Book Affair

CLOSING DOWN SALE

2011-12-01T13:02:00.001+11:00

ALL books 50% off marked price

Stories from emerging writiers

2010-10-18T20:14:00.005+11:00

You are invited to join us for our next Stories on a Sunday afternoon

Sunday November 7 at 4pm
at 161 Elgin Street, Carlton

for readings from emerging writers ...
Mick Grant, Susan Fleming and James Robertson

James Robertson is a singer, writer and performer who is passionate about the short story and all its different possibilities. He has studied acting and improvisational theatre and appeared in a number of productions around Melbourne, including Hay Fever and The Heidi Chronicles. He has sung in a variety of choirs and written and performed his own songs. He completed the Short Story unit of a Professional Writing and Editing Degree and has written articles for community newspapers. He is currently working on a collection of short stories and is excited about the form and all its possibilities. He is also a regular reader on Radio 3RPH.

Susan Fleming has been writing stories ever since she could first hold a pencil. Starting out with mystery stories while still at school, Susan kept her fellow students enthralled with adventures of ‘The Mysterious Five’, reading a chapter a week to the class over a period of months. An administrative career, marriage and raising two daughters to adulthood put a sizeable dent in Susan’s early writing aspirations, but several years ago, a four-year stint on Tamborine Mountain in SE Queensland reawakened her creative instincts and set the juices flowing again.
Since then, Susan has written a humorous, interactive book on the rainforests of Tamborine Mountain; written a weekly My Favourite Place series for the local newspaper; and had a number of freelance articles published. She is also a freelance editor, and is currently feverishly working on her first, full-length mystery novel.

Michael Grant is a resident of Melbourne who has a keen interest in the spoken word. He is involved in a number of community radio stations with his time being stretched between voice over and studio operations work. More recently he has narrated a children’s audio eBook for a Canadian online resource company whose stories are accessed by families around the globe. Mick is going to do a reading (monologue)from a play written by his brother, Susan will read from an anecdotal style travel book and James will share from his writings ...

A world of paper

2010-10-12T16:48:00.001+11:00

In Melbourne for one day only
a workshop to awaken creativity
using the unique medium of paper

Explore engaging new tools for the classroom.

Master puppeteer, Gary Friedman and Learning-Movement consultant & OT, Sharon Gelber, join forces to bring you an exhilarating experience into creativity and performance.

Activate your brain and tantalise your senses to think and perform at your peak ability.

This workshop:

Enlivens the Creative Arts and English syllabi
Enhances lateral thinking & ʻoutside the boxʼ problem-solving skills
Encourages originality, imagination and resourcefulness
Boosts confidence, motivation and self esteem
Stimulates improvisation skills and spontaneous performance
Facilitates non-judgemental listening skills
Develops team-building and leadership skills
Improves concentration and focus
Awakens eyes, ears and brain for optimal creativity
Teaches relaxation and de-stressing techniques

Who should attend this workshop?
Teachers – Primary, high school & university; university students, professionals, therapists & creatives.

Book now for this one-day Melbourne workshop
WHEN: Saturday 16 October 2010 from 10am to 5pm
WHERE: Carlton Neighbourhood Learning Centre, 20 Princes Street, Carlton North, VIC, 3054
COST: $150 (full day – inclusive)

Bookings essential at BOOK AFFAIR, 161 Elgin Street, Carlton
TEL: (03) 9347 3542 (credit cards accepted)

Creativity workshops: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDfgO-3vGE4
Primary school workshops:http://www.viddler.com/explore/puppetrynews/videos/5/

For further information on our workshops, go to <http://www.puppetrynews.com>.

story on the wall

2010-10-01T18:24:00.000+10:00

we now have our own Tom Civil ....

Tom is a community graphic designer and artist. Tom has worked as a graphic designer for many political, independent media and community organisations including 3CR 855AM and the 2006-10 Seeds of Dissent Calendars;The Big Issue; Voiceworks Magazine and Melbourne Indymedia. His stencil work has been featured in Stencil Graffiti Capital: Melbourne (book), the film Rash, as a feature artist in Melbourne Stencil Festival 2004/05/09 and London Cans Festival. Civil has exhibited in community art spaces, empty shows and on the street and run stencil making workshops in different communities and given talks on the political nature of street art.

See more of Tom's work here

the world we live in

2010-09-07T19:11:00.000+10:00

Now what the video ... what an inspiration ... the world we live in

spring has sprung ...

2010-09-06T19:51:00.000+10:00

Spring is here ... at last

Take the Guardian Spring in Literature Quiz

Folded book art workshop

2010-08-19T20:14:00.000+10:00

Learn how to create delightfully whimsical artifacts and discover the pleasure of the "folding circle". In this workshop you will have the opportunity to create up to 3 pieces of folded book art that you can take home with you.

Saturday 18 September 11:00 am to 1:00 pm

At Book Affair – 287 Smith Street Fitzroy

Phone 9347 3542 to reserve your place

Find out more ...

Mandala Colour Workshop with Karen Scott

2010-07-12T19:01:00.001+10:00

Mandala Colour Workshop with Karen Scott

Friday 27 August 6:00 to 9: 00 pm

At Book Affair – 287 Smith Street Fitzroy

Phone 9347 3542 to reserve your place

Find out more ...

ballerinas ...

2010-06-18T13:46:00.000+10:00

new artists book in our collection

2010-05-28T19:44:00.002+10:00

We are delighted to have added Sam Winston's book A Dictionary Story to our growing collection of artists' books ...

http://www.samwinston.com/Work/Dictionary-story-print

Sam draws upon his childhood dyslexia to produce extraordinarylinguistic images

Stories on a Sunday afternoon ...

