beach picnic—
each cleansing raindrop
baptises the new year
Julie Thorndyke
Author: jthorndyke
A Stir of the Pudding
A String of Christmas Memories by the Tanka Huddle 2017
granny and me
stirring dried fruits
and brandy . . .
one nip for gran
one for the pud
Marilyn Humbert
at the mall
for photos with santa—
I yearn
for a star-filled night
and choirs of angels
Jan Foster
it’s forty degrees
and mum’s had enough
christmas
crackers snap
around the table
Carolyn Eldridge-Alfonzetti
christmas
meant rum and plum cake
childhood memory
of our annual trip
to Cochin bakery
Rugmini Venkatraman
christmas eve
we toss and turn
quiet . . .
mum fills the stockings
we pretend to sleep
Karen Lieversz
reindeer puppets
pranced on polystyrene snow
but the tug
on my heart-strings
was absolutely real
Julie Thorndyke
green icing
on the christmas cake
and a frill
make all the difference—
mum comes home this year
Laura Davis
sunshine and sleigh bells
holly and magpie song
carols under stars
the customs learned in childhood
swim united in my mind
Beverley George
broken nails
and roughened hands
massaged
by the sweet balm
of a christmas-ready house
Anne Benjamin
three-penny
and six-penny pieces
stored all year
polished up in time for us
to polish up the pud
Carmel Summers
[Copyright of each individual tanka remains with the poets.]
Just off Message
Congratulations to Interactive Press on their 20th year anniversary and anthology,
Just off Message!
Thank you to editor David Reiter for including some poetry of mine in this celebratory book.
As he writes on the IP website, it is important to remember that “independent publishing houses like IP are, and always will be, an essential part of the cultural landscape” offering opportunities to local and emerging writers.
I’m looking forward to reading the work of all the contributing writers.
Pansy and the Christmas Tree
Last January, I saw the email call for submissions from Christmas Press for their 2017 anthology, A Christmas Menagerie.
I spent several afternoons devising a story based on memories my mother had told me, about a Christmas she had on the family dairy farm at Federal in the 1930s when she was a girl.
Although I have made up the characters and the plot, there really was a cranky cow called Pansy who gave my mother a black eye when being milked.
All their cows had names. This photo isn’t Pansy, the cranky cow. When we were going through photos, sorting out names and places, Mum told me it was Anzac, a nice cow born on Anzac Day.
The surprise Christmas meal was also true, and I know that Mum and her family had sing-a-longs with friends for which my grandfather played the fiddle. They were Methodists, and music was essential to their lives.
We celebrate Christmas without her now, but I hope Mum would be pleased that a story she gave me so many elements for is now in print.
As I unlock the past, little by little, doorway by empty doorway . . .
The Hungry Chimera is an independent literary magazine that features short fiction, poetry and visual art.
Thank you to the magazine editors Afton and Stevie for accepting my short story “Waiting” — now published in Issue 3 .
This short fiction is in some ways an exploration of the classic tanka themes of longing and loss: but in prose, with an Australian setting and more story details sketched in.
I hope you enjoy reading it online (or in print)!
A Winter Ginko
It was a wabi-sabi sort of day last weekend, when I met with poetry friends for a garden ginko. We took some time to slow down, walk around a winter garden, and notice the textures of foliage, stone and wood.
Camellias, jonquils, and other rarer blooms we couldn’t name were there for the keen-eyed poet to discover.
In these moments of reflection, we may have also learnt something about ourselves.
stone tubs
that once held the weekly wash
now cradle spring bulbs
. . . each day I find
a new skill to master
© Julie Thorndyke
Nine Lives
Nine Lives: A Life in Ten Minutes Anthology is a collection of 148 short, nonfiction pieces written ten minutes at a time by 121 authors, (including me!) and collected by Life in 10 Minutes founder Valley Haggard and her co-editor, Sarah Allen-Short.
order information here
Interview with editors here
Short Story in The Moon Magazine
My short story “The Cave” has been published online at The Moon Magazine.
A bit of family rivalry, a bit of beach escapism . . . a menacing mermaid tale with a twist!
From the Attic . . .
In my case, the “attic” was the wonderful online repository from the National Library of Australia, TROVE. Many digitized local newspapers can be found there, listing social events like birthday parties, weddings and funerals.
Such an insight into the lives of long-gone relatives!
Thank you Christi Craig and Lisa Rivero for accepting my creative non-fiction piece, “Aunt Becker’s Secret” for this unique anthology.
I am looking forward to seeing the finished book, and also reading the stories other writers have discovered in their family attics.
How to buy the book? Information here http://www.hiddentimberbooks.com/family-stories-attic/
Toby’s Ashes
My short story for children, Toby’s Ashes, is now published in
The School Magazine Blast Off, March 2017 Issue No. 2.
Lovely illustrations by Marjorie Crosby-Fairall
Julie Anne Thorndyke 