Brian’s ramblings about travel and life and stuff. » Events

Brian in Byron (say that 5 times really fast).

Brian Thacker — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 10:01:11 +0000

The program for the 2010 Byron Bay Writer’s Festival has just been released. It’s such a great program this year (and not just because I’m in it!). Amongst those literary luminaries appearing at this year’s festival (as well as poets, historians, journalists, novelists, playwrights, bloggers, song writers and biographers) are Fatima Bhutto (granddaughter of former Pakistan Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and niece of Benazir Bhutto), Bret Easton Ellis (author of cult classic American Psycho), Kathy Lette (of Puberty Blues fame), John Doyle (of Roy and H.G. fame), Tony Martin (of The D-Generation and The Late Show fame), Alex Miller (with just a couple of The Miles Franklin Literary Awards to his name), Reg Mombassa (artist and mental as anything – that’s the band he was in not his mental state), Matthew Reilly (of making bucketloads of money by writing about hovercars fame), Mark Skaife (of driving noisy cars fame) and Adam Ramanauskas (um, he played for Essendon the poor thing).

I’ll be doing a bunch of panels and a ‘travel writing workshop’. The full schedule of events (the festival runs from August 2-8) is available here. I’m very excited about the festival because not only is it such a great festival, but it also means that I get out of Melbourne in the middle of winter!

Here are my events (full details on my events page here)

Travel writing workshop
Wednesday 4th August
Something to declare
$55/$45 (Concession)

On the road again: Tall travel tales
Saturday 7th August
Sam Cutler, AJ Mackinnon, Brian Thacker, Kim Trail
Chair: Irina Dunn

Book Reading
Sunday 8th August
Mohezin Tejani, Brian Thacker

You can’t pick ‘em, but you can pick ‘em clean: Families as fodder
Sunday 8th August
Tony Martin, Susan Maushart, Justin Kennedy, Brian Thacker
Chair: Irina Dunn

The muso, the cook, the couch surfer and the priestess: wide windows on the world
Sunday 8th August
Sam Cutler, Luke Nguyen, Brian Thacker, Maria van Daalen
Chair: Shamini Flint

So, hope to see you at the festival – and if you are already going, then I look forward to seeing you at ALL my sessions!

The gentle art of persuasion.

Brian Thacker — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 04:07:46 +0000

Last night I went to the program launch for the 2010 Emerging Writers’ Festival at the Wheeler Centre. I did feel a little out of place, though. And it wasn’t because I am already an ‘established writer’. Emerging writers are very cool – there was lots of groovy facial hair and hipster clothes going on. I hadn’t been to the Wheeler Centre before (it only opened earlier this year), and I was very impressed. The Wheeler Centre (named after Tony and Maureen of Lonely Planet fame) is the centrepiece of Melbourne’s UNESCO City of Literature Initiative and as well as hosting literary events is also home to the Victorian Writers’ Centre, Melbourne Writers Festival, Australian Poetry Centre and something called SPUNC.

The Emerging Writers’ Festival is… I’ll let them explain: The Emerging Writers’ Festival exists to promote the interests of emerging writers – to improve their opportunities for professional development and their engagement with the broader public. The Festival mixes emerging literary professionals with more established writers to forge a better understanding between the past and future of Australian writing, and to bring a high level of intellectual endeavour to all the Festival’s activities.

I attended the launch of the festival because I’m talking on one of the panels. The topic is ‘The gentle art of persuasion’ which is described as: Case studies, life stories, getting quotes, being inspired … No matter what your genre, interviewing is an important skill for a writer. But what makes a good interview, and what to do if it all goes horribly wrong? And how do you turn the content of an interview into a finished product? Joining me on the panel is Tait Ischia, Barbara Lemon and Hoa Pham. There’s a whole bunch of interesting panels and talks going on over the festival which runs from Friday 21st may to Sunday 3oth May. Most of the events take place at the Melbourne Town Hall and if you’re interested in hearing me waffle on incoherently then my panel is on Saturday the 29th at 11.00am. You can find out more on my events page here.

And the good thing is that I’ve got over a month to grow some groovy facial hair.

