OUR BLOG
An End in Sight for the Neoliberal University
Image by [ Angus O’Brien ] via [https://novaramedia.com/2018/03/01/an-end-in-sight-for-the-neoliberal-university/]. In the last two weeks, University College London’s (UCL) academic board and its students’ union have both passed votes of no confidence in the...
Striking Against the Neoliberal University
Successive waves of strikes on behalf of students and academics demonstrate that higher education in the United Kingdom is at breaking point. The inordinate cost of attending university, coupled with the structural dynamics that leave teaching staff exploited,...
Amelie Trott and the Earth Watchers/ The Role of Children in Peacebuilding with Moyra Irving and Dot Maver
What moves inside when you hear, “The adults of the world can no longer be trusted to safeguard the future of our planet.”? The words eerily echo the voice of environmental activist, Greta Thunberg. Yet, a children’s book fictional character, speaking about the...
A visit from author Nadia King
The SIDE Library Resource Centre hosted two exciting Webex sessions with Western Australian author Nadia King. Nadia presented from our Leederville studio in two separate sessions (PP-Year 2 and Years 3-4). Nadia began by talking about herself; where she lives, the...
Meet the Author: Sarah Mahfoudh
Sarah’s top tip for aspiring author/illustrators: When you find the time to read, make it count. Sometimes life gets busy, so fitting in a daily writing practice and managing to read every day might not always be possible, but I do believe reading is the key to...
How to Make a Rock Garden with the Family by Liam Mills
If you are looking to make the most of your outdoor space, a rock garden is far from the worst idea. There are a ton of rock garden ideas (and rock garden plants) that can make your outdoor space all your own. Part of creating a nice rock garden means having a gas...
Our Authors Speaking at a Literary Festival for Readers and Writers, 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙙𝙚
We are very excited to share that two of our Canadian Dixi authors, Charise Jewell and Joy Norstrom, will be speaking on various panels at When Words Collide, 2021. When Words Collide is a literary festival for readers, writers, artists, and publishers of commercial...
In The Pandemic, Feral Turkeys Unite a Neighborhood by Melissa Hart
On spring evenings, neighbors on my Oregon suburban street congregate to watch a flock of feral turkeys fly up to the hundred-foot firs above our houses to roost. Over the past year, some of us have lost our jobs. Some of us have fallen ill, and some are desperately lonely and anxious and scared. For ten minutes at dusk, we step out of our houses and gather at a distance as the turkeys strut, one by one, to the top of our hill. They take a running start, then soar up into the air with a dramatic flapping of wings. Spilling twigs and cones, they alight on branches with much ruffling and bluster, and I and the neighbors applaud.
How to Make Money Farming 5 Acres or Less (Not Just Market Gardening!)
The number of traditional farms is dropping fast. Land is expensive and can be hard to find. But what if you dream of making a living off of your land? Micro-farms are becoming popular sources of income. Here’s how to make money farming 5 acres of land or less. A Way...
Virginia Aronson: “Talk about zero waste; why not end this life without wasting anything?”
Although there is a growing interest in eco-fiction, there is little fiction on zero waste, says public health official and author Virginia Aronson. We had a brief conversation about her novella, the concept of zero-waste and eco-fiction, and the modern way of living....
What’s your parenting philosophy?
Although Plato had devoted the fifth chapter of his Republic to this, Aristotle addressed the issue of raising and educating children as a matter of public interest in his Politics and Hegel pointed out the problematic of seeing children as objects belonging to their...
A Walk on Europe’s Wild Side
From the year 2049, we can look back on 2019 as a turning point for the continent of Europe. Set to miss its targets to halt and reverse the erosion of biodiversity by 2020, the European Union stood at the precipice of environmental catastrophe. And yet pockets of...
Finding the Spiral in Chacal, Mexico by Marina Richie
With one slow glide of his forefinger, our guide Mauricio traces the spiral carved deep in the rock thousands of years ago, even before the Aztecs. He carries a straw hat festooned in feathers of the shaman who taught him the stories of these sacred pools in the...
A Volery of Wagtails by Alexi Francis
In the center of Brighton, beside the iconic nineteenth-century clock tower, stands a small solitary tree. It is an olive tree, an evergreen that retains small leathery leaves into the winter. The tree stands at a junction, especially busy during rush hour on a Friday...
Empowerment Through Fiction: Picture Books as Vehicles for Lasting Social Change
Posted on 12 Jan 2020 in ESTEAM Champions / 83 Views Nanci Nott interviews Western Australian author, Nadia L. King, about her newest book, Claire Malone Changes the World. Together, they explore the concept of fiction as a catalyst for social change and individual...
How Bunny was born!?
For Nicole Crabtree, this is a dream come true. As an auntie and aspiring author on a mission to express her love of reading and share her own stories with a family who lives far away, Nicole decided to create a book series that can be shared with the world. Click...
SPARKS
Walking through a nearby park at dusk the other night, I saw a single spark. Then another. Soon there were too many to count, hovering in the airspace between my chin and my ankles, lighting my way past the lake, the gazebo, and over the boney cast iron bridge. Who...
COMMUNITY, DEMOCRACY, AND THE LAND
This is who I am: Devil’s Den, Bull Run Farm, Sages Ravine, Spruce Knob, Dickinson’s Reach, Heron’s Rip, Moosilauke, Arun River Valley, Central Harlem, Cedar Mesa, Chama River, Chichicastango, Arch Rock, Drake’s Beach, Glacier Bay, Lake Atitlan, Knoll Farm. That’s my...