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Lefa

@lefasn.bsky.social
2K followers 1.3K following 434 posts

Writer, creative producer, mobile-bookshop owner, tea addict, feminist, repping disability pride. Naarm (Melbourne), Australia. #MECFS

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Reposted by Lefa
El Gibbs @bluntshovels.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
here is the full survey results from CYDA about the proposed Thriving Kids. CN suicide, distress cyda.org.au/thriving-kids/
cyda.org.au
Thriving Kids
Our national survey reveals community concerns about the government's Thriving Kids supports program. Read the submission and survey factsheet.
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Penny Tangey @pennytangey.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
I am very pleased to hear this. I will be writing and encouraging others to as well.
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Penny Tangey @pennytangey.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Albanese on emission targets of 62 - 70% by 2035: "We think we have a sweet spot." The sweet spot:
"This is Fine" meme. Dog sits on chair with cup on table in front of them. Surrounded by flames.
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Ellie Marney @elliemarney.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Would be really funny if Kimmel and Colbert et al. decided to broadcast their shows from outside the USA like some kind of pirate network accessible with VPN - I could see it taking off, tbh
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Sophie Black @sophieblackwords.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
Must read piece here from @nickfeik.bsky.social www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/16/m...
crikey.com.au
Who killed Meanjin?
And why won’t Melbourne University Publishing engage with efforts to save it?
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Purplepingers ☭ @purplepingers.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
CMAT - euro-country
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Damon Young @damonyoung.com.au · 08/09/2025
What exactly happened to Meanjin? And why in this manner? Some excellent observations (and questions) from @catrionamp.bsky.social over on @crikey.com.au: www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/08/m...
The decision to shut Meanjin shows a stunning lack of commitment to Christensen's vision of a vibrant local intellectual culture. To insist that it's just a rote financial decision belittles this history. And if it was just about the numbers, why wait until 2025? The horizon for literary funding has just brightened somewhat with the launch of Writing Australia. Does financial strife preclude closing the journal with some ceremony or even a little consultation with those who care about it?
Usually when a cultural organisation experiences financial hardship, there's a call for donations, or a series of negotiations with other parties, or a weary effort to restructure. Quarterly periodicals become biannual; print publications go online. Were there really no other options for Meanjin? Are financial considerations going to guide the editorial program of the heavily subsidised MUP going forward?
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Claire G. Coleman @clairegcoleman.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
I have $5 that says Thomas Sewell, the Neo Nazi will escape jail time again. There are Indigenous kids in jail in Australia for stealing biscuits but a violent Neo Nazi who has had multiple assault charges against him still walks the streets.
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Jessie L @jessielilley.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
A thread on the impact of seemingly nonsense, tabloid media narratives. Many of you will have seen the 2018 Ch9 A Current Affair footage painting Dezi Freeman and his family as supposedly peaceful normal folk having to deal with neighbours from hell. Typical ACA fodder. 1/6
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Osman Faruqi @osmanfaruqi.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
Everything the pro-Israel media think the pro-Palestine movement is (racist, extremist, building up violent hate) is actually happening with the anti-migrant “March for Australia” but with a fraction of the outrage.
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El Gibbs @bluntshovels.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
Disabled kids, excluded by design. Me in 2023. Everything old is new again www.bluntshovels.au/disabled-kid...
bluntshovels.au
Disabled kids excluded by design
The wellbeing of children is often invoked by a variety of groups. But when it comes to disabled kids, the conversation becomes very different.
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El Gibbs @bluntshovels.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
no disabled peoples' representatives at the roundtable last week, just those that make money from our commodification. nothing about us, without us www.croakey.org/detailing-th...
croakey.org
Detailing the 48 participants at the Health, Disability and Ageing Economic Reform Roundtable
Regular readers will know that Croakey has been trying for some time to establish who was invited to the Health,
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El Gibbs @bluntshovels.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
Minister Butler is giving a major speech about the NDIS tomorrow at the NPC. Hmm, I wonder how many disability representatives have been able to get a seat? How many disabled people? Hint - very very few we are on the goddamn menu npc.org.au/events/the-h...
npc.org.au
The Hon. Mark Butler MP
August 20, 2025 @ 11:30 am - 1:30 pm - The Hon. Mark Butler MP, Minister for Disability & the National Disability Insurance Scheme and Minister for Health and Ageing, will address the National Press C...
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Claire G. Coleman @clairegcoleman.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Solidarity with Randa Abdel-Fattah I will not be silenced and neither will Randa while I have legs to stand Pro-Israel groups have attacked me for years. The Bendigo Writers Festival is a turning point. www.deepcutnews.com/p/pro-israel...
deepcutnews.com
Pro-Israel groups have attacked me for years. The Bendigo Writers Festival is a turning point.
Randa Abdel-Fattah writes of her experience as a target of the pro-Israel lobby
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Royce Kurmelovs @roycerk2.bsky.social · 17/08/2025
Just don't ask what's up with University of Melbourne's relationship to the fossil fuel industry, though.
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Nick Evershed!? @nickevershed.bsky.social · 17/08/2025
The demise of men reading books has, once again, been greatly exaggerated - I've taken a deep dive into the surprisingly chaotic world of reading statistics in Australia. And got some exclusive (?) figures from the HILDA survey! www.theguardian.com/news/2025/au...
theguardian.com
Have men really stopped reading? We take a deeper dive into the data
It’s clear that if there is a crisis in Australia, it affects both men and women, boys and girls. So what can be done to boost reading?
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Lefa @lefasn.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
It was obvious we would discover the real push behind this fiasco, kudos to @deepcutnews.bsky.social for bringing it to our attention in today’s newsletter. Shameful.
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Roxi Horror 💀🌸 @roxiqt.com · 18/08/2025
people need to understand that when they leave disabled folks behind, they are leaving their future selves behind too disability happens to most of us eventually if we live long enough
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Claire G. Coleman @clairegcoleman.bsky.social · 16/08/2025
I want you to understand something incredible about the boycott of Bendigo Writers Festival. There was no planning, organizing or coordination between writers. It was almost entirely spontaneous but for a bit of word of mouth. 50 or writers all responded in the same way in less than 48 hours.
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Lefa @lefasn.bsky.social · 17/08/2025
“A whopping 88% of podcast appearances made by politicians were with white hosts only” Important analysis by @crystaljane.bsky.social of ‘new media’ in the Aus election and how it replicates some of the worst features of legacy media.
zeefeed.beehiiv.com
Preview: New media 🤝 Legacy media
Plus, is 'overconsumption' a gendered term?
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Deepcut News @deepcutnews.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
