Dan Djurdjevic

Here's a short film that covers the sci-fi element of The Mirror Image of Sound rather perfectly!

Years ago I remember reading the letters to the editor in our local newspaper The West Australian .  One irate woman wrote in to say that she'd identified the secret "Gay Agenda": to "normalise gayness." Shock horror. Well I have news for that woman: this "agenda" isn't so secret.  In fact, it's obvious.  It always has been. One sector of society (we'll call them the "social conservatives") somehow think this is reprehensible.  Another sector (we'll call them the "social progressives") think this is laudable.  What role does this social division play in the current debate on marriage equality in Australia? Some time ago the Australian ABC screened a controversial episode of the children's programme "Playschool", featuring a child with two mothers .  This was during a segment called "Through the Window" which commonly examined different, everyday social situations.  Needless to say, t...

To commemorate my father's passing - on this day 30 years ago - here is a song I wrote for him. I am now the same age he was on that fateful day.

You know you've made it when you find  your own book in the local library ! So cool!

You know you've made it when people start to  pirate your work ... particularly when they give you  rave reviews : ":winnah:I advised it to all my friends. It is the best thing I.ve ever read." "I like it! It's interesting, sophisticated and excellent." "Forget everything you've read earlier That was nothing in comparison with this great book!" "The best masterpiece I've ever read!" "It has to be in every flat!" "Firstly, you will be smiling then you will be crying and don't say you haven't been told!" This seems to be a German group (which might account for some random Germans I met in Europe who had actually read my book - and were fans!). I don't know whether to be outraged or flattered!  And I seriously don't get the "free" thing - not when Amazon has dropped the  Kindle price to $4.80 ...

I am so pleased to have received  this review  on Amazon from respected WA novelist and academic Ian Reid for my novel  The Mirror Image of Sound ! The funniest book I've read for a long while. I love the playful way it takes the idea of self-reflexive storytelling and turns it into a zany fantasy of split characterisation - D1/D2, Fenyops Pikkeljig et al. Unflaggingly inventive. Hilarious characters, situations, dialogue. DD should consider writing scripts for comic movies. It is wonderful to have such an endorsement from one of my colleagues in the writing profession.

Some of you might recall from my essay " My unlikely relationship with the jian " the story of how my father bought me a hunting knife when I was 7 years old - and how I lost it.  In fact, it wasn't "lost" so much as stolen.  Now, after almost exactly 41 years, I have it back.  Almost.  Anyway, here's the story: You might remember that my father and I entered a rather smoky little specialist blade shop somewhere in downtown Belgrade in December 1972 where he bought me a lovely bone-handled hunting knife.  It seemed like a large Bowie in my child-sized hands.  And it was love at first sight. I took that knife home with me to Papua New Guinea.  Back then we were living in the tiny hamlet of Kavieng on the northern and western tip of New Ireland, just 100 km south of the equator.  It was a hot, sticky, remote and totally undeveloped corner of the world where  remnants of World War II  were still "fresh" - at least in a decomposing, ox...