A book launch for The Long Way Home - by Jo Bailey with Ronnie Sabin will be held in these locations tomorrow Friday 12 March: Meet the authors at the front of Jayes Gallery and Cafe from 10am - 12 noon, 31 - 33 Gidley Street, Molong or Boomers' Bookshop, City Centre, Orange 2pm - 4pm. The book is promoted as the story of Fairbridge Farm School that needs to be told. "At last a balanced account of life at Fairbridge through the eyes of Ronnie Sabin, who for six years in the 1950s called Fairbridge Farm School at Molong home. Often hilarious, sometimes heart-wrenching, The Long Way Home adds a positive perspective to the Child Migrant Scheme debate. It pays tribute to Fairbridge and details Ronnie's delight as finally being reunited with his family in England after 55 years." It retails for $29.95

A couple of great opportunities to support performing artists and have a go yourself. So come on and get involved:

Wed 3 March from 6.30pm Wattle Foyer Soiree - Live Mic and Artists Networking Opportunity Come along and make the Soiree whatever you like...

Thursday 11 & Friday 12 March 8pm No Planet B - contemporary dance by emerging choreographer Alison Plevey with 8 young Bathurst dancers Tickets only $8/$12.00

Sat 13 March 7.30pm for 8pm Cabaret Kite 'Curiouser & Curiouser - a mad tea party..' Tickets $12 ( BMEC members) and $15 Hosted by Queen of Hearts - Kate Smith

To book your place at any of these great events contact BMEC Box office 6333 6161

Always wanted to write? Don¹t know how to get started? Or what to write about? Need a refresher? A change of direction? A day out with words? Whether you are an aspiring writer or an old hand take some Time to Write: a program of two workshops with exercises to get you thinking, remembering, imagining and writing; hints on developing work and other challenges; plus some discussion of future needs and projects. Time to Write will be facilitated by published writer Lizz Murphy on Thursday February 11 and Thursday February 25 at Boorowa Ex-Services Club on the Dining Room, Pudman Street, Boorowa, 10.00 am-3.30 pm. BYO lunch or lunch to share. Bookings essential. Please phone Lizz Murphy on 6227 4393. Cost is a total of $30 (or $20 unwaged, Boorowa Book Club and ACTWC members) for both workshops - payable on first day. Or book for one workshop only: $25 ($15 unwaged and Boorowa Book Club and ACTWC members). Lizz Murphy lives in Binalong and has published ten books including five poetry collections, and five anthologies or community publications. In 2006 and 2007 she travelled to Calcutta as part of an Australia-India Poetry Exchange. The Time to Write workshops are supported by the ACT Writers Centre, Boorowa Book Club and Boorowa Ex-Services Club.

Celebrate Valentine's Day with world-renowned romance writer, Valarie Parv, as she reveals some of the secrets of writing a romance novel. With 25 million copies of her books sold internationally, it's no wonder Valerie Parv is known as Australia's queen of romance. Then, following a booksigning and refreshments, enjoy a special screening of the Australian film Paperback Hero (1999), starring Hugh Jackman and Claudia Karvan. Imagine Hugh Jackman as Jack Willis, a handsome roadtrain driver with a secret - he has just become a top-selling romance novelist. But being a 'man's man', he needs a name, a woman's name - and he chooses that of his best friend, Ruby Vale. Cost: $10 (refreshments included) National Library of Australia, Theatre on Friday 12 February at 5pm. Bookings: 02 6262 1271 or bookings@nla.gov.au

You may have heard of slow food, now it's time to learn about slow gardening during a special event with author – photographer Trisha Dixon on Friday 5 February at Borrodell on the Mount during Slow Summer celebrations.

Trisha will be the guest speaker at lunch from 12pm supported by Orange City Council and the Central West Writers' Centre. Tickets are $35 and include lunch and a glass of wine on arrival. For bookings call Orange City Council on 6393 8170 or purchase your ticket from Orange City Library.

The slow gardening concept is simply like the slow food one - as life gets crazier and busier, the garden needs to be a place of solace and relaxation, not another 'chore' to be done on the run and ticked off the list....and who doesn't like the sound of that? Come along to learn more over a lazy Summer lunch.....