2010-05-27T19:20:00.001+10:00

Our story series is expanding with Stories on a Sunday afternoon ... join us on

Sunday June 13 at 4pm at 161 Elgin Street, Carlton

with Melbourne author, poet, storyteller, journalist, playwright and artist Barry Dickens who will be our inaugural Sunday afternoon story teller ... .

We promise the afternoon will be a delightfully entertaining one!

The portrait of Barry is by Australian artist Jim Van Geet.
(Source: http://www.jimvangeet.com/)

The Chosen Ones

2010-05-21T17:28:00.005+10:00

The Chosen Ones are specially chosen books ...

This month's chooser is Joe Dolce ... and here are Joe's Chosen Ones and his notes on why he chose them ...

Imperium by Robert Harris

Harris wrote one of my other favourite reads, Pompeii, which follows the life of an aqueduct engineer in ancient Rome leading to the eruption of Vesuvius. That book was filled with politics, corruption and beautiful detail and so damn exciting, I have to re-read it periodically to get the hit again. This one is almost as good. Again set in old Rome, it traces the rise of Cicero, from stuttering apprentice to master orator. But don’t let any imagined classical stuffiness of the theme scare you – this is a crackin’ legal thriller equal to anything you have seen. Cicero defends an honest Sicilian peasant against one of the strongest lawyers in the country, who also happens to have the backing of the ancient Sicilian mafia.

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris

Another Harris. No relation. I saw this paperback in the airport and noticed the blurb by Stephen King on the back, ‘best popular novel since The Godfather.’ That was in the days before King put his name to toilet paper so I was impressed and bought it on faith alone. Mind-boggling and terrifying story of the serial killer, Francis ‘The Tooth Fairy’ Dolarhyde, and the detective, Will Graham, who is pitted against him – with the introduction and help, of course, of now the world’s most infamous psycho-genius, Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Lecter has a minor role in this story compared to later books but Red Dragon is the most memorable novel of this series, containing more nuance and detail than any of the films. A masterpiece of the genre.

The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis

“The Queen’s Gambit is sheer entertainment. It is a book I reread every few years – for the pure pleasure and skill of it.” Michael Ondaatje

Walter Tevis wrote The Hustler and The Man Who Fell To Earth. I always thought there were two books that couldn’t be made into movies with present day film technology: Perfume by Patrick Süskind, which conjures the world of fragrance, and The Queen’s Gambit, which evokes the richly cerebral and infinite landscapes of the chess mind. Hollywood attempted a movie of Perfume which failed dismally. A movie was also planned from this book with directors such as Michael Apted and Bernardo Bertolucci on board. Even Heath Ledger had planned to make his directorial debut with the screenplay. But the wheels, so far, have always fallen off any attempts. It’s a tough one. I like books like this that stake out an inviolate territory all their own. Like untranslatable poems. A book that only works as a book. It is not necessary to play chess to enjoy this absolutely thrilling read about the young tranquilizer-addicted orphan girl, protagonist Beth Harmon, who learns chess from the janitor of a girl’s home and rises to become the first woman to challenge for the World Chess Championship in Russia.

The Collected Poems of Cavafy translated by Rae Dalven

One of the most influential poetry books I have ever read. Ms Dalven’s translations are, in my opinion, the most evocative of the unique almost post-sexual and pagan world Cavafy summons for us. Cavafy wrote maybe 20 poems a year, sent advance copies out to friends and the ones they liked, he published – the rest he destroyed. Writers like Cavafy who produce a small but unforgettable body of work like this single volume demonstrate that it is not necessary to be prolific, only to strike the bell squarely. The resonance of a single note can affect your entire life.

The Ballad of Siddy Church by Lin Van Hek

This beautifully written and endearing novel will stay with you a very long time. It conjures up an Australian past that has all but disappeared. Based in part on Lin’s recollections of her own childhood, but now transformed into a poetic present, it evokes the very real dramas of very real people. From the derringer-carrying grandmother, Siddy Church, outback publican – to creepy Mr Mott, the peeping tom lurking outside the protagonist’s window – to German-Jewish Anna Wesoloski’s humble but heroic survival in Auschwitz and subsequent voyage to Australia, this is a glorious spinning wheel of storytelling.

story on a postcard ...

2010-05-13T18:52:00.002+10:00

Blind Date by Kirill K

Imagine This by Erika Duan

Housework by Gwendoline Hynes

Thank You by Amanda Houston

The Adventures of a Drop of Water by Tyler Arnold

a little something yummy ...

2010-04-25T12:40:00.005+10:00

A good book is always better with a little something yummy on the side ...

we now have our Jane Austen Collection - a selection of tarts, biscuits and cakes from the Rectory of Basingstoke, ca 1700.

... and Pillow Talk - handmade chocolates nestled in boxes made from old book pages

Welcome

2010-04-18T17:03:00.007+10:00

Welcome to the ongoing Book Affair story ...

After a year of upheaval, where we relocated after a fire in January 2009, we have finally settled in our beautiful new home at 161 Elgin Street, Carlton. Not only that, we have also opened a second shop at 287 Smith Street in Fitzroy, where we plan to develop a Centre for Book Arts.

Stories you can eat

Last week we celebrated the International Edible Book Festival with an impromptu participation of our own.

We look forward to your participation at this event next year with an edible book of your own.