Author Archives: Tina

Old Brain stuff

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Tina

Am reading Zizz! The life and art of Len Lye, in his own words and found this great quote: “When I’m in the mood to draw, I cultivate a vacuous, seaweed-pod state of kelp in my skull. Attached to a pencil, … Continue reading →

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Eileen Myles

Posted on October 2, 2015 by Tina

I’ve just discovered this wonderful American poet, Eileen Myles: WHAT TREE AM I WAITING That whole part of the world where I won’t go any- more that whole separation that I won’t feel high in this house in this hemisphere … Continue reading →

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Wonderful ceramics

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Tina

While in Wellington recently I visited an exhibition of Bronwynne Cornish’s work. It was brilliant to see these pieces ‘in the flesh’ – and even to take photographs. 

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Landfall review of TCP

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Tina

A wonderful review of my novel The Children’s Pond has just gone onto Landfall Review Online http://www.landfallreview.com David Herkt comments: Shaw is always more than she seems as a novelist, going the extra distance. An attentive reader will find the novel filled … Continue reading →

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On creativity

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Tina

Some pertinent comments from Kevin Ashton, author of How to Fly a Horse: The secret history of creation, invention, and discovery: “The people who are truly passionate, truly engaged and incredibly persistent and take lots of small steps by showing up … Continue reading →

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Where ideas come from?

Posted on February 1, 2015 by Tina

Writerly thoughts from Pulitzer Prize winning poet Mark Strand who died in November 2014:  “One of the amazing things about what I do is you don’t know when you’re going to be hit with an idea, you don’t know where … Continue reading →

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Good writing

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Tina

One of the many wonderful things Donna Tartt does in her writing (see The Goldfinch) is use descriptive ‘lists’ … this is a technique that really adds depth and interest to her writing: “What I somehow hadn’t expected was a … Continue reading →

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‘What are the biggest lessons you’ve learnt from your failures?’

Posted on November 13, 2014 by Tina

Failure is something many writers come up against time and again, so I was interested to read this response from young Australian artist Gemma Jones: “That a knock-back stings, but it doesn’t really injure you. That I sometimes live in … Continue reading →

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Finally, a positive article on publishing

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Tina

From The Economist, a marvellous essay on books and publishing. Here are a few quotes: ‘… to see technology purely as a threat to books risks missing a key point. Books are not just “tree flakes encased in dead cow”, … Continue reading →

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Latest review

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Tina

Neat review of The Children’s Pond by Karen Chisholm on the AustCrimeFiction blog: www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-childrens-pond-tina-shaw

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