Warm memories of Ubud.

Brian Thacker — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:59:15 +0000

I miss Ubud. I miss the warmth of the people and, well, just the warmth in general. It’s bleedin’ cold here in Melbourne at the moment. But, it is great to be home and I’ve got a wonderful two weeks of playing tour guide to my girlfriend Beth who is visiting Australia for the very first time. Except, the poor thing brought along bikinis and summer dresses because I told her that it is warm in Australia. A ski jacket and mittens were probably a better idea. So, to make me feel warmer here’s a few photos from my time at the Ubud Writer and Readers Festival…

My room at Pita Maha, Ubud

Media cocktail party at the Four Seasons, Ubud

Opening night Gala

Opening night Gala dancers

Indus Restaurant (venue for festival)

My ‘Jalan Jalan’ through Ubud

Breakfast at the end of ‘Jalan Jalan’

The role of Bintang in Australian Literature.

Brian Thacker — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 01:45:15 +0000

Sadly, I’m at the end of my stay in Ubud, but I have had a wonderful time at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival. All my ‘events’ went well – people turned up, no one fell asleep and I didn’t mumble too much. It really is the most fun writer’s festival I’ve attended. As well as the great sessions there were amazingly lavish writer’s dinners every night and one party that was straight out of Hollywood. The party took place in a ridiculously flash four storey mansion. I arrived late and there were folk lounging around on giant cushions around the pool, people swimming in their underwear in the pool, couples making out by the pool and normally conservative writers going crazy on the dance floor. Unfortunately I had to leave early because I was leading a three-hour walk through the rice fields at 7.30 the next morning (the pic is of me walking back from my walk). The event was sold out, soI had 35 folk trailing behind me as I told tales of travelling through Bali (and the rest of South East Asia) with the original1975 Lonely Planet South East Asia on a Shoestring. We ended up at this gorgeous villa overlooking the rice fields for a breakfast of smoked salmon and crusty bread, croissants and apple danishes.

I then had my final session called ‘Meet the Australians’ where the 16 Australian authors and poets almost outnumbered the audience. I didn’t say a word during the session (besides my witty introduction). The topic was ‘What is Australian literature and what role does it play in the socio-economic state of man’s struggle to find himself’ (or something like that). Most of the time I had no idea what they were all talking about, so I just sat there looking like I did.

I had my last afternoon free, so I went for a massage (as you do). I’d hired a scooter for my time in Ubud and had found out about this massage place out in the countryside. I’d been there twice already, so I was looking forward to winding down with a final relaxing massage. The massage takes place in this open sided ’shack’ and the only sounds are the wind, laughing children in the distance and tweeting birds. Not this time, though. First there was the barking dog (why do Balinese dogs bark ALL day!), then the rooster with a sore throat, then the badly played bongos, then the arguing couple, then the incessant hammering and, to top it off. right next door was some sort of power saw.At least the SCREAMING power saw blocked out all the other noise. So I ended up more tense than when I started the massage.

I’ve got lots of photos from the festival, but it took ten minutes just to load the one photo, so I’ll load a pile on when I get home to grey, cold, miserable Melbourne.

From kartoffelpuffers to nasi goreng.

Brian Thacker — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:18:20 +0000

My liver survived all the beer in Germany and I’m now in Ubud, Bali for the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival. I ended my German Beer Drinking Tour, I mean Book Tour, back in Stuttgart to meet up with a bunch of couch surfers to attend Canstatter Volksfest (basically a big fun fair with huge beer tents in the middle). It was a Saturday plus a public holiday in Germany, so the place was packed with Germans in lederhosen. We queued at one beer tent for two hours and it looked like we weren’t getting in anywhere when another couch surfer found tickets for us into another tent. So, with ein mass (a litre of beer) in hand and half a grilled chicken I joined the throng standing on their chairs singing along to traditional German beer drinking songs. Except they also threw in some not quite traditional German songs like Cheap Trick’s ‘I want you you to want me’ and ‘Sweet Home Alabama’. Here are a few photos from the night…

Wacky Germans at Canstatter

A beer tent

Inside a German beer tent

My liver is recovering somewhat – although I do have a Margarita Night tonight in Ubud. I will update my Bali blog tomorrow (the margarita’s are calling!).

