Last weekend, I had a timely break from ‘real life’. I packed a small bag of clothes and a laptop and drove south. The journey was surreal; I was listening to an audiobook of Haruki Murakami’s 1Q84, and the landscape kept changing; from sterile housing estates to parched bush and finally, forests filled with a great glut of lilies. In the first chapter of 1Q84, one of the characters says:

‘…you’re about to do something out of the ordinary… and after you do something like that, the everyday look of things might seem to change a little. Things may look different to you than they did before.’

This passage resonated with me; I could already feel my reality shifting, and, indeed, I have come home with a different perspective. I feel lighter, and fuller, all at once.

I really enjoyed being in the company of literary greatness: Amanda Curtin, Susan Midalia, Dawn Barker, Deborah Burrows and Lynne Leonhardt. I’d like to send out a big public thank-you to Caroline Wood, our lovely host . I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to access the collective wisdom of such experienced authors. There was plenty of laughter too!