From believing that one really is a writer (even after having two books published) to realising the world rarely rewards us with the same respect as, say, for sports achievers, takes supreme confidence. To keep on writing against these odds one needs a community of writers, or at least one or two others who believe in you when you yourself ..read more

The following is an edited version of a letter signed by many Jewish writers 2 weeks after 7/10/2023 and published on social media. Bear in mind that this letter was written before the current conflagration in Gaza escalated to its current enormity as at 14 November 2023: ” We reject antisemitism in all its forms, including when it masquerades as ..read more

  Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities. (The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism adopted by more than 1,000 entities) The most useful—and for some ..read more

As a person of Jewish descent living in Australia, I have experienced racism in the form of anti-semitism all my life. It’s often subtle, like someone saying in my hearing that the Jews control Hollywood, monopolising the industry. It’s sometimes overt, like the time we were at a friend’s house for dinner and a guest said, quite casually and apropos ..read more

THE CASE FOR VOTING YES TO AN INDIGENOUS VOICW TO PARLIAMENT ..read more

This latest review is a wonderful tribute to the book, A Dangerous Daughter. It is written by poet and reviewer Magdalena Ball, whose latest publication, “Bobish”, a verse novel about her great-grandmother’s struggles as an immigrant, is a brilliant work of narration through poetry. Her online Journal Compulsive Reader reviews books by some of the hottest writers working today, exclusive author interviews, literary news and criticism. Compulsive Reader A Review of A Dangerous Daughter June 1, 2023 Reviewed by Magdalena Ball A Dangerous DaughterBy Dina DavisCilento PublishingMay 2021, Paperback ..read more

In the dark ages of the 1950s, I narrowly escaped death from an undiagnosed disease now known as the most lethal of all mental illnesses, anorexia nervosa, I was fifteen, exiled from my family, and blamed for my illness. It is tragic that in the so-called enlightened 21st century, a young Australian girl recently lost her life to this still ..read more

I am often asked why I chose to write “A Dangerous Daughter” as fiction rather than as a memoir. These words by Jayne Tuttle, from Lee Kofman’s blog for writers, perfectly express my own feelings about why I chose to write two books based on truth as fiction not fact, not even creative non-fiction. From “The Ecstatic Truth in Creative Non-fiction:A Guest Post by Jayne Tuttle” published in Lee Kofman’s Blog for Writers: “My books are based around significant episodes in my life, but I am less interested in that than the sensations and ideas and questions they raise. So I take the true story, an ..read more

The following is a shortened version of a review in the Australasian Journal of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Volume 39 issues 1&2. Review of A Dangerous Daughter by Bernadette Rosbrook (Dina Davis, Cilento, 2021) Hungry for Love and Understanding  A Dangerous Daughter (2021) is Dina Davis’ semi-autobiographical account of a young teenager’s struggle with anorexia nervosa in suburban middle-class Australia in the 1950s, and of the psychoanalytic treatment ..read more

I am honoured to be the subject of this month’s “author spotlight” in the newsletter of the NT Writers’ Centre, March 2023. Since arriving in Darwin in the late nineties I’ve been involved with its writers’ centre, and was elected to its Board five years ago. As the current Vice-President I am working to increase First Nations representation both on ..read more