Big news this month: Gail Dines, author of Pornland, will visit Sydney and Melbourne in May as a special guest of the Sydney Writers’ Festival and The Wheeler Centre. Gail will take part in a number of events at both the SWF and TWC, as well as other independent events. Keep an eye on the Spinifex website for more info or check the SWF program for festival events.

NEW RELEASES eBooks remain at the forefront in 2011 and in June, Spinifex will re-release five classic feminist texts as eBooks. With Australia Council for the Arts funding, these classics will become available for a whole new generation in a whole new format, making these limited availability books more readily accessible. Says Spinifex Director, Susan Hawthorne, ‘We’re hoping to reach out to a new readership—younger readers who may not have heard of some of these titles, as well, of course, as making them available all over again.’

EVENTS Kathleen Barry is busy in New York City at the moment. To hear her speak about war and masculinity and her fascinating, Unmaking War, Remaking Men, visit http://www.kathleenbarry.net/events.htm
Thurs April 7, 2-3.45pm
Challenging the masculinity of war: women soldiers and remaking men
A conversation with Helen Benedict, Professor, Columbia University.
John Jay University, 445 West 59th Street, Multipurpose Room 2200, North Hall, NYC
Fri April 8, 10am-12noon
Class lecture open to public: Intro to Women's Studies
Pace University, 1 Pace Plaza, Room 523w. NYC
Fri April 8, 7pm
Book talk and signing – Unmaking War, Remaking Men
Bluestockings Bookstore, 172 Allen Street, NYC between Stanton and Rivington

Melinda Tankard-Reist, editor extraordinaire of Getting Real (and co-editor of forthcoming Big Porn Inc) has a host of events in April and May all around Australia. For more info go to www. melindatankardreist.com/
Friday April 8
Generation Next Teen Mental Health Seminar, Canberra, Playhouse Theatre
Friday April 29
Right to Childhood Conference, Wesley Centre, Sydney

Hear Dr Meagan Tyler speaking on porn, Wednesday April 13. Dr Tyler is a contributor to Big Porn Inc, a forthcoming Spinifex title. This event is a free event and no bookings required: Dexter’s Café/Bar 123 Queens Pde Clifton Hill, 6-8.30pm.

The annual Riverina Poetry Caper is on over the Easter long weekend (April 22-26) at the Palace Hotel, Ardlethan. Susan Hawthorne is one of the featured poets and will host a dinner talk, The Poetry of Language and a workshop, Writing the Landscape. Other poets attending the festival include Sandra Thibedeax, Chris Mansell, David Gilbey, Ken Smeaton and Derek Motion. For more details contact Robert on 02 6978 2005

NEWS WRAP Susan Hawthorne’s Cow was launched in Melbourne in March at Collected Works. It was a wonderful night and you can read the fabulous launch poem by berni janssen at the Spinifex blog. Susan also received some fantastic media attention last month. Hear this interview with Susan on 3CR Published or Not. She also featured on Triple R’s Aural Text, and the Cairns Weekend Post did a feature story on Susan: '[Cow] cannot conceal Susan's sharp intelligence and it is this blending of emotion, lyricism and historical reference that makes the collection an intriguing one.'

Spinifex director and author Renate Klein featured on SBS Insight last month. The panel discussion looked at the challenges, emotions and ethics of surrogacy. Watch the program here.

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