If it’s Friday, this must be Hannover.

Brian Thacker — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:14:41 +0000

I’m nearing the end of my book tour around Germany for Couch Surfing: Eine abenteuerliche Reise um die Welt and scheiße am I tired. The tour has been going very well, though, and the book events have been well attended, my couch surfing hosts have been wonderful and I’ve eaten and drunk my body weight in wurst and beer. So far I have been to Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Leipzig and Rendsburg and I’m currently in Hannover. I think.

Here’s a brief run down of my trip so far:

Frankfurt
I couch surfed with Bianca and Norman who must be the couch surfing King and Queen of Frankfurt. They have had over a hundred couchsurfing guests in their tiny flat. Bianaca’s third ever guest was Norman from Equador. He stayed a little longer. And they got married! My book reading was at Buchhandlung Schutt, which was a lovely old book shop and three lovely girls from the publicity department of my German publisher Eichborn did the actual reading. Afterwards the gang at Eichborn took me to a bar and we drank lots of beer until late.

Frankfurt food highlight: Kalbsbraten (veal) smothered in thick cream and mushroom sauce served with spatzle and salad.

Buchhandlung Schutt in Frankfurt

Stuttgart
My biggest crowd so far (over 80 people – in pic at top of blog) turned up to my talk and reading at Buchhandlung Wittwer, a fantastic five-level bookshop in the centre of Stuttgart. This time an ‘actor’ did the reading and he even did all the voices and actions. My couch host was the lovely (I’ll say that a lot in this blog entry!) Frau Dutzmann-Schoch who worked at the bookshop. Afterwards we went back to my host’s house and we drank lots of beer until late.

Stuttgart food highlight: Maultaschensuppe (a huge stuffed ravioli thing in a beef broth). I also had a very nice, but wind making, Linsen und Spätzle (Lentils and Spaetzle and vienna sausage).

Linsen und Spätzle in Stuttgart

Leipzig
In the beautiful old city of Leipzig in former East Germany I was talking at the very modern Lehmanns Buchhandlung. My couch surfing host Tina and her boyfriend took me to a great old bar from the former East German days that still looked the same (minus the Stasi agents lurking in the corner). Afterwards we went back to my host’s house and we drank lots of beer until late.

Leipzig food highlight: Geschnetzeltes mit Spätzle (an old favourite of mine – pork in white wine, cream mushroom sauce)

Lehmanns Buchhandlung and the poster for my talk

Rendsburg
Rendsburg is a charming little town right up near the Danish border. I thought I was going to have a nice quiet and early night after so many late nights, because my lovely couchsurfing host Ute had two small children. But, Ute (and the entire staff of Buchhandlung Reichel) took me out on a bender with lots of beer and some tasty but deadly shots of vodka and something green. We staggered home some time around 1.30.

Rendsburg food highlight: Pommes Frites covered in ketchup and mayo (oh, were they good for my hangover!)

My host Ute (and me) in Buchhandlung Reichel

So, tonight is my last talk (and hopefully not too much beer afterwards) and then I’m heading back down to Stuttgart for the Volksfest (where there will be lots of beer) and then I fly to Bali for the Ubud Writer’s Festival (where I’m looking forward to being in the one spot and doing my best to keep away from too many Bintangs!)

A forecast of wind in Frankfurt.

Brian Thacker — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:05:51 +0000

Guten Tag! I’m in Franfurt at the start of my book tour for Couch Surfing – Eine abenteuerliche Reise um die Welt and I’m lovin’ being back in Germany. I love my German beer, and wurst, and kartoffelpuffers, and spatzle, and jaeger schnitzel and all that other wonderful German healthy food that increase the chances of a coronary. My first meal was bratwurst with sauerkraut and pommes (chips) followed the next day by more wurst with kartoffelsalat and a large mug of beer for lunch. For dinner I had kalbsbraten (veal) smothered in thick cream and mushroom sauce and spatzle (with another two large mugs of beer). And today for lunch I decided to try the local speciality ‘Handkäse mit Musik’. It’s a somewhat smelly round cheese marinated in vinegar and oil with onions and served with bread. As you may imagine, this potent mixture tends to give one a healthy dose of wind – and the release of which… is the ‘Musik’ part! I am a bit worried, though. I have my first book reading tonight in Frankfurt and I just hope I don’t have a musical accompaniment to my talk!

