Exciting News
I have such exciting news to share with you!
For the last couple of years, I have been working on a most unusual project with Wendy Sharpe, the Archibald-winning artist. Wendy has been creating art inspired by my words, and I’ve been writing poems and other text inspired by her art.
We have just signed a contract with Upswell Publishing to publish our book. Here is the notice in Books+Publishing:
Upswell is delighted to announce the acquisition of an illustrated book capturing a unique collaboration by writer Kate Forsyth and artist Wendy Sharpe tracking in collage the life-cycle of a woman. Poignant, humorous and sexy, ‘Alchemy’ is due for release in October 2022.
I’m so thrilled!
Alchemy is quite unlike any other book on the market, I think. It’s both an art book and a collection of poetry, but transcends both genres.
It is an astonishingly candid and powerful memoir of one woman’s life, and an archetypal exploration of all women’s life, the Heroine’s Journey from Maiden to Woman to Crone.
It reveals a poet’s response to a painter’s art, and a painter’s response to a poet’s craft.
It explores the very act of human creation – what drives us to write and paint and make, and what creativity means to both maker and audience.
Our aim with this book was to create something truly remarkable, a meeting of hands and hearts and minds. We wanted it to be a feast for all the senses, filled with surprises and moments of profound connection. The writing encompasses poems, favourite passages from my stories and novels, extracts from my diaries and notebooks, musings on creativity, and glimpses into my secret life. The visual component includes Wendy’s paintings, drawings, sketches, scribbles, photographs, and assemblages of found objects.
What Wendy and I wanted to do with Alchemy was to explore and honour the crucial rites of passage in a woman’s life. There has never been a better time to celebrate women’s lives than now. So we are really hoping this book will strike a chime!
Here is Wendy’s painting of us creating Alchemy together.
In other news, I’ve been rewriting The Crimson Thread, taking in the comments and suggestions of my agent Tara and my publisher Meredith. I can’t tell you how lucky I am to work with such perceptive, insightful and passionately interested people! Their understanding of what it is I aim to do, married with their knowledge of the marketplace - pure gold!
I have also been thinking and daydreaming about what I will write next. I hope to share with you soon!
Thanks to the difficulties of lockdown, the publication date of The Gardener’s Son & the Golden Bird & Other Tales of Gentle Young Men has been postponed to March next year. I’ll keep you in the loop for when you can pre-order.
Read more about the Long-Lost Fairy-Tales collection HERE
And finally, given I cannot go anywhere or do anything thanks to the never-ending lockdown in Sydney, I’m taking on a few more mentorees – so if you’d like to work with me, simply check out the Australian Writers mentoring program at HERE
Bright blessings upon you all!
Kate
