marcus westbury

I was asked by the good folks at Griffith REVIEW to write a major essay for their current edition Cities On The Edge. It’s my first crack at the “writing a major essay” caper so i’d be very interested to get people’s thoughts. The essay Fluid Cities Create picks up on several of the themes […]

How rude is this woman? Megan Harding and I were casually posing for the Paparazzi and this limelight hogging bitch leapt out in front of us. Image from The Sydney Morning Herald.
Full Logie report is here.

With the intention of writing a piece for Crikey this morning, i kept detailed notes of the minute by minute events at the Logies last night. Unfortunately, I slept through and missed most of this morning, so it didn’t quite make Crikey. But at least you can read them here!
12:45 Very senior ABC figure texts […]

I’ve held off on writing this because to be perfectly honest I’m really not sure what the hell happened at the 2020 summit in Canberra last weekend. Several days of attempting to process it and decompress later the only thing that is clear is that the whole 2020 summit process was never clearly defined and […]

What is the difference between a 1920s and a 2020 summit?
It’s not a joke. It’s the question that I have been mulling over since my last minute call up to the “Towards a creative Australia” stream of the 2020 summit next weekend. The seeming disparity between the stated goals and the mix of […]

I’ve just found out that I’ve failed to secure a Logie nomination for Not Quite Art.
The good folks at ABC TV had apparently put my name forward for the Graham Kennedy award for the “Most Outstanding New Talent.” It is a sign of just how delusional you (ok I!) can quickly become that i’ve managed […]

Following on from previous frustrations, I returned to Newcastle on the weekend.
Returning to Newcastle after any length of time away, the startling thing is just how badly shattered the CBD has actually become. When you live in Newcastle it is easy to become almost blind to the fact that the majority of the two main […]

Apparently not.
I’ve long been advocating a more enlightened approach to liquor licensing in NSW and particularly in my home town of Newcastle. I’m convinced (and convinced i can convince most people) that a more diverse culture (and i mean everything from punk venues to jazz clubs) of drinking, dining, music, art and entertainment is a […]