Sara Hardy Writes

Happy International Women's Day for March 8th. We absolutely must celebrate half the human race - however that half is not exactly getting its equal share, even now, according to the UN. The United Nations presented its overview this week and it shows a sobering lack of progress, indeed we’re going backwards: “The review of women’s rights shows that despite some progress, no country has achieved gender equality”, said UN Women’s Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. “Only half is an equal share and only equal is enough”, she stressed. Here are the major points: ·          *   Over the past 20 years, progress on women’s access to paid work has ground to a halt as they continue to shoulder the bulk of unpaid care and domestic work – less than two thirds between the ages of 25-54 are in the labour force. ·        *     Nearly one-in-five women have faced violence from an intimate partner in the past year, fue...

British author Diana Souhami is one of my favourite writers. She's witty, sharp and wry as she twists her biographical scalpel through the lives of lesbian luminaries such as Radclyffe Hall, Una Troubridge, Natalie Barney, Violet Trufusis et al. Now she has written a book called No Modernism Without Lesbians - which is quite a broad statement! The publisher is Head of Zeus. Publication date is April 2nd. Souhami quipped upon announcing this date that perhaps publishers avoid April 1st! Here's the publishers blurb: The extraordinary story of how a singular group of women in a pivotal time and place – Paris - Between the Wars – fostered the birth of the Modernist movement. Sylvia Beach, Bryher, Natalie Barney, and Gertrude Stein. A trailblazing publisher; a patron of artists; a society hostess; a groundbreaking writer. They were all women who loved women. They rejected the patriarchy and made lives of their own – forming a community around them in Paris. Each of these ...

As the fires rampage across Australia, all good Ozzies are chipping in. There are numerous funds to contribute to - and money rather than goods is what is needed now. My choice of fund was Bushfire Appeals run by Bendigo Bank, Victoria.* This recommendation comes via Virginia Trioli's Mornings program on ABC Radio, which is giving regular, informed updates. (Beware, there are scams out there.) Meanwhile, Authors, Artists and their associates are contributing 'in-kind' (because hey, artists don't earn much) via Twitter at #AuthorsForFireys. I have not 'embraced' Twitter as yet, but for those who enjoy that medium there are offers galore to the highest bidders. Rare books, feedback on manuscripts, signed copies given personally over coffee, original book illustrations - and a great deal more. Call me biased, but I am impressed with my Literary Agent, Martin Shaw's generous egalitarian offer which eschews bidding altogether - he offers you feedback on your sy...

To welcome the new year I celebrate the artistry of two women: film maker Celine Sciamma and author Bernadine Evaristo - and their recent creations. Celine Sciamma has created a wonderful, brilliant film called Portrait of a Lady on Fire featuring Adele Haenel and Noemie Merlant (as seen above) in the lead roles. I love this film so much I don't want to even describe it - simply recommend it! - and leave it to Sciamma to explain. She says the film is about reclaiming the female [historical, lesbian] narrative 'the goal ... was really to give back to these women their hearts, their bodies and their minds.' The film   moves very slowly and lushly, and cleverly, and the end is to be savoured, and savoured. Bernardine Evaristo's co-Booker Prize winning novel  Girl, Woman, Other is equally wonderful and delightfully challenging to the reader in a multi-layered playful thoughtful way. Evaristo is an author I did not know, but now must read her seven or so previous novel...

Happy? Yes, yes, let's be happy, on whichever side of the equator we're on, freezing or boiling/burning (Mother Nature desperately trying to tell us something)... But let's take a break from all the difficult things and find some together-ness and cheer. Some joyful harmony - however and whatever feels comfortable and best for you. Let's raise our glass to that. I was going to have a bit of a rant about the fact that the Australian government has eliminated the word 'Arts' from its ministerial departments. The Arts in now embedded (hidden) somewhere inside the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications. The Arts, that thing that creates far more jobs, wealth and attendance numbers - and sense of Culture, here and overseas - than our beloved Sport. Its 'reassignment' feels like the beginning of an episode of Yes, Prime Minister, but unfortunately the farce is all too real. I will desist from saying more - but ...

L Ellis & S Hardy performing in  Radclyffe , 1987. * I went to a marvelous party,  I must say the fun was intense, We all had to do,  What the people we knew Would be doing a hundred years hence. We talked about growing old gracefully And Elsie who's seventy-four Said, A, it's a question of being sincere, And B, if you're supple you've nothing to fear. Then she swung upside down from a glass chandelier, I couldn't have liked it more.                                                       (lyrics: Noel Coward) I went to the marvelous and  fabulous  Coming Back Out Salon  presented by All The Queens Men in celebration of LGBTI+ elders. It was held on Saturday 9 November at Melbourne’s luscious Mural Hall (suitably Art Deco) and there was a generous high-class mix of entertainment - not least world famous cellist Y...

Edna Walling is very much in the air - or should I say in the garden, her spirit anyway. Well over 3000 people visited Bickleigh Vale Village earlier this month during the Open Gardens Victoria day. I was there. Eight gardens were open. It was stunningly beautiful. I've been asked to give a talk on this wonderful woman, details below. (p.s. Still no news on the novel/publisher front, fingers crossed, nails terribly bitten.) AUTHOR TALK Edna Walling The Woman Who Grew A Village Edna Walling (1895-1973) walks across a cow paddock and has a vision… “I shall build a village here,” she said. And over time, that is exactly what she did. Join author Sara Hardy as she explores the journey that led Edna Walling to create a village on a hill in Mooroolbark. Bickleigh Vale Village brought together Edna Walling’s ideals and ideas about design, nature and community. It is her living legacy, an oasis of beautiful thinking. The...