Sara Hardy Writes

- and Louise Abbéma loved Sarah Bernhardt. True! I'm especially interested in historical lesbian relationships between women artists and I've just discovered this one. Sarah Bernhardt (pictured above) was an internationally mega-famous French actress who specialised in tragic roles during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Known worldwide as 'the divine Sarah' she played female and (unusual for the time) male roles. These included Camille, Tosca, Joan of Arc, Cleopatra and an unforgettable Hamlet. Born in Paris in 1844 to a Dutch Jewish unmarried courtesan and a wealthy Catholic Frenchman, Bernhardt received a Catholic education and displayed 'star' qualities from a young age. Given her unconventional upbringing, there was no hesitation about allowing Sarah to display her talents on stage. Sarah met Louise in 1874 and the pair remained very close until Sarah's death in 1923 (- many other affairs notwithstanding). Here's a self portrait by L...

Michelle de Kretser and I became friends when I was a mature student at University of Melbourne back in the late 1980s. Michelle was my tutor and, perhaps because I was a mature student with a theatre background, she took a liking to me and I of course liked and admired her. This was about a decade before she began to win major prizes for her novels. A few days ago, Michelle was announced as the winner of the prestigious Stella Prize - named after Stella Miles Franklin, author of My Brilliant Career. Michelle de Kretser's prize-winning novel is called Theory and Practice - and it's a fabulous read. But what I really want to record here is Michelle's acceptance speech. Please read it in full. It is very important, to all of us. Hello everyone. Thank you all so much for being here. The 2025 Stella Prize does my work great honour, and I’m so happy to accept it. I wish I could join you in person to celebrate all the long and shortlisted writers. As that’s not possible, I’m reco...

  Born in England, Edna Walling was deeply influenced by the beauties of childhood walks through her adored Devonshire landscape, especially the diverse natural glories of Dartmoor. Such influences would inform her Australian garden designs ever after. Even so, Edna embraced Australia and the Australian natural landscape with all her heart and ingenuity, and the affect of that embrace is still with us today.  Here follows a snippet of Edna's musings on Autumn in Victoria from A Gardener's Log, first published in 1948.      'There is so much to tell that I hardly know where to start: with the Russian cranberry jam; with the fun I am having taking cuttings of everything in the garden (everything with a reasonable chance of striking); with the joy the medlars have been this autumn, and the Cornus kousa , a dogwood that has outdone the pink-flowering C. florida rubra in leaf coloration this year.      The mistress of Lynton Lee [Lorna Fielden ] said, ...

  It's official!  -  Lowick Films’ Sam Icklow ( While The Men Are Away, Apricot ) today announced the option of Sara Hardy’s acclaimed biography,  The Unusual Life of Edna Walling . The definitive portrait of one of Australia’s most celebrated landscape designers will be adapted for the screen by Icklow, who will also direct. Icklow says, “Edna Walling was not just a visionary gardener, but a trailblazer whose work speaks directly to the environmental and social conversations of today. Her story is one of resilience, creativity and self-discovery, and I’m thrilled to bring her legacy to life on screen for local and international audiences.” Walling was born in England in 1895 and grew up in Plymouth, Devon. In 1913, Walling emigrated with her family to New Zealand before settling in Melbourne, Australia, where she joined the first all-female class at the Burnley School of Horticulture. Graduating in 1917, Walling quickly established herself as one of Australia’s most...

By lucky chance I entered the National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne) last Friday to see this wonderful sculpture half 'wrapped' - just the top part peaking out. 'Is this wrapped art or Art as is?' I asked my friend, and we debated. The enormous object was fun and intriguing. We went on to view paintings of the 16th Century - and marvelled... Upon our return to the upper balcony we discovered that Dancing Pumpkin by Yayoi Kusama had been fully unwrapped and dusted! Glorious! I felt so privileged, in this difficult world, to experience such joy in this place of human-made ART. The full Yayoi Kusama exhibition will open on 15th December 2024 and close 21 April 2025. Enjoy! Born in Japan in 1929, Kusama is one of the world’s most important and recognised practitioners working today. Kusama is renowned globally for her singular and idiosyncratic use of pattern, colour and symbols to create immersive, thought-provoking and intensely personal works of art that transcend lang...

