Experience in personal essays and opinion on lifestyle, culture, single-parenting, parenting, race, migrants, dating. Qualifications in business, accounting, computing, tech.
Amanda Palmer
I have never seen Amanda Palmer perform live. I really only came to know of her in more recent years, after I exploded out of my marriage, culture and religion - a very sheltered, naïve and impressionable single mum. A few new arty friends were proclaiming I needed to check her out like my life depended on it.
Communicating across cultures: 'Am I too intense or are you just not understanding me?'
While it may be the norm to ask Anglo-Australian guests to BYO their own meats to a BBQ, this request might offend Greek-Cypriots. Koraly Dimitriadis examines the cross-cultural examples that divide us and asks whether better communication skills can bind us.
Maria Callas: A Concert in Hologram.
As a poet, I have never attended an event with my art critic hat on and had the uncontrollable need to express myself poetically by what was unfolding before me, but last night, hearing Maria Callas at the Arts Centre, as I wrote in my notebook in the dark, the poetic lines were just falling out of me, and as I write this review the next morning, I can still see her image and hear her voice. It’s as if my mind believes that I really did witness Maria, like she arrived to me in a dream, her gh...
‘Why are you so upset about a sex book when your kids can watch porn?’
Last week, the new book Welcome To Sex – targeted at children as young as 11 and their parents – was ripped from department store Big W’s shelves after a torrent of complaints and abuse directed at staff.
Looking for Alibrandi: The Forgotten Archived Stories
‘Mum, I can’t believe it!’ my teenage daughter exclaims in delight from behind the novel Looking for Alibrandi, a staple for Euro-ethnic girls in the 1990s. ‘The Nonna character is exactly like Yiayia!’ Written by Italian-Australian writer Melina Marchetta, Looking for Alibrandi centres on 17-year-old Josie. The daughter of a second-generation Italian-Australian single mother, Josie struggles with the cultural expectations imposed on her by her grandmother, Nonna Katia.
We haven’t seen a book...
Loaded
The theatre show, Loaded, based on the iconic book of the 90s by Christos Tsiolkas of the same name, which was then turned into the epic film Head On, directed by Anna Kokkinos and starring Alex Dimitriades, is currently playing at The Malthouse. Directed by acclaimed director Stephen Nicolazzo (Looking for Alibrandi), and adapted for the stage by Christos Tsiolkas and Don Giovannoni, this solo show is played by Danny Ball.
Review of captivating Paul Capsis in show “Dry My Tears”
The first time I saw Paul Capsis perform was when I was a young adult in the film Head On by Ana Kokkinos, which is based on the book Loaded by Christos Tsiolkas. Playing the transgender character Toula, I was immediately drawn to him. Then again, many years later in 2012, I saw him in his solo show Angela’s Kitchen at The Malthouse.
Mary Coustas - This is Personal
Mary Coustas gets personal in new one-woman show
The woman behind Australia’s beloved ‘Effie’ from Acropolis Now and Wogs out of Work got personal last night at the Arts Centre Melbourne in front of what seemed to be a full house in her new exciting and highly entertaining one-woman show This is Personal. I grew up watching Effie on TV and I have also seen Coustas’s show Effie The Virgin Bride, which toured a few years ago.
After my divorce, it took years to go back to dating men from my culture
After leaving my husband, there were seven years during which I stayed away from all men who shared my Mediterranean roots.
Hang on a sec, I thought SBS was meant to boost diverse voices
Multicultural Australia is about to experience a huge cultural loss: SBS Voices, an online platform that showcases personal essays from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) writers, is ceasing operations.
Brown Women Comedy
Brown Women Comedy rocking it at this year’s comedy festival
If you’re from a multicultural background looking for some comedy about the trials and tribulations of your culture and the trauma your parents inflicted on you, look no further than the guaranteed laughs of Brown Women Comedy. An empowering, candid line-up, produced by Australian South Asian Centre, starring Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa, Daizy Maan, Amna Bee, Urvi Majumdari, Kripa Krithivasan and Moose Jattana. As a woman from a Cypriot bac...
The Teaches of Peaches
I want to preface this review by stating that I knew nothing about the musician Peaches when I attended her concert last night at Northcote Theatre in Melbourne, on the eve of International Women’s Day.
Growing up, my culture hid mental illness. I won’t be like that with my daughter
The older I get, the more I see mental health like any other self-care. Would I leave the house without brushing my teeth? Would I skip my three meals a day? Not shower? Of course not. In a world full of mental health triggers streaming through our social media feeds, I think we all need to be proactive in our approach to mental health — at least, this is what I teach my teenage daughter.
Review of hybrid dance-theatre show “Monsters” at Malthouse Theatre
“Monsters” written by Emme Hoy, directed by Matthew Lutton, choreography by Stephanie Lake, is now showing at the Malthouse Theatre.
The curse of being haunted by past love – Review of “Day After Terrible Day”
“Day After Terrible Day” by The Danger Ensemble is now showing at Theatre Works in St Kilda, and let’s just say that if you have difficulties letting go of past or current destructive love, then this show is going to hit you like a truck.