The Australian Poetry Slam 08 returns to Orange after being a wild tonque twisting, word flinging success for performers and audience alike last year. Host Miles Merrill returns for two heats in the Central West.

Macquarie Regional Library, Dubbo Saturday 13 September at 2.30pm

Orange City Library, Orange Thursday 18 September at 6.30pm.

We are looking for poets, hip hop artists, storytellers and other outspoken wordsmiths to speak, scream, howl or whisper or sing your original poem, rhyme, rap or story. Performers can sign up from 30 mins before the start and have 2 minutes at the microphone to impress the judges. Be in the audience to have a chance of picked as a judge (the trick is to catch the frisbee). It is an electric live event and entertainment plus. Two winners from the Orange heat will win Sydney flights and accommodation courtesy of Orange Regional Arts Foundation to be able to attend the State Final at the State Library of NSW on Friday 21 November. Come along or be part of it. For more information call the Central West Writers' Centre on 6393 8125 or go to State Library of NSW website http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/poetryslam/index.html

See you at the Poetry Slam - can't wait!

Matilda Blog states the "Crime Downunder" weblog has reported on the shortlists for the 2008 Ned Kelly Awards for Best Australian crime fiction. The awards presentation is being held on Friday August 29th as a part of the Melbourne Writers' Festival. It is great to see Books Alive 2008 ambassador Michael Robotham on the list. And the nominees are:

Best Crime Fiction Among the Dead by Robert Gott (Scribe), Sucked In by Shane Maloney (Text), El Dorado by Dorothy Porter (Pan Macmillan) and Shatter by Michael Robotham (Hachette Livre).

Best First Crime Novel The Low Road by Chris Womersley (Scribe), A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz (Penguin), Golden Serpent by Mark Abernethy (Allen & Unwin).

Best Non Fiction Underbelly: The Gangland War by John Silvester and Andrew Rule (Sly Ink), Killing Jodie by Janet Fife-Yeomans (Penguin) and Red Centre, Dark Heart by Evan McHugh (Penguin).

And you can find Matilda Blog here: http://www.middlemiss.org/weblog/archives/matilda/2008/07/2008_ned_kelly_1.html

On Saturday 23 August from 1-5pm Sydney poet Liz Allen will lead participants through a number of fun writing exercises designed to stimulate the imagination and increase technical flexibility and control. Participants are also encouraged to bring along a couple of samples of their writing to workshop with the group. Number Forty Seven is a gallery located in the main street at 47 Louee Street, Rylstone. Elizabeth Allen is a Sydney poet, publisher and bookseller. She has published work in journals and magazines as well as a book of poems called 'Forgetful Hands'. She is sales manager of Vagabond Press, a small press dedicated solely to publishing poetry. The workshop will be followed at 6 pm by supper (optional) and a poetry reading and open mic section. This will give workshop participants and others the chance to listen to established poets and then perform their own work in front of a live audience. Workshop $30 and Supper $10. Poetry reading Free. For more info contact Virginia Handmer on 6379 1345 Thurs - Sat, 6457 5010 on Mon-Wed or 6379 1338 after hours.

Arts Minister Peter Garrett has announced the 14 Australian books short–listed for the inaugural 2008 Prime Minister's Literary Awards. Ninety-one fiction and 103 non-fiction entries were entered into the inaugural awards. Short list for Fiction is Burning In by Mireille Juchau, El Dorado by Dorothy Porter, Jamaica: A novel by Malcolm Knox, Sorry by Gail Jones, The Complete Stories by David Malouf, The Widow and Her Hero by Tom Keneally and The Zookeeper's War by Steven Conte. Short list for Non-fiction is A History of Queensland by Raymond Evans, Cultural Amnesia: Notes in the Margin of My Time by Clive James, My Life as a Traitor by Zarah Ghahramani with Robert Hillman, Napoleon: The Path to Power, 1769–1799 Philip Dwyer Ochre and Rust: Artefacts and Encounters on Australian Frontiers by Philip Jones, Shakespeare's Wife by Germaine Greer and Vietnam: The Australian War by Paul Ham. Visit www.arts.gov.au/pmliteraryawards for more details. The Australian Government has introduced the Prime Minister's Literary Awards to recognise the major contribution of Australian literature to the nation's cultural and intellectual life.

Guess what? It has been snowing with thick huge flakes floating down and settling but soon to be melted by rain and a few glancing rays of sunlight making it a top of 0.5 degrees. But it is also the perfect excuse to mention American poet Wallace Stevens and his poem, first published in 1921, called The Snow Man. US Commentator and Professor of things poetic Jay Keyser describes it as the best short poem in the English language. At the very least hopefully it will fire the imagination and get you pondering the contradictory nature of snow, mind and landscape. What does snow make you think of?

