
www.bbc.com/culture/arti...

If Book Marketing Feels Miserable, Read This Now | Jane Friedman Most of us feel unskilled at marketing, but real resistance to it might reveal an emotional pattern that protects us when visibility feels risky.

If Book Marketing Feels Miserable, Read This Now
janefriedman.com/if-book-mark...

Wealthy, whiny and wildly tone deaf: Elizabeth Gilbert’s new memoir exemplifies ‘priv-lit’ In Elizabeth Gilbert’s shocking new confessional memoir, she falls in love with her dying best friend, enables her addiction – and once again blows up her own life.

CW: Abelist terminology in the headline but article worth reading

Wealthy, whiny and wildly tone deaf: Elizabeth Gilbert’s new memoir
exemplifies ‘priv-lit’

theconversation.com/wealthy-whin...

Tom Gauld on reading to survive – cartoon To be, or not to be …

Tom Gauld on reading to survive – cartoon
www.theguardian.com/books/pictur...

How the art of Chinese calligraphy can bring creative freedom in the age of AI Calligraphy is one of the most significant forms of traditional and modern art in China.

How the art of Chinese calligraphy can bring creative freedom in the age of AI
theconversation.com/how-the-art-...

A quote from JK Rowling as reported in the Guardian which reads ‘She adds: “However, Emma and Dan [Radcliffe] in particular have both made it clear over the last few years that they think our former professional association gives them a particular right – nay, obligation – to critique me and my views in public.”’

I’ll never have the fame, money, book sales or life experience of JKR but I do know that when you say something publicly *everyone* has the right to critique you, and when you espouse harmful bigotry against one of society’s most marginalised groups *everyone* has the obligation to critique you you.