Launch of Back Burning at Gleebooks


What an afternoon! I am flying, floating, tired and so happy. Meg Stewart was fabulous. Generous, witty, professional. Back Burning could not have had a better launch than this one at Gleebooks. It was very emotional for me and I tried not to talk too much. I read “Grow Up”, which was fitting and well received. Signed lots of books.

There were writing friends from Geneva: Jo Anne Rey from ExpatAirwaves, Amani Amin from Arab World Books and Egyptian Ambassador and writer, Mohamed Tawfik; there were friends from cyberspace: Gerald Ganglbauer from Gangway; there were old friends and new, ones from my youth, school and uni and writing connections; there were old neighbours and new ones; there was my supervisor, Paul Dawson, winner of IP Picks 2006 Best Poetry, my daughter and her friends, and there was Frieda, my Mum, who loved all the excitement. There were also people I didn’t know who dropped in. We had pitas and wine and wonderful Egyptian desserts.

It was a high point. It was great to be home again.

There are more pix of the launch on the Flickr badge to the left.