The Alice Literary Award was the inspiration for a presentation at The End Room of the Brisbane Square Library. While a little late starting, the panel session was most interesting. Laurel Daniels set the tone with readings from the works of each of the panel members, followed by a details ‘bio’ of their achievements. As well, she presented statistics on the low recognition of women writers in a range of awards.
Laurel’s presentation was delightful and enlightening as she managed the three speakers giving them ample time to deliver their stories and thoughts on the value of female specific writing awards.
Interestingly Marilyn explained that because she wrote about the violence of the days of the mythical King Arthur, she has had negative comments, suggesting that it was unsavoury for a woman to write such material. Her work was not acceptable by Australian publishers, and so all her work has been published in the UK. Despite being well recognised for her many works in the UK, her work has not once been reviewed in Australia. Can we change that?
The Courier Mail did this article about her in 2013. Click here. http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/brisbane-mk-hume-writer-revisits-camelot/story-fnihsrf2-1226660567011
