Medical History Book Goes on Sale Tonight at 6.30pm

Orange City Council supported by Pinnacle Health Care and Orange Regional Arts Foundation are pleased to be able to launch a medical history book of Orange to coincide with the opening of the new Orange hospital. The book is titled In Sickness and in Health – How medicine helped shape Orange's History and
will be officially launched by Paul Brunton, Senior Curator of the Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW at the Orange Civic Theatre Forum on Thursday 31 March. It will go on sale at Orange City
Library from 6.30pm. (Our embargoed display is pictured. Many of the invited guests were interviewed by the author Elisabeth Edwards or provided photographs and research material for the medical history book.

The event will be an opportunity to thank all those involved in the production of the book including gold, silver and bronze sponsors. This book comprising 352 pages, contains many photographs from public and private collections and is extensively indexed.

Author Elisabeth Edwards is available to talk about the project to community groups by contacting her directly on 6362 8647. She will also be signing books at Orange City Library on Friday 1st April and Saturday 2nd April from 11.30am  1pm.

Congratulations to all involved!

Author presents Quiet Waters to Orange & Cowra

Author Brennan Keats spoke to audiences at Orange and Cowra Libraries this week about his latest book Quiet Waters and presented both libraries with a copy (Caroline and Brennan pictured at Cowra below). His presentation included originally composed music and images from the book. It is an account of HMAS Canberra and one of her sailors, Brennan's brother Russell,
as well as three USS cruisers and their men, who rest in the deep quiet waters of Iron Bottom Sound, Guadalcanal. It is so named because of the huge number of ships and planes that sunk there.

His talk covered details about the ships of the day, what it was like for the men working on them and the fate of his brother Russell. He also told many anecdotes including when a Japanese float plane was seen flying about in Sydney Harbour, the arrival of Japanese submarines and mines being placed right along the NSW coast.

He spoke passionately about the heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra which did not share the battle honours of the Australian cruisers of her time. He says it should be given due recognition for its substantial contribution to Australian Naval history.

Brennan is also author of “A Poet's Composer”, the biography of the Australian composer, Horace Keats, 1895  1945, Russell and Brennan Keats' father.

Making the Most of your Memories: Photo Books

More than 35 people joined in our Seniors Week Workshop on How to create a photo book supported by Officeworks yesterday. Pictured is Local Studies Librarian Peter Douglass with Sophie and Kristy from Officeworks. The first part of the workshop was led by Peter who went through easy steps to put together your own life story, family story or a fictional story.
He talked about the importance of planning, using timelines and research and showed a wonderful example of a photo book used for family history. The second part of the seminar featured Sophie and Kristy who explained how the Officeworks photo book program works, costs, pages and what can be created using documents, images and text. They can also help with creating document PDFs to use in the photo book. Thank you for eveyone who came along and we hope you enjoy creating your own photo book.

Finale Event and Poem from Cafe Poet

Join our Cafe Poet Diana Bell Brooks and special guest Deb Westbury when they read their works at Cafe Latte on Thursday 7 April from 5.30pm. Cost is $5 payable on the night and includes a glass of champagne and snacks. Please RSVP to Orange City Library on 6393 8132 or Cafe Latte on 6363 1855. This is the finale event for our Cafe Poet program supported by Australian Poetry, Cafe Latte and the Central West Writers' Centre.

And here is a poem inspired by memories:

The Flood

(l)

The creek beyond the Molong railway track

rises in rivulets I can't contain.

My father's ghost floats by the platform,

in his old white armchair.

There are people from the town's long past

leisurely seeking pleasure

in the creek that's now swollen,

taking their ankle boots off

and wading.

When my parents travelled to Australia,

they knew they were going to settle:

I didn't.

I'm packing cases of books

and wound my arm

on the rough metal staple

of a tea chest

and I'm supposed to be ironing a

handkerchief

of thin white cotton, for the journey

across the ridge to Orange.

(ll)

Now I'm going somewhere

even more uncharted,

where the light glances off the sea

in a curtain of coloured streamers

from the fingers of my loved people

holding the other end.

Where I can hardly part

the way of the crowd

leaning from the handrail of the ship.

People swarm past me

scooping me up with them

and draw me

into the lacquered bosom of the lounge and
stairwell

where the light-roof is.

All the stairs of the ship

centre round us,

and we encounter

the feel of an ark.

I feel the old railway building rising,

golden

on the breast of the flood.

(lll)

I pack up my papers

in the old ticket room of the station

where I've been writing

Down the pine-needled track

I walk for the last time

Kangaroos peep shyly from the shadow.

Bunches of lavender

are piled on a cottage veranda

and the flies lash

old, rich pasture.

By Diana Bell Brooks
Cafe Latte, Austrlian Poetry Cafe Poet Program, March 2011

First Banjo Writing Awards Winner Publishes Book

Winner of the first Banjo Paterson Writing Awards competition Heather Bird has published her collection of stories, poems and short pieces titled Weeping Cherry and Mango Juice. Many stories have been read on radio, won commendations in writing competitions or published in newspapers, literary magazines and various anthologies. They display a part of the writing scene with humour and insight, and provide a laugh or two, while other pieces display more of a serious note.

Heather won the Banjo Paterson Writing Awards in 1991 with her wonderful short story A Sash with Tassels. It is about a city woman who travels to the country to receive second prize in a writing competition. It is reproduced in the book and she has donated a copy to Orange City Library as thanks for the Award providing a start to her writing career.

The Banjo Paterson Writing Awards continue to attract interest from all over Australia and overseas. They are held in conjuction with the ABC Central West Banjo Paterson Children's Writing Awards. Since 2008 the Yvonne Zola Encouragement Award has been given to an entrant in the Children's Awards in memory of the late Yvonne Zola, a local teacher and champion of childrens' writing. And just a reminder, you have until Friday April 15 to get your entires in for this competition.