  To whom it may concern: I wish to say thank you to the woman who gathered my fallen partner, Lois, off the footpath and sat her on a bench in the vicinity of Racecourse Road. I wish to thank the tradie (tradesman, for non Ozzie's) who was passing and immediately brought his First Aid kit to help Lois - who was on her own, and whose face and forehead was bleeding profusely. I wish to thank said tradie for then taking Lois in his van to the Emergency Dept of Royal Melbourne Hospital. I wish to thank the social worker who tried to discover the name and address of Lois who has dementia and was very confused yet managed to state her DOB - from which said social worker did an amazing sleuthing job of detecting who Lois was. Meanwhile... I wish to thank Michael, the police officer who dealt with my frantic reporting of my lost partner (he was surprised to hear that she did not carry a mobile phone, no point, she doesn't understand how to use it) - and proceeded to stand-by to issue ...

There's a fabulous chance to view eight of the gardens at Edna Walling's Bickleigh Vale Village through the Open Gardens Victoria scheme. These opportunities do not come very often and literally thousands of people head to Mooroolbark to attend - which is why this year arrival times are being monitored to reduce footprint stress on the gardens (and daresay their owners!). You'll need to purchase your tickets well before the day. Bookings are limited so I suggest doing it right now! Here's the link, or if you don't trust links, search the Open Gardens Victoria website for what's on in October 2024. https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1252401  Here's some info from the Open Gardens Victoria website to get you started: We are thrilled to be opening eight gardens in Bickleigh Vale Village in Mooroolbark on October 12 and 13, in partnership with the Friends of Edna Walling at Bickleigh Vale Village. In the 1920s Edna Walling created an enchanted village for...

  I had the pleasure of receiving a lovely big book called 'The Untold Story of William Shum' who was the editor of Australian Home Beautiful magazine from 1926 to1946. It was his brilliance and guidance, his choices of content and journalists that guided a magazine-reading public towards the New and the Modern. His editorship invited readers to Embrace Change whilst offering all manner of fascinating How-To articles from building to gardening to sewing, cooking and furnishing plus info about the latest mod cons (electric toaster anyone?). It was William Shum who gave Edna Walling a chance to air her gardening, cottage building, and landscaping ideas - and, it must be said, encouraged her idiosyncratic writing style. The book is by Sue Walker, who happens to be one of William's grandchildren. It's a fascinating dip into Australian social and cultural history. Above: the front cover; and part of an Edna Walling article 'This is the House that I Built' (page 189)...

  What a fabulous evening we all had discussing our Edna Walling -  her life and work at State Library Victoria in the aptly named Conversation Quarter (16/4/2024). A warm and appreciative audience was there to enjoy our in-depth discussion interspersed with plenty of fun. To view the video please follow this link:   https://www.youtube.com/live/ HQlbrr_XFBA?si= FQGIDod2eY8oVIzt UPDATE:   This  talk will now go to air on   Big Ideas  on   ABC Radio Nationa l  on Tuesday 8 October at 8.05 pm.  You'll also be able to listen to the program on the Big Ideas program website from 5pm.  https://www.abc.net.au/listen/ programs/bigideas/how-edna- walling-changed-gardening- with-millie-ross/104327562 pics: Millie Ross (of ABC's Gardening Australia ) above left, and Trisha Dixon on the right. And me below!