Things have gone from bad to worse for the Bendigo Writers Festival, with more than a third of the lineup pulling out over concerns the event is restricting criticism of Israel www.deepcutnews.com/p/anti-censo...
deepcutnews.com
Anti-censorship boycott leaves Bendigo Writers Festival in tatters
More than a third of the Festival's lineup has withdrawn over restrictions on criticising Israel
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Jessie L @jessielilley.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
Clare Wright Randa Abdel-Fattah Evelyn Araluen Jeanine Leane Paul Daley Claire G Coleman Kate Mildenhall Jess Hill Sonia Orchard Thomas Mayo Daniel James Fiona Stanley Kirstin Ferguson Michelle Scott Tucker Kylie Mirmohamadi Jock Serong Melanie Cheng Kate Larsen Cher Tan Madison Griffith 1/2
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Claire G. Coleman @clairegcoleman.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
If you are at Bendigo Writers Festival and can't see me there because I pulled out due to censorship concerns AND you want to buy my books, please visit Bookish in Bendigo. Bookshops are good people.
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Lefa @lefasn.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
Time to order a few books from the writers who withdrew from appearing at the festival, comrades.
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Lefa @lefasn.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
This list of authors from @deepcutnews.bsky.social newsletter deserve a standing ovation. The action they have taken withdrawing from Bendigo Writers Festival will have impacts across the whole sector. Boards and staff of festivals will need to consider the reputational risk of silencing artists.
A list of 32 Australian authors who have withdrawn from Bendigo Writers Festival
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Claire G. Coleman @clairegcoleman.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
I want to make something clear. I have spoken at DOZENS of writers festivals over the last 8 years, so many I couldn't begin to count them. Wednesday was the first time I have ever been sent a "Code of Conduct" When BWF and LTU tell you Codes of Conduct are common for writers fests they are lying
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Damon Young @damonyoung.com.au · 14/08/2025
One of the constant themes of current arts politics is administrators & managers *immediately* bowing to right-wing pressure and artists resisting — if only by excluding themselves from events & publications. So the most precariously-employed, low-paid workers are the ones who pay for their morals.
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Omar Sakr @omarsakr.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
The Bendigenocide Festival. It seems Australian arts and cultural institutions haven’t had their fill yet of humiliating themselves, trashing their reputation, and harming their relationships with staff, authors, and audiences all to satisfy Zionists who are mass murdering kids every day.
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Claire G. Coleman @clairegcoleman.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
The closing event at Bendigo Writers Festival is going to be "interesting" when you consider that at least 3 of the 4 writers set to talk at that session (Myself, Clare Wright and Jeanine Leane) have pulled out of the festival over censorship concerns. The session is still on their program.
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Jinghua Qian @jinghuaqian.com · 14/08/2025
Israel has killed 180 Palestinian journalists since Oct 2023. There are 120 of us in this video remembering our slain Palestinian colleagues - it's staggering to see so many faces and realise more than this number have been killed. #StopKillingJournalists #SanctionIsraelNow meaa.io/45A4vZ5
meaa.io
Stop Killing Journalists
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
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Kelly Gardiner @kmjgardiner.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
Bookings close soon. Fiction writers, don't miss out!
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Ellie Marney @elliemarney.bsky.social · 27/07/2025
What if I told you that in this age of AI slop and enshittification, there's nothing more important than your weirdness, your individual quirks, your human creativity and whatever your niche, people are willing to join you there, and that writing into weirdness & vulnerability is the answer? 🖤
A pink and blue neon glowy photo of a pale-haired woman with Farah Fawcett bangs, clutching her chest - she's wearing a black leather or vinyl high-collared jacket. Against this image is white text reading: "WRTIING TIP: "This is too weird" - no, it's not, and we need weirdness more than ever..."No one will get it" - believe me, they will, you're not alone..."Writing this is emotionally uncomfortable" - good, good, you're writing into vulnerability which means it's working!"
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Lefa @lefasn.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
I hate this stage of winter where it feels like things will never dry up enough for me to take this little beauty out on the road again. Here is she is parked beachside at Wye River, where there is an excellent cafe who let us set up over long weekends.
A trailer fitted with bookshelves is parked by the side of the road at the beach. A sign reading ‘on the road books’ hangs at the top.
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Penny Tangey @pennytangey.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
You can't access this website (Stop Woodside Monash) using Monash University Wifi at the moment. It's blocked for some reason. But everyone else can still access it! Check it out. www.stopwoodsidemonash.org
stopwoodsidemonash.org
Stop Woodside Monash
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Claire G. Coleman @clairegcoleman.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
Rowling is so incredibly transphobic she is now an absolute danger to all women. "JK Rowling says to photograph women in toilets just in case they’re transgender" www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/06/jk-r...
lgbtqnation.com
JK Rowling says to photograph women in toilets just in case they're transgender - LGBTQ Nation
Her advice will result in cisgender women getting harassed and bullied while they're trying to pee in peace.
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Bhakthi @bhakthi.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
Hoping northland moves thru its Saturn returns soon
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Kaz Cooke @kazcooke.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
I doubt the ABC is fulfilling even 25% of its charter these days: no doco, education, natural history, or proper archives units, few/no opportunities for original comedy shows, especially written or hosted by women, a disapparated arts coverage, no science on TV, no international service ...
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Dr Anita Heiss @dranitaheiss.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
Magabala Books is seeking a Project Manager to join their small, dynamic team for a very special project. This role offers an exciting opportunity to support and celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander storytellers, writers, and illustrators across Australia. magabala.com.au/blogs/news/w...
magabala.com.au
We're hiring a new Project Manager - First Stories Collective
Photo from the launch of Mr Woolagoodja's book.    Magabala Books is seeking a Project Manager to join our small, dynamic team for a very special project. This role offers an exciting opportunity to s...
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Penny Tangey @pennytangey.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
Minister for Compromising the Environment Murray Watt
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Penny Tangey @pennytangey.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
Interesting details on the fight to end fossil fuel sponsorship at Monash. After Woodside's oil spills, gas expansion, damaging cultural sites...it's wild that the university is still prepared to basically run PR for this company.
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Jane Howard @janeannehoward.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
Wowee, the outgoing director of Festivals Adelaide has some pretty strong words about the sector. www.indailysa.com.au/news/busines...
 Jochym said she had “witnessed several ways in which we collectively have been abdicating responsibility for this remarkable industry”.

