How is your National Young Writers’ Month goal progressing? Do you need to reassess your plan to reach that final milestone? We talked about the importance of setting realistic, achievable targets earlier in the month. Perhaps you need to revisit that post to check in and see what fine tuning you could do?

We were sad to hear of the passing of talented journalist Michael Hastings this week. It is well worth reading his advice to young journalists as republished by Mother Jones today, considering he was certainly one of the most successful young journalists to rise to the top of the profession.

Opportunities and Events

The Hoopla are looking for a part-time journalist to work in their Sydney office. Details on applying here.

Performoetics is a queer poetry performance night happening in Melbourne at Hares and Hyenas on June 27 as part of the Holed Up winter festival.

The Carmel Bird Short Fiction Award closes on July 31, with a $500 prize and the winner and finalists being published in the Spineless Wonders annual anthology.

Yarn are celebrating their first year of stories spun in Brisbane on June 27 with a night of spoken word.

In Adelaide the Putting Your Best Foot Forward workshop by Fifth Quarter is designed for artists of any genre looking to build and refine their artistic practice. The session takes place on June 22, more details here.

Our quote today is from Michael Hastings…

Janet Malcolm had famously described journalism as the art of seduction and betrayal. Any reporter who didn’t see journalism as “morally indefensible” was either “too stupid” or “too full of himself,” she wrote. I disagreed. Without shutting the door on the possibility that I was both stupid and full of myself, I’d never bought into the seduction and betrayal conceit. At most, journalism – particularly when writing about media-hungry public figures – was like the seduction of a prostitute. The relationship was transactional. They weren’t talking to me because they liked me or because I impressed them; they were talking to me because they wanted the cover of Rolling Stone – Michael Hastings