Causes for Celebration

There is a lot of catching up to be done on this blog. It seems to me that a very good place to start is our celebratory evening at Carboni’s Italian Kitchen in Ballarat on 28 November, a personal “thanksgiving” meal marking the return to good health, the end of an era and the start of a new one. 

A toast to all the friends who’ve supported me on my journey over the past two years, especially my wonderful partner, Shane Jones, who took the above photo. 

I don’t want to give the impression that all I do is imbibe Prosecco (although it certainly must look that way). In my defence, there has been a lot to celebrate lately.

Directly above and below: last Sunday afternoon’s post-theatre drinks in the bar of Her Majesty’s, my favourite Melbourne theatre, watched over by the venerable Barry Humphries and Stephen Fry.  We had just attended a matinee of Hamilton, a thoughtful and generous birthday gift from Shane. Neither of us was entirely sure the musical lived up to all the hype. But it had its moments and we still a enjoyed splendid afternoon.

Finally, A snapshot from last night’s memorable farewell celebration for Sue Westwood, Business Manager of Melbourne Athenaeum Library  for the past 13 years. (Photo credit: Shane Jones).

Sue was instrumental in appointing me as Artist-in-Residence at the library in 2018, a happy and extremely productive experience I’ll always remember fondly. Under Sue’s auspices, the library was the first public institution to acquire my artist book, Leaves of Absence.

It was lovely to see many familiar faces and terrific to catch up with Patricia Cornelius, the Playwright in Residence during my time there, and to meet Melissa Reeves, the library’s 2021 Playwright in Residence.

Wishing Sue all the best for the future. She has promised to keep in touch and I will most certainly hold her to that!