Robert McCrum, who for the past ten years has been the Literary Editor of The Observer, recently left his post. Signing off, he wrote this wonderful history of the last decade in book publishing for The Guardian, in the form of 10 short chapters. Travelling from Amazon to Zadie Smith with detours through Oprah, Ian McEwan and the blogosphere, McCrum arrives at the unexpected but happy conclusion that

to be a writer in the English language today is to be one of the luckiest people alive.

As a recent graduate of my first literary festival, I was also thrilled to see McCrum’s mention of the proliferation of prizes and festivals  – which he describes as “the new rock ‘n’ roll” – during the past decade.

Some favourite moments from the Sydney Writers Festival, which ended yesterday:

• Jeannette Winterson’s fiery opening fanfare to the whole event at the Opera House on Tuesday
• An esteemed expatriate writer advising me, as she signed my copy of her book, that “it’s all a crap-shoot” (in which “it” referred to the whims of critical and popular appeal);
• Helen Garner’s charming lack of pretension during her conversation with Caroline Baum (who did an impressive job of all three “in-conversations” she led);
• Being asked some tough and interesting questions by members of the audience in my two panel sessions (such as “What is your attitude to dying having written the book?” and “Have you experienced any moments of ‘magical thinking’ since being widowed?”);
• Learning there’s a significant difference between food and “food-like substances”, that I might be guilty of harboring a few of the latter in my fridge and pantry (a food crime in the view of the magnificent Michael Pollan, author of Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defence of Food), and that I should get rid of them immediately;
• Being well looked after by the Green Room Guru, Grant Poulton;
• Being carefully tended by my publishers, including a leisurely feeding and watering at The Wharf Restaurant on Thursday.

Big sigh of relief as my first-ever Sydney Writers Festival panels came and went without a major hitch, and I even managed to sell quite a few copies of my book. A cast of loyal supporters (including my mother, my publisher, my editor, and a few dear friends) came to provide ballast for my session with Debra Adelaide and Susan Wyndham. Having studiously avoided cliche in all three books, it was more difficult in the session itself, unfortunately titled “The Final Journey”. The facilitator forgot to introduce us, perhaps assuming the audience knew who each of us was. But we got over that hurdle and eventually launched into some interesting to-and-fro between panellists. One interesting question at the end was whether our attitude to dying had changed as a result of our experiences / writing our books. My reply – that while I would prefer it not to be any time soon, I was not afraid of dying - made it into the next day’s “Festival News” rag.

The next day – Friday – I was on with Kate Jennings, in a conversation about “Personal Journeys” facilitated by Susannah Omundsen of Macquarie University. This was a daunting prospect given the regard in which I hold Kate’s novel Moral Hazard as well as her ability to forge an independent path as a writer in New York for the past 28 years. There was no need for my nerves, though, as Kate was lovely and generous, and our panel a lot of fun. We had good rapport on stage, and there were plenty of laughs, which is always entertaining for the people who’ve complimented us by choosing to attend ours of all available sessions.

Last night was the official opening of the Sydney Writers Festival, which began with an impassioned and lightning-sharp address by Jeannette Winterson at the Sydney Opera House. She danced between Picasso and politics and poetry with a dazzling athleticism of mind. Her wide-ranging talk was dense with ideas and unexpected connections between global and personal experiences, making her case that creativity and the creative life is at the heart of all human endeavour, and the only thing that will ultimately save us as a species.

I don’t think Wendy Were and her board of directors could have asked for a better kick-off. My head is a little sore after the opening night party, but it was fun to see old and new friends.

The PEN Poem Relay – the Olympics of freedom of expression – is in full swing en route to Beijing for August. The poem “June” by imprisoned Chinese journalist and poet Shi Tao has now been translated into more than 90 languages. The poem is spreading around the world, country to country, language to language, in the spirit of international cooperation symbolised by the Olympics.

Right now the poem is in Fujian, a region of China known for its linguistic diversity. On the PEN Poem Relay website you can hear the poem being read in your choice of languages and find out more about this amazing global event.

PEN is an international organisation that advocates for freedom of expression and promotes friendship and cooperation among writers. I am a proud member of the Sydney chapter and part of its management committee.

Recently I mentioned some tentative steps I’d made inside bookstores to see who had stocked my book, and where they had placed it on their shelves. I have two updates to that post, one ridiculous and the other sublime.

The ridiculous: the bookstore that had carefully displayed my book in the home renovation / interior decoration section. That’s a category error if ever I heard of one. I pity any renovator who bought a copy in the hope of a blow-by-blow description of how to transform her home.

The sublime: Seeing an artful arrangement of my book in the window of Better Read Than Dead, Newtown. I was so excited, I went in to thank them, and ended up signing a few copies.

Thank you to those readers who have taken the time to write to me with their response to my book. I like the fact that each reader refers to a different moment in the book, as if that particular detail had special resonance just for them. It is deeply satisfying.

I wanted to let interested readers know there are discussion questions to assist book clubs that are considering selecting my book. (They are on the Book page if the link fails.) Thanks to those who have already scheduled it for their reading groups.

By the way, I would be happy to join your group’s discussion by phone at a set time to answer questions directly. You can use the Contact page to reach me.

From Monday for three weeks my longtime pal Jen Fleming (co-author of Spotless, the biggest-selling Australian nonfiction book of recent years) and I can be heard exchanging thanks on mix106.5fm’s Thank You Project. The idea of the Project is to gather as many people as possible who wish to thank someone in their lives for something. Sounds vague, but each individual’s on-air vote of thanks is specific to the person they are thanking – in my case, I thank Jen for taking me on a short holiday up to the Hawkesbury River north of Sydney to get away from the house a few months after my husband John passed away. I was invited to be part of the “gallery” of on-air thanks-givers due to an interview I’d done recently with Marnie T, who presents the 106.5 “Body and Soul” program on Sunday mornings.

Looking at the Project website, I see that the on-air thank yous are divided into “celebrities” and “real people”. I know which category I’m likely to end up in, but I feel a little sorry for those others who apparently aren’t “real people”, but who behave like “real people” nevertheless.