Sitting in…open writers

A week ago I wouldn't have thought I'd be writing about miscellaneous mum, reservoir dad and Ben Watt, in the same post. But then Melbourne Writers Festival hadn't started.

I kick started the festival with a front row seat at Helen Garner's opening night address. A lady new to Melbourne sat next to me, her husband was a few rows back, and pretty quickly we were swinging our legs, pointing out faces we recognised and giggling like teenagers.

Since then I've seen a real range of writers and heard some interesting stuff - Benjamin Walker's podcast where he tries to throw himself into a painting is probably a stand out on that front - and I know that there's plenty more to come.

But on the way home yesterday I was thinking about Karen Andrews, Clint Greagen and Ben Watt. In different ways they each write about their families, and  and people in their lives, and



I read Ben Watt's memoir, Patient: A true story of a rare illness, based on Lisa Dempster's excitement and my nostalgia for Everything But The Girl. At his

Time out track - courtesy of a couple of old aunties

I take my role as Auntie Jen pretty seriously - see my stress in 'We Need To Talk About Sticky' if you need proof - and though I have three great "real" aunts I've learned from, there is another one,  a woman with thousands of nephews and nieces, who wields great influence.

Meet Aunty Meredith

We were introduced circa 2004 and caught up annually until 2007. Every year I drove to meet her with a car of friends, non-glass beverages, a tent we'd spend very little time in, thongs and wet weather boots, and an absolute certainty that we were in for a fabulous family reunion.

This week aunty emailed me the details of her guests for MMF 2014 and, as always, I read about old friends and new discoveries, and if I was going to the gathering I would already have the little kid on Christmas Day tummy. 

One of her guests is Phosphorescent, and though I probably should have already known them, I didn't. Here's what Aunty M said in her email:

"The most exciting new music now seems to be being made by people who have been making it for a long time. The cult of the new is warping towards the cult of the newly-recognised-for-being-terrific. Phosphorescent’s new album – his sixth! – is a critics’ fave; his biggest and most acclaimed. Many would think it’s his debut, he remains a mystery to too many people. But there’s no doubt here – this will win over a lot of people. It’s my nephew’s odds-on favourite to be one of the discovery hits of the festival. Saturday afternoon, your new favourite band could be six albums old."

Nephews are almost as wise as aunties, and I now have this song firmly planted in my Friday mind. Maybe you'd like to too.

Oh and if you're getting to Meredith in December, send my best to the Pink Flamingo. I hope to be on site for Golden Plains next year - same same but different.

Oh and guess what? STICKY LIVED! For a couple of weeks, and then Sticky died. But it wasn't on my watch.