  Enjoy a fascinating talk at the State Library of Victoria as we shine a light on the life and iconic work of Edna Walling hosted by expert horticulturalist  Millie Ross  (Gardening Australia) , in conversation with Edna Walling experts,  Sara Hardy  and  Trisha Dixon . When: 16 April 2024, 6:30pm–8:00pm, Conversation Quarter, State Library Victoria, Melbourne Free to listen onsite plus online live streaming Bookings required:   www.slv.vic.gov.au/whats-on/ life-and-work-edna-walling If you’ve walked through a garden with low stone walls, mossy boulders, meandering paths, self-seeding flowers and groves of silver birches, the design has likely been influenced by Edna Walling. At a time when most women were expected to be homemakers, Edna Walling was pioneering landscape architecture in Australia, designing enchanting gardens across the country for notable clients like Dame Nellie Melba, Dame Elizabeth Murdoch and Sir Frank Packer. Despite her pro...

  This image comes from a postcard printed in the UK circa 1910. The caption reads: Picturesque Devon, Bickleigh Vale, Nr Plymouth . When Edna Walling chose the name for her envisioned self-made village (though it was just two dwellings at the time, Sonning and The Barn) I think she was remembering a beloved place from childhood, called Bickleigh Vale. The reverse of the UK postcard declares: 'Bickleigh Vale is a favourite resort with the inhabitants of Plymouth, from which it is only situated a very short distance. If there is one season in the year in which the Vale is more picturesque than in another it is in the spring, when the delicate foliage of the ash still retains its freshness, and the earth beneath is literally carpeted with a brilliant growth of bluebells and anemones.' I reckon they are silver birch in that picture, one of Edna's oft used trees in her landscape designs.  Edna Walling spent her childhood in Plymouth, and each Sunday, she and her father would ...

Following on from my recent post, here are some more Edna Walling related treasures and pics that I've not shown anywhere before. Above shows Barbara Barnes, Edna's niece, holding up the signboard or 'shingle' that Edna made to advertise herself and her original garden contractor, Eric H Hammond (always referred to as Mr Hammond by Edna). The pic was taken at Canning Downs, Barbara's historic Queensland homestead. Barbara died a while ago and I'm not sure what happened to the shingle, but I do know that Barbara passed on a great deal of Walling's papers and photographs to the State Library of Victoria. I stayed with Barbara for a week during my research for The Unusual Life of Edna Walling, and had the privilege of viewing all this material first hand, and engaging in fabulous conversations with Barbara. She was wonderfully generous - and quite a character, as you can see!  I took these next pics during my recent stay at The Burrow at Wombat Bend (see previo...

  Festive freebie - Smashwords End of Year sale. Download your free copy of A SECRETIVE LIFE. Gift yourself or gift a friend via Smashwords - the bookshop for independent authors and publishers. It's easy, just login to gain your gift of a 5 star novel. 'I loved it' - Miriam Margolyes. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1101126 Sale ends 1st January 2024. And please post a review somewhere if you liked it! A SECRETIVE LIFE: Cecilia is unrepentant as she looks back over a queer life defined by lesbian love and dangerous adventure. She’s been through two world wars, enjoyed the decadence of Weimar Berlin (Gay Capital of the World) and lived to be Out & Proud. Now she’s cornered. Her bittersweet story captures the glittering LGBTQ+ underworld of the 20th century. 'A DELICIOUS READ' - Pamela Rabe.

  I recently returned from a brief holiday at a B&B called The Burrow at Wombat Bend, a wonderful mudbrick cottage set in a wildlife retreat at Dixon's Creek in the Yarra Valley, about an hour north-east of Melbourne. I have been meaning to go there for many, many years - since I'd published The Unusual Life of Edna Walling in fact, because during my research for that biography I had met Sue Forrester, the daughter of one of Edna's dear friends - and Wombat Bend is Sue's home and co-creation. 'The Burrow' is the B&B mudbrick cottage that overlooks a vast billabong surrounded by all manner of native trees and plants - and native wildlife, including wombats. This paradise was once a basic cow paddock and its creation echoes Edna Walling's magnificent self-made Bickleigh Vale Village in nearby Mooroolbark - also once a cow paddock. (See previous blogs re Walling's career as a landscape designer etc.) Sue and I had much to catch up on - and I wished ...