Monthly Archives

January 2018

Nine gifts for the writer in your life

24 January 2018

Christmas might be long gone but any time is a good time to buy the writer in your life a little special something. (I’ve waited until after my birthday to post this so no one takes it as a list of demands. Though, ahem, there’s always next year.)

1. Literary mug

I am one of those people who fall into the ‘I love Austen’ camp. If the writer in your life doesn’t, skip this one (but tell them they’re a little bit insane).

2. Lit wear

I stumbled across Redbubble when looking for a manga T-shirt for my daughter, and they have a super cool range of bookish designs. Team a tee with a pair of literary socks and you’ve got a new writing outfit (pants optional — unless your writer intends to write in public, then always wear pants).

3. Notebook

You can never have enough beautiful notebooks. Never. Throw in these cute pencils from Literary Emporium and you’ve got a winner.

4. Festival/conference ticket

If you want to give a gift that will help develop a writer’s career why not buy them a ticket to a festival or conference that will expand their skills and allow them to network with fellow industry professionals. For example, KidLitVic, a professional development day in May, would be perfect for a children’s writer. There are also writers centres in every state which run comprehensive workshop programs. If you’re not confident about selecting a specific workshop, some writers centres sell vouchers for this purpose.

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5. Tote bag

I like big books and I cannot lie. Clearly this one is for the puntastically minded. To carry all those big books. Nuff said.

6. Writers wallpaper

If your writer’s work space needs sprucing up, perhaps this literary wallpaper (detail below) is the go. Inspiration and decoration in one.

7. A book

Well, duh. I mean, I know this is obvious but is there anything better than a carefully chosen book? Buy it from a local independent bookstore for extra brownie points.

8. Book voucher

This might seem like a boring present but it isn’t, I swear. A book voucher always has me salivating over the possibilities. The only challenge is selecting which books to buy from my ridiculously long list of wants. Pop a voucher in a Mr Darcy mug for double the love.

9. DIY voucher

If you’re strapped for cash there’s still one important gift that you can give: time. For those writers with families, finding time to write can sometimes be challenging. Present your writer with a voucher for a day’s guilt-free writing time and then remove any children, leave pre-prepared delicious food, and evacuate. It may be the best gift of the lot.