The Snow Man by Wallace Stevens

One must have a mind of winter

To regard the frost and boughs

Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time

To behold the junipers shagged with ice,

The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think

Of any misery in the sound of the wind,

In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land

Full of the same wind

That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow,

And, nothing himself, beholds

Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

Meet Amber Glass, a sweet but slightly erratic Christian working mum. One day God challenges her to step up and share her faith with her friends, and Amber has never been more embarrassed in her life. Amidst a practical joking husband, two precocious children, a dog with a passion for vacuum cleaners, some painfully honest friends and her own obsession with chocolate – Amber experiences mistakes and monumental mayhem. Will Amber fulfil her newfound passion and successfully lead her friends to salvation? Or will she just have another chocolate biscuit and go shopping? Orange Christian Bookshop presents The Embarrassed Evangelist Book Launch and Missions Fair at the New Life City Church, Molong Road on Saturday night 23 August from 7pm. Meet local author Glenda Rouxel from Abundant Life Church in Blayney. There will also be stalls and activities including Samaritans Purse, TEAR Australia, the Christian Lending Library, Rhema FM and Scripture Union Family Mission. Enjoy live music featuring guest artists Jane Sanders and Geoff and Karen Pierce. Look out for the Tim Tams.

The Annual Peace Poetry Competition, held in conjunction with World Peace Day and sponsored by the Cowra Guardian is calling for entries but be quick – entries close on Friday 15 August. Winners will be notified by phone and invited to read their poems at the World Peace Day Ceremony on Tuesday 23 September. There are sections for Primary and Secondary School Students where entry is free and for the Open Section entry is $6. Winning poems will be added to the collection which is housed in special folders at the Cowra Library. A Book of Peace Poems has been printed, containing all prize winners for the first 10 years of the competition and is available from the World Peace Bell Association committee (cost $17 posted). Works must be on the theme of Peace. For entry forms and further information call 6342 2975 or PO Box 910 Cowra or call into Cowra Library.

The Arts Minister Peter Garrett will announce the 2008 Prime Minister's Literary Awards short list at the Mitchell Library in Sydney at 2pm on 6th August. The Minister says the 2008 short list contains an impressive selection of quality Australian works from both established and emerging writers, reflecting a great wealth of local literary talent. The chair of the fiction judging panel, Professor Peter Pierce and panel members, broadcaster Margaret Throsby and author John Marsden have praised the quality of the 91 fiction entries. The Australian Government has introduced the Prime Minister's Literary Awards to celebrate the major contribution of Australian literature to the nation's cultural and intellectual life. These prestigious awards offer a tax free prize of $100,000 for the two fiction and non-fiction works judged to be of the highest literary merit. To view the Prime Minister's Literary Awards short list after 2pm on the 6th August visit the Federal Government's arts website www.arts.gov.au/pmliteraryawards

Here is a writing exercise to try from time to time. This idea comes from Deb Westbury who hosted a successful workshop recently for beginner writers. She inspired everyone with her poetry, writer's notebooks and ongoing writing exercises. But a simple way to rediscover the love of words is to write a list of your favourite ones. Then read them and listen to how they sound. The words can reveal a lot about your personality too. Here are some of my favourites: luminous, breath, courage, sacre blu, croissant, lollygobbleblissbombs, aqua, latte, biscuit, dotty and elephant. As Deb says for a writer words are a way of being in the world. Something to think about.

Join in the Mulga Bill and Buckinbah Art Festival on 26 - 27 July at Yeoval. The annual Mulga Bill Festival celebrates the life of Australian icon, Banjo Paterson. Banjo spent the first seven years of his childhood in Yeoval and to this day the town's folk continue to retell Banjo Paterson tales and anecdotes. The festival is an entertaining weekend for all the family and includes the now famous Cumnock to Yeoval 24km bike ride, along with stalls, sheering, games, antique cars, tractors and engines, food stalls, damper/camp oven cooking competitions, poets in the park and more. There will be poets breakfast on both mornings. Come and paint a Waltzing Matilida tile, see art in action, ice carving, poets in the parlor and more. The inaugural Buckinbah Mulga Bill Art Festival will be launched, celebrating the town, the country, and the people. Free entry. Buses will run from Yeoval to Cumnock. At Yeoval Memorial Hall in Forbes Street. Contact Alf Cantrell on 02 6346 4478 or visit the website www.mulgabillfestival.com.au The event is assisted by grant from the Regional Arts NSW Country Arts Support Program(CASP) and Festivals Australia.