American immigrant to Australia, Shady Cosgrove, undertook a pilgrimage across American to Graceland for the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death in the hope of rediscovering her homeland. Shady will share with us the story of this journey, why she sang Elvis songs at cities and towns along the way, and then how she came to write the memoir She Played Elvis. A moving, witty and original meditation on the idea of pilgrimage, family, home and loss, and a classic road story and a journey of self-discovery set to an Elvis soundtrack; a story told with a clear-eyed, intelligent, unforgettable grace.

Shady teaches creative writing at the University of Wollongong. Her work has appeared in Best Australian Stories 2006, Antipodes, Southerly and Overland.

You are invited to meet Shady at Parkes Library, Bogan Street, Parkes, located behind the Post Office ph: 6861 2309 on Friday 8 January 2010 at 2pm. This is free event and includes afternoon tea

Drum roll.........Sarah Taylor, a 59-year-old retiree from Newcastle, threw her inhibitions to the wind and covered all the taboo subjects to win this year's Slam at the Opera House. Her frank insights about how the female body lets you down as you get older shocked the crowd, but the judges responded with a top score. It was a fantastic night with more than 280 people packed into the SOH Studio venue. Co-hosts Miles Merrill and ABC Radio's Simon Marnie did a great job and Simon personally thanked libraries and the State Library for backing such a great program. Congrats to all the contestants in the regional heats and final.

This day is aimed at the professional development of regionally-based writers, poets, critics, publishers, storytellers, songwriters performers, artists, family history groups, library staff, community groups and anyone interested in exploring their options for writing, publishing, marketing, performing and networking in regional areas and beyond. Join those with similar interests to discuss working across distance and isolation, storytelling, crossing the digital divide and writing for young people. The cost of the workshop is $25 including morning tea and lunch. Places are limited so please register before Tuesday 1 December. From 9.30am to 4.45pm on Thursday 3 December at Macquarie Regional Library, cnr Talbragar and Macquarie Sts, Dubbo. For further information please contact Kerry Ellen at Orana Arts: Phone 02 6817 8705, Email kellen@oranaarts.com

The Armidale Playhouse Inc invites you to submit short stories and/or play scripts to be considered for its 2010 season of "Favourite Shorts". This annual event is now into its 4th year bringing the works of both published and unpublished Australian writers to the stage using directors and actors from the Armidale district. Each week of the two week season of "Favourite Shorts" has a different programme. This year they squeezed 36 actors into eleven plays with nine directors. All of the actors, directors, lighting and stage crew are amateurs, in that they are not paid for their time and expertise however many do have formal qualifications or are working towards them. The Armidale Playhouse Inc will not be providing performance payments to successful writers however they do offer a free double pass to those who wish to travel to Armidale to see a performance of their short story or play. After each performance the audience are requested to select their favourite item and after the final performance the favourite for that week is announced in a short informal presentation. All successful writers will receive their own pair of "Favourite Shorts" and a participation certificate. They request permission from all successful writers to film the performance of their short story or play. An Armidale-based professional production unit will be filming performances with DVDs available for sale a few weeks after performances conclude. Submissions of play scripts and short stories up to 30 minute duration* can be sent via email to scripts@armidaleplayhouse.org.au or to Favourite Shorts 2010, Armidale Playhouse Inc, PO Box 368, ARMIDALE NSW 2350 by Friday 18 December 2009.

*To estimate the duration of your short story or play script it's about 10 minutes per 1000 words.

Join in talks by author Libby Gleeson and local illustrator Freya Blackwood when they tell school children about their latest book Clancy & Millie and the Very Fine House. The book is published by Little Hare Books and was launched just this month. It is about a little boy called Clancy who has moved to a new house that is huge and unfamiliar. He is missing his old house terribly - the new house is much too big and much too lonely. How will he ever make it his home? As despair takes hold Clancy hears a small voice. Soon, Clancy with the help of his new friend Millie is building towers to the sky and trains to the street outside, and together they build the home that Clancy thought he had lost forever. Libby Gleeson and Freya Blackwood will be speaking at Orange City Library on Friday 30 October at these times: 9.30am – 10.30am; 11.30am – 12.30pm; 1.30pm – 2.30pm. Come along and sit in on one of the talks by this award-winning team. The event is supported by Boomers Bookshop & ABC Centre. They will also be siging books on Saturday morning (1st Nov) at the bookstore from 11am.