A. R. Levett's poem, 'Hopeless', has just been published in the March edition of Creatrix.

You can read it here.

A. R. Levett's short story, 'Man Enough', was a finalist in the 2023 Armadale Writers' Award.

The story follows a young boy named Bubs who lives in an outback community where boredom has gotten to the men, who depend on alcohol to pass the time and feel good about themselves. This means they use the women against their will, which has traumatised Bubs and the other children. After they hurt his teacher, Miss Clara, Bubs takes matters into his own hands to try and prevent this from happening again.

You can visit the website here to read the story as well as the other winners' stories, or you can read it on my website here.

He has also uploaded the full version of Big Bad, which can be read here.

In the twenty-one months since the last update, A. R. Levett has had two new poems published:

• 'The Wall' in the FAWWA August Newsletter (2023)
• 'Fragile' in Creatrix #61 (2023)

In the meantime, he has been developing and expanded his epic space opera science-fiction series, currently titled 'The Rebels', which has developed into a multi-book and multi-series saga. Renown Australia science-fiction author, Marianne De Pierres, has been helping with this process. Be sure to check out her fantastic work here. I highly recommend her books, especially 'Peacemaker' and 'Mythmaker'.

A. R. Levett is continuing to run creative writing courses, now at the Peter Cowan Writers' Centre, as well as his story mentoring, manuscript assessment, and editing services as part of his business, The Story Mentor.

In the nineteen-months since the last update (sorry), A. R. Levett has had several poems published in a variety of publications:

• 'The Outsider' was published in the Brushstrokes Ros Spencer Anthology 2016-2019 (2020)
• 'Benefactor' appeared in Letters to Our Home (2020)
• 'The Split' reappeared in Creatrix Anthology #3 (2020)
• 'MFH' was published in Creatrix #52 (2021)
• 'Boranup Forest' appeared in Red Room Poetry (2021)
• Persistence was printed in Poetry for the Planet (2021)

Further, A. R. Levett was awarded a two-year mentorship with the Peter Cowan Writers' Centre.

Hopefully updates will appear regularly from now onwards.

A. R. Levett has two lots of good news to announce.

Firstly, his short story, Release, has been awarded joint first-place in the Armadale Writers' Group competition and will be published in the Armadale Writers Group 2020 Visions anthology. The anthology will be launched on Saturday 9 May 2020 from 3.00pm - 4.30pm at the lower hall at Armadale District Hall, Covid-19 permitting. Please come and join A. R. Levett at the launch and celebrate with the other winners.

Secondly, his poem 'Unearthing Sunshine' has been published in Creatrix issue #48. You can read the poem here and here.

Marieke Hardy’s memoir, You’ll Be Sorry When I’m Dead, was not the book I expected it to be, yet it has fast become my new favourite reading material. Through her open, honest, and witty recounts of parts of her life, from wanting to become a prostitute at age eleven, to idolising a child star and frank political writer, Hardy expresses a sense of child-like innocence about the world, her experiences, and love. As a reader you can’t help but fall in love with the person she portrays herself as on the page, because she comes across as a loveable scamp who evokes that inner child within you.

Her writing is terse and the way she conveys her experiences authentic. Those who have loved passionately, lingered in the joys of youth, and drunken to excess will likely find a relatable, kindred spirit in the author and her experiences. There are one or two dark moments, as well as instances where Hardy finds herself in awkward situations she never considered she might find herself in, but overall the memoir elicits a tone of curiosity and humorous self-portrayal.

Hardy’s honesty is very compelling, and we need more authors with the courage to write like this. If your sensibilities are old fashioned or you prefer “high” literature, you might want to look elsewhere. However, if you have an open mind, you want to learn more about this writer and public figure, or just want to enjoy a good memoir, I highly recommend picking up a copy.
 
Five stars.
 

The November issue of The Writers' Magazine (Issue #4) features A. R. Levett's short story, 'Release' on pages 66-68. If you have a subscription, clear here to read the published version. Otherwise you can read it here.

Creatrix #44 features A. R. Levett's poem, 'The Good Boy'. You can read it here.

This issue of Creatrix also features poetry by Kaye Brand, Peter Burges, Geraldine Day, Gary Colombo De Piazzi, Frances Faith Derek Fenton, Margaret Ferrell, Rosalind Franklin, Ann Gilchrist, Kevin Gillam, Mike Greenace, Ann Harrison, Glen Hunting, Ross Jackson,  Veronica Lake, Mardi May, Glad McGough, Scott-Patrick Mitchell, Jan Napier, Julian O'Dea, Tony O'Donnell, Virginia O'Keefe, Allan Padget, Ami Parekh, Yvonne G. Patterson, Barry Sanbrook, Maureen Sexton, Thomas Simpson, Laurie Smith, Traudi Tan, Rose van Son, Gael Willems, and Colin Young.

The December 2018 issue of Creatrix issue #43 features A. R. Levett's poem, 'The Split'. You can read a copy of the poem here, and check out issue #43 of Creatrix here.

This issue of Creatrix also features poetry by Kaye Brand. Peter Burges, Graeme Butler, Gary Colombo De Piazzi, Edward Ebozo, Derek Fenton, Rosalind Franklin, Ann Gilchrist, Kevin Gillam, Mike Greenace, Ruari Jack Hughes, Ross Jackson, Pat Johnson, Veronica Lake, Meryl Manoy, Mardi May, Glad McGough, Dean Meredith, Scott-Patrick Mitchell, Julian O'Dea, Virginia O'Keefe, Allan Padget, Joyce Parkes, Yvonne G. Patterson, Laurie Smith, and Rita Tognini.