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Today visited the Jewish Museum. It has a striking design where the walls and floors are at angles representing a broken star of David. There is a holocaust memorial echoing the one we saw yesterday except with olive trees growing above it, and a silent tower space made from stone where only a slit of natural light is allowed in.

It disturbed me not only because of the history it represents but also the worsening situation in Bat Nha at Prajna Monastery where I blogged just over two years ago. Three hundred monks and nuns have been taken into custody by the Vietnamese Police and at least three senior monastics have disappeared. This monastery follows Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) the exiled Vietnamese Zen Master whose teachings I follow. When I was in Saigon we visited a temple where five of his followers had been murdered- they suspect by the communists. They are represented by five pebbled mounds in the grounds.  If the world waits and takes no notice of this happening in Vietnam how will these 300 be remembered? Vietnam was taken off this list of regimes that repressed religions prior to it hosting APEC in 2006 when coincidentally they allowed Thich Nhat Hanh to return for a second time to hold Great Ceremonies of Mourning for all those who suffered and died during the American War.

Diana Nguyen as Ma in Silence

I’m going to Berlin on Saturday and am very excited by this. During the Melbourne Writers Festival I met Antje Strubel, the German writer exchanged to Australia and we had very interesting conversations about writing, philosophy etc. I’m looking forward to meeting her again in Germany.

I’m leaving Silence in very good hands with Wolf Heidecker who is working with the cast and the puppeteers. It never fails to amaze me how someone else can read so much into your words and sentences. The play truly does have a life of its own.

Tom Cho is going from strength to strength- you can vote for his book for the Melbourne Civic Literature Prize!

Peril’s launch was at the Sydney Writers Festival. Annette Shun Wah said some very kind things about Peril, how it was coherent and intelligent and easily accessible to all. Tiffany Loh and Komi Sellathurai read their respeective p[ieces from Peril Issue 7 and were warmly received.

The “Love, Pity, Honour, Compassion and Sacrifice” panel was very interesting. Chi Vu opened with her thoughts about the 1.5 generation of Vietnamese-Australians as translators or traitors. She talked about how they could draw from both Vietnamese and Australian worlds and audiences. Nathalie Nguyen had the most interesting talk she talked about the 2nd generation (of which I am one) having post memories- that are passed down by parents of Vietnam. Having been back to Vietnam I now have my own memories, but certainly until 1997 I only had the post memories of my parents to draw on.  Khoa Do talked about Missing Water his new film.

I met up with Stephen Conte who won the Prime Ministers Prize last year and $100,000. He is very modest and down to earth- after having experiences such as only having two people come to his book signing. We talked abouit our techniques for writing novels- writing very fast and then having to revisit and put stuffing and lyricism into our respective works. As I go along I’m realising that maybe although this does not resemble any technique or process I’ve been taught- it is still my process and a valid one.

I haven’t been doing as much writing as I would like, and it may be because my next few weekends are occupied with the Sydney Writers Festival and then the Emerging Writers Festival in Melbourne. See events for details. Melbournalia 2 starts tonight which is very exciting- David Mence and Kelly Farrow from White Whale Theatre have done a fantastic job interpreting “I could be you” with some very talented actors.