May 16, 2025

Race to the finish

The goalposts have moved continuously since I began writing this book, and in the beginning I didn’t even set any timeline on it. Maybe I should have done since it has dragged out far longer than I ever imagined it would, but I’ve not had the luxury of time to do little else but spend all day writing either. Or not working on the book anyway. The paid work has always taken priority. But now – today – I can say with absolute confidence that I will be able to write The End on or before the end of May 2025. Phew!


There are just a couple of interviews to edit for the In Their Own Words chapters, and finishing off the final chapter that really meant we could claim the campaign to stop a pulp mill being built in Tasmania’s Tamar Valley was over, and that the community had won it. The saga might have ended with a whimper rather than a bang, and for most people it had ended when Gunns went broke, but for those on the frontline it wasn’t over until those permits expired and the government of the day announced they wouldn’t be renewed.


Only then could we have a party, put those twelve campaign years behind us, and stop looking over our shoulders - metaphorically speaking.


So on 31st May I’m planning on putting the writing of this book behind me, although I know it’s really just the beginning. My mentor will undoubtedly have suggestions for rewrites, moving parts from one section to another – and perhaps ditching some bits altogether. But if this tome is to interest a publisher then that’s all part of the process. So I’ll look upon the next stage as akin to putting a jigsaw puzzle together and slotting things into a more natural (and readable) place.


But at least I've 'got it down' and the story is complete. And that’s quite an achievement – even if I never really doubted I’d finish it eventually. I’m only sorry there are several people who were involved but who are no longer around to read it.

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The controversial and unaffordable stadium

By Anne Layton-Bennett • November 18, 2025
Political controversy continues about building Tasmania's third stadium at Hobart's Macquarie Point, a monument to the AFL that the majority of Tasmanians have consistently said they don't want and which they know is unaffordable at a time when public services are at crisis point. Yes to a team, No to a new stadium.

It's still a waiting game

By Anne Layton-Bennett • November 9, 2025
Seeking a publisher or agent for my book was never going to be easy, and so it is proving to be.

Strange and Marvellous Things

By Anne Layton-Bennett • October 27, 2025
Well done to the north-west Tasmania branch of Fellowship of Australian Writers . Once again their editorial team led by Allan Jamieson have produced an excellent anthology, with the intriguing title – as above – and an undeniably quirky cover. The rather wonderful octopus is just one of the creatures on it, indicating a watery theme until your eyes pick out the morose-looking frog, sporting what appears to be a death-cap toadstool hat, and a moustachioed chap apparently hitching a ride to work on a magpie. They all suggest an intriguing mix of writing to be explored within. I appreciate I’m a little biased in promoting this collection of stories, memoirs, poems, anecdotes and travelogues of far-flung places, since I've got work included, but after my copies arrived in the post last week, and from dipping into the book already, it really does look like another interesting and eclectic read – as FAWNW’s previous anthologies have proved to be. Tasmania is definitely not short of some talented writers, even if all of them don't necessarily have a published book to their name. Neither do I as yet, but with my magnum opus finally completed, and currently being strategically submitted to publishers that are ones most likely to be interested going on their previous publications, my fingers are firmly crossed. For a first-time author I knew this part would be difficult, as well as time-consuming given the lengthy delays before possibly receiving that much anticipated email or phone call - or not if the six- eight- or ten-week deadline is reached with no news at all - but hoping that with Dr Bob Brown on-side and putting in a good word when and where he is able to do so, my submission will be plucked from the pile sent by other hopefuls. Then it will be a case of hoping it will spark enough interest to ask for a publisher asking to see the full manuscript. Strange and Marvellous Things (edited by Allan Jamieson, FAWNW) 2025 is available online or at good bookshops. RRP $25.00

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