If you can’t come to Germany then join me in Bali…

Brian Thacker — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:34:09 +0000

I’m ‘appearing’ at the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival in October (the pic is of me and Tony Wheeler talking at the 2008 festival). It’s a fantastic festival taking place in stunning locations all around Ubud. Harpers Bazaar magazine called the festival ‘One of the six best literary festivals in the world’. I’ll let the folk from the festival give you the lowdown of what it is all about: ‘This year’s Ubud Writers & Readers Festival promises to be as exciting as ever. Our 2009 theme Suka-Duka: Compassion & Solidarity. The theme reflects the Festival’s commitment to turn this literary gathering into an inspiring moment, through which writers and readers from every corner of the world can establish a mutual understanding as well as a common platform to remind the world of the need to think and act as one single, compassionate entity, particularly during this epoch of violent conflicts and social turmoil.’

I don’t how ‘inspiring’ I will be or how much ‘mutual understanding’ I’ll be sharing around, but I am doing a couple of great talks with fellow writers Jaimal Yogis , Andrew McMillan, and Lee Su Kim. I’m also leading a three hour walk n’ talk through the rice paddies of Ubud on a ‘Jalan Jalan’. But, the biggest highlight of the festival for me is on Thursday the 8th of October. It’s ‘Festival Club goes Karaoke’. The program describes it like this: ‘Join karaoke-loving wordsmiths and wild performers in an unpredictable evening of singing and surprise. If you hunger for the Bee Gees, ABBA, Michael Jackson or just plain old-fashioned love songs this is the event for you. So be prepared to laugh out loud as top writers entertain you in an uber night of literary shenanigans and vocal brilliance.’ I’m sure there will be plenty of inspiration and mutual understanding going on that night.

It’s a great excuse to come to Ubud – and if you’re in Kuta and need a break from getting wasted come on up (they serve beer there as well).

Check out the full program here or my events page here.

I’m on the wireless this Saturday.

Brian Thacker — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:23:48 +0000

I’m joining Greg, Jodie and Macca on the Detours Travel show at JOY 94.9 FM this Saturday (and not be confused with JOY FM a Christian radio station in Sarasota which features Bible teaching programs and Contemporary Christian music). I’ll be talking about my latest trip travelling around South East Asia using the original 1975 Lonely Planet ‘South East Asia on a Shoestring’. You can tune in or listen to it online anywhere in the world at www.joy.org.au The show is on from 12.00 to 1.00pm Melbourne time (or 4.00am in Warsaw, 8.00am in Karachi or 9.00pm Friday night in Minneapolis). If you can’t listen (because it’s 4.00 in the morning in Warsaw) you can hear me waffle on when I was on Detours a few months back talking about my book ‘Sleeping Around – A couch surfing tour of the globe’ with this podcast. Oh, and I’ll make sure I send a cheerio to all my fans in Karachi.

How to slack off from work for an hour…

Brian Thacker — Fri, 29 May 2009 10:37:09 +0000

The lovely folk at the Athenaeum Library In Melbourne recorded my ‘library talk’ this week and put a podcast of it on their website. Amazingly, some of my talk actually made sense and those people I paid to laugh all the way through did a wonderful job. There may be some confusing parts as well, though. But that’s not just because I was talking too fast, but also a powerpoint ’slideshow’ accompanied my talk. It’s goes for a somewhat long-winded hour, but if you’re slacking off at work you can listen to it here…

Brian live at the Athenaeum library

And at least I got a pretty good crowd. A couple of years back I did an ‘author tour’ of Northern Queensland with three other authors and I did a talk at the Normanton library and one person turned up. And even then I think she just happened to drop in on the way to the shop to get some milk.