“We do it by burying our heads in the sand for fear of upsetting someone above; creating environments where people bury their heads in the sand; minimising our worst; ignoring the real and daily anxiety our teams feel about the precarity and seasonality; failing to properly value the labour, skill and sacrifice required to deliver festivals and events; under resourcing, underpaying, essentially dehydrating this industry and expecting over-delivery; acting like crabs in a bucket; holding onto decades-old grudges or institutional mistrust.

“Pretending like there’s no existential threat to this sector when I’ve cried too many times with people who feel like they’re drowning. Businesses on knife’s edge, contracts drying up and people walking away from careers they love because they can no longer afford to stay.
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Dr Anita Heiss @dranitaheiss.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
Only TWO WEEKS to go till submissions close for the Bundyi Writing Prize! We are on the lookout for creative, compelling and original works of adult fiction that celebrate First Nations voices. $10k prize + 12 months mentoring with a First Nations editor www.simonandschuster.com.au/p/BundyiAUPr...
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Melbourne City of Literature Office @melcityoflit.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
LAST CALL FOR APPLICATIONS - VIC-BASED WRITERS 📚 Apply for the paid opportunity to connect with writers from Slemani in a virtual writers' room with a focus on work on writing characters! cityofliterature.com.au/the-inkubator/ Closing tonight at 9:00pm (AEST)!
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Mark Watson @watsoncomedian.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
It's Independent Bookshop Week. Ways you can support them: -Don't browse a little bookshop, make a mental note of titles, then get them on Amazon. Buy the books then and there! Dare you! -Get them to order books in, they almost always can. -Just march in and present them with a huge bag of money.
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Jane Howard @janeannehoward.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...
theguardian.com
Speaking out on Gaza: Australian creatives and arts organisations struggle to reconcile competing pressures
As cultural institutions respond to political statements on the war, many artists say they face a choice between career opportunities and standing up for their beliefs
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