Friday, April 4, 2014

MD's 100th Birthday Party

The scene was set at Cafe Parliament On King...


Host Ravi Prasad had taken care of all the fine detail including a flat screen with Duras' film, India Song playing.


The guests began to arrive...



They were invited to choose a snippet of text (cut ups from The Lover) and a pic of MD from the box.



Throughout the evening each guest read their snippet and shared their photo.  Here, poet Jacqueline Buswell reads to Mujib Amid, Ravi Prasad and his daughter Miao.



Lisa Sharkey listens while browsing my latest Duras find full of fabulous pics I haven't seen before - La Vie Comme Un Roman by Jean Vallier.



Sonia Bible reads her snippet. Anna Tow and Katharine Rogers enjoying the text.


Hiroshima Mon Amour provides the ambiance for Annee Lawrence's reading.



Walter Mason reads a superb piece about an encounter on a Mekong ferry, from his book Destination Saigon. 



I performed my Ode To Duras, penned on the day; a thank-you to Duras for her inspirasi and a promise to give up being her fan(atic) soon! I also read poems by Jennifer Mackenzie, Julie Thorndyke and Claine Keily.



  Cipi Kat reads an except from her novel in progress which is set in Timor Leste.



Afghani student Mujib Abid reads a piece from his work in progress, a family memoir set in modern day Afghanistan. Listening to his right Bilquis Ghani, also from Afghanistan, who works with the Refugee Art Project.



Coconut sweets from the local Vietnamese grocery were quickly devoured.



The True Love rolls turned out to be just as delicious!




After most of the the guests departed Ravi draped himself about...



and I relaxed with a good book - Duras course!      (Thanks for the pic Matt Jennings).



 Jan Cornall has been a self confessed Duras fan (atic) since she acted in her play L'amant Anglaise at The Pram Factory in Melbourne in 1979. Duras' writing was the subject of her Masters project at the Sydney Consortium, UWS in 2012.

Jan is currently working on a memoir about a trip she took following the footsteps of Marguerite Duras in Vietnam and Cambodia in 2009.  Read more here. She will lead a 15 day writing retreat, Indochine Journey, to share her discoveries with writers in Vietnam Aug 16-30.

Jan is currently an Australian Poetry Cafe Poet in Residence at Cafe Parliament on King in Newtown, Sydney.