Di Morrissey’s love lost

The great Di Morrissey’s husband always kept the Champagne on ice until the book was finished. But not this year.

Di Morrissey with partner Boris Janjic, who always kept Champagne ready for when she finished her latest book.

The great Di Morrissey likes to write a book a year. Her partner, Boris Anjic, would keep a bottle of Champagne on ice and he’d wait for her to rush from her office, usually sometime in April or May, saying: “It’s done!” They’d pop the cork and celebrate.

But not this year.

“I first met Boris when I was 15,” says Di, and while they did not immediately marry, they spent the last 25 years together. Now she’s grieving because Boris died of a brain tumour on March 14. He was an accomplished cinematographer, and Di’s partner in fishing, hugging and dog-walking.

“It’s been hard to finish without him,” says Di. “He always had that cold bottle ready. We were rarely apart, until now. It wasn’t the same on my own. But I got there. River Song will be out on 8 October.”

Di Morrissey and her husband Boris, when she was 15, and they had just met. Picture: Supplied

Di is grateful to everyone who reached out while Boris was ill, and after he died. The Manning Valley community has been particularly wonderful. She is doing her best to stay busy and cheerful. She’ll be supporting her daughter, Gabrielle Morrissey, at a Mother’s Day lunch at the gorgeous Manly Pacific on Sydney’s north side on May 10 – and she would very much like to see you there, and so would Gabrielle, who is chief executive of Women & Children First, which has been assisting women with refuge for 49 years. The organisation also encourages the development of “upstanders” – boys who don’t stand back while others tell disrespectful jokes, or use gender-based derogatory slang about women and girls. Upstanders call out disrespect – and they celebrate positive masculinity, which has always involved standing up for women.

They are expecting 200 people at this year’s Mother’s Day lunch, for the views and the lovely food. Writer Mandy Nolan will MC and Gretel Killeen will be the speaker. You can book tickets here.

Deepest sympathy, Di, from all of us here at the Books pages. You are such a buoyant and marvellous person, I just know you’ll be back on top soon.

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It has been six months since Michael Gawenda, former editor of The Age, published his book, My Life as a Jew. In his newsletter to subscribers last week, he said: “Lots of people came along (to the launch). More than 100, I reckon. It was a festive occasion. Two days later came the Hamas massacres.”

“I have written scores of articles since October 7 ... I have spoken to many hundreds of people, at Jewish and non-Jewish events and given that I am not too modest, many people told me that my book resonated with them, that the story of my life as a Jew had parallels in the story of their lives. Jews and non-Jews,” he said.

“But I have not appeared at any of the big writers’ festivals, not Adelaide Writers’ Week for reasons that are not a mystery, though I did write to Louise Adler and ask to be put on the program and in response I was told by the program director that Book Week was full of writers and therefore there was no room for me.

“Nor was I invited to the Sydney or Melbourne writers’ festivals. Ok, yes, lots of writers don’t make festivals so OK, perhaps in the estimation of these festival directors, I had written an uninteresting book and had nothing interesting to say. I was however invited to the Manly Writers’ Festival and it was there at this lovely and lively festival a few weeks ago, that the ABC recorded my session with former ABC senior journalist and foreign correspondent Michael Brissenden. It was broadcast on Radio National’s Big Ideas program a couple of days ago. I think it is a good interview. The questions are sometimes tough. Sometimes they imply things that I do not agree with but so what? He made me think.”

You will find the link online, and I recommend it. We must continue to make room for people who are Jewish. They are not the enemy here. Hamas is the common enemy.

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Thomas Edmonds, 90, at his book launch

I was alerted this week to a new memoir by Australian tenor Thomas Edmonds. Ev’ry Valley: A Tenor’s Journey covers his journey from “the humblest of childhoods on the family farm near Peterborough in far South Australia, to the heights of national and international fame as an operatic tenor, in England, Europe and of course Australia.”

He financed the publication of the book. It was launched two weeks ago at the State Opera rehearsal studio in Adelaide. By chance, or maybe design, it was his 90th birthday, and I’m told the event was more like a big party, organised by his wife Elizabeth Campbell (formerly, AO principal mezzo).

Bravo, everyone! The book can be found online.

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Regular readers will know that Australian literary agent and critic, Samuel Bernard, provides a list of Notable Books for you to consider, each and every month. His column appears today, and it came to me with a note saying: “The cover designs of my Notables this week are all absolutely and utterly astounding. Vibrant, symbolic, reflective … will pop off bookshelves … majestic, artistic, they are just gorgeous. Could be a little shout out to all the wonderful cover designers out there?” Consider them celebrated, Samuel! See the covers for yourself over there on the left.

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The Australian covered this news during the week, but I wanted to congratulate the marvellous Alexis Wright on becoming the first author to win the Stella Prize twice. She receives $60,000 from the Stella Forever Fund, this time for her fourth novel, Praiseworthy (Giramondo). The chair of the judging panel, Beejay Silcox said: “Praiseworthy is mighty in every conceivable way.” I chatted to Alexis about the prize, and her planned appearance at the Melbourne Writers’ Festival this weekend. She told me she thought the decision to ban all questions from the audience was “sad” and she’s happy to talk to anyone about issues that face the planet, and its people, which was so lovely to hear.

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Also this week: Kate Grenville has been short-listed for the 2024 Women’s Price for Fiction. Kate remains the only Australian author to have won this award ( The Idea of Perfection won the Orange Prize, as it was then called, in 2001). She’s now the first to be short-listed twice. Now available in paperback, Restless Dolly Maunder is a fictional portrait of Kate’s “complex, conflicted grandmother”. Kate will be a guest of the Sydney Writers’ Festival in May.

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This year’s Calibre Essay Prize – now in its 18th year – has been won by New Zealand poet and fiction writer Tracey Slaughter, who becomes the first overseas writer to win. Her “brilliant, dark, hilarious essay” concerns growing up in her mother’s hair salon.

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Paul Auster died this week. It came as a shock to me, since I’d only just finished reading his latest novel, Baumgartner, over the summer, and didn’t know he was ill. He had lung cancer, and he was just 77 years old, which is much too young.

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Today’s pages: I would have been too scared to do the night shift at a servo when I was growing up, but do read Antonella Gambotto-Burke’s review of Servo, a memoir by somebody who wasn’t. Also today, the remarkable re-issue of a very important book by the late Margaret Tucker. And remember you can reach me with any feedback at all right here: [e-mail].