Hunting for Hipness

Today, I was an official ex-pat writer.

A friend of a friend turned me on to the Queensland Writers Centre here in Brisbane. I looked them up on line and they seemed worth a look-see, especially since they are just across the river on the South Bank in the Queensland State Library.

(note: in case you are wondering about me jaunting back and forth across this river and wondering just how big this river is, it's about like the Potomac as it passes by DC. A jaunt across the bridge here in Brisbane is about like walking across the Key Bridge or the 14th St.bridge. You know, in case you were curious.....)

So, I jaunted across the bridge and found the writers centre upstairs in the library.

(note: the library has some great free services. Free wifi with dozens of electrical outlets [all at the level of the dozens of couches scattered around the lounge]. Free internet access, some time-constrained, some not. Affordable printing. Free kids play room. I think they even have a park-your-pram service. Not to mention a really nice bookstore and cafe.)

There was a presentation going on in the front area of the writers centre (free with your centre membership) so we had to be vewy vewy quiet but a lovely young lady came around the counter and gave me the low-down.

For a writers centre membership, I get access to workshops (some free, some low-cost) in publishing, writing, and editing; a monthly magazine; help with digital media; contact info for publishers and literary agents; access to specialist services (copyright and legal advice, for example); a small discount on a copy of Australian Writer's Marketplace; etc.

All for $60. Yes, I plan to join.

One of my other burning questions was "Where do I find the kinds of neighborhoods where self-employed and writer-ly types hang out in coffee shops to combat the isolation of being self-employed and/or writerly?" The young lady understood my question immediately and pointed me to a near-by (walk-able) neighborhood and recommended two bookstores along the way!

Now that's a writer's centre.

So, off I strode. As soon as I got into the neighborhood, I encounted a young man in a red shirt with a skinny black tie, tight black jeans, and pointy-toes shoes with silvery buckles walking jauntily across the street. The very essence of hip-ness.

I was in the right neighborhood. I stuck out like a sore thumb but I was in the right neighborhood.

The West End has a lot of young people (teens and 20-somethings and you know they just ooze hip-ness) in it, heaps of cafes and little shops, two very good bookstores, rolling hills, and what looks like some pretty cool residential areas. It's on the point of land just across from the CBD and just behind the "arts zone" that houses the Queensland State Library, Queensland Museum, Modern Art Museum, and a performing arts space.



Can you say "artsy-fartsy central"? While I didn't actually see any laptops in those cafes (the sure sign of the self-employed/writer-ly type with cabin fever) I did see a lot of casual coffee-sipping and general relaxation.

I plan to go back and drag Jeff along to see if we can find any good restaurants.

(Yet another side note: there are shit-loads of cafes around here. At least one, if not 3 or 4, on every block. But they all close between 3 and 4. What I haven't seen much of is bona fide restaurants. You know, sit-down-at-a-table-with-menu-service kinda places. Some very over-the-top restaurants but not a lot of the sort of thing I'm used to on H St. NE, 14th St. NW, 7th St. SE, 17th St. NW or even 7th St. NW in DC. There's got to be some, right? Still looking. )


It was a lovely day, an excellent discovery, and oh-by-the-way I ducked into a little shop and got my nails done. I knew you'd want to know. ;)