Australian writers will from next year vie for one of the world’s richest prizes with the Rudd Government to unveil the Prime Minister’s Literary Prize for fiction and non-fiction books.

In a bold and affirming cultural statement, the annual awards will have just two categories: published fiction book of the year, and published non-fiction book of the year. Each prize is worth $100,000, tax-free, with a further $100,000 to be spent each year on promoting and administering the awards.

It will be among the richest prizes for literature in the world. It is surpassed among the major awards by only the £100,000 ($236,000) International IMPAC Dublin Literary award and the Man Booker for writers from Commonwealth countries, which comes with a winner’s cheque of £50,000.

The $1.2 million commitment over four years, to start in 2007-08 and to be run through Arts Minister Peter Garrett’s office, was part of the ALP’s pre-election “Labor’s Priorities to Australia’s Future” document, which was not released during the campaign.

Writers and publishers were overjoyed yesterday by the new Government’s decision. Read more of the article here.

The Youngblood Designers Market was held on Friday the 7th and Saturday the 8th of December 2007 at the Powerhouse Museum, so Two Flat Whites along with our good friends Design Federation headed out to support the event!

Check out the wrap up of the event right here.

This eclectic mix will showcase some of the best bands, singer/songwriters and up and coming talent in the country, set in one of the most amazing festival venues – Port Macquarie. The festival will be held on the beach in the Sundowner Breakwall Tourist Park, which occupies eight hectares of beachfront land right in the heart of Port Macquarie. The location is incredible with a stage backdrop of surf, sun and sand, highlighting what the East Coast Summer Culture is all about – lazing at the beach, listening to great music.

The line up this year features some Australia’s best music acts including Gotye, Cog, Butterfingers, Clare Bowditch & The Feeding Set, Ash Grunwald, The Fumes, Kid Confucious, Bluejuice, SubAudible Hum, The Boat People, The Rocketsmiths, Aurora Jane & Massive Change, The Sins, Marshall & The Fro, SickBoy, Cass Eager, Tjupurru, Mr Percival, Melanie Horsnell, George Byrne, Ashleigh Mannix & Geoff Turnbull.
 
Besides the great line up of bands, another highlight of the weekend is the airing of the incredibly talented SunScreen video clip finalists. SunScreen is a national competition uncovering Australia’s most innovative music video clip makers. The finalist’s clips will be airing on an outdoor cinema screen between the live acts, with the winner announced on the Saturday night. The talent is so good, the 2005 winners, Broken Yellow, used their $10,000 prize of product and services to film The Herd’s very successful cover of the Red Gum Classic ‘I was only 19′. 

The Festival of the Sun runs from the 14th to 15th of December 2007. Get to Port Macquarie NSW for all the action! 

Article written by Tiger Bennett.

Recently Two Flat Whites made its way to the Central Coast of NSW to catch Deni Hines at Lizotte’s Restaurant. Laying claim to being the ultimate night out, with great food and great music with 100 of the hottest seats on the Central Coast! Few would disagree.

As we made our way from the car park & to the front door we were welcomed by friendly staff. The décor was set out with simple yet effective motivational quotes of music & displayed a trendy & hip look.

The food was absolutely scrumptious. I ordered the Salt & Pepper Squid; it was slightly spicy & yet was surrounded by a passion fruit sauce that made my taste buds sing. The main cause was a beautiful cut of meat cooked to perfection. The whole meal was creative & left a great impression.

Then the main act, Deni Hines made her way to the stage. The stage was positioned very well & gave everyone in the audience a fantastic view. I must say I have never seen Deni Hines before this night & she was superb. The vocal talents & the mix between original music & old favorites were simply excellent.

The supporting band was very good. All seeming to enjoy themselves. The bass guitarist was full of energy, the drummer enjoying every song & the solo by the electric guitar was breathtaking. The back up singer was fun & mixed well with Deni & the band.

If you haven’t been lucky enough to see Deni Hines live, do it. It’s not just a show; it’s two hours of pour entertainment. Catch a dinner show at Lizotte’s Restaurant while you’re at it!

Lizotte’s Restaurant - the home of Live @ Lizottes
Phone: 02 4368 2017
Fax: 02 4368 2015
Email: info {at} lizottes.com(.)au
Address: Lot 3 Avoca Drive Kincumber NSW 2251

Clubland would have to be one of the best Australian movies we have seen this year. A romantic comedy starring Brenda Blethyn who plays an aging comedian trying to reignite a lengthy career & Frankie J Holden as a former singer with a number one hit to his name, play a separated couple still in contact due to their two sons. Both live a typical divorced Aussie life with plenty of fighting & canned goods being thrown around the kitchen. As the movie plays on the pair begin to fall for each other again & you can guess the rest.

One of the great things about this movie is the supporting young cast of Khan Chittenden & Emma Booth who meet one day & that can be best described as opposites attract. There love story grows throughout the movie & the pair really play there parts well. Keep an eye out for both of these wonderful actors in the future. 

Plenty of messages are portrayed throughout the movie including falling in love, living life to the fullest, battling adversity & sticking together through thick & thin! Directed by Cherie Nowlan, Clubland is a film that seems determined to charm audiences. It aspires to be a feel-good movie and, for the most part, it succeeds.

The motto of the movie would have to be ‘the only remedy for love is to love more, in this house, letting go is never easy! Do yourself a favour & don’t miss it.

In 2007 SSIDELINE will present Australia’s largest fashion design competition THE FASHION WARS. Final Judging will be held at the Family Nightclub in Brisbane on Sunday December 16.

So all you creative types, what are you waiting for? read all about it and download the entry form here.

http://www.myspace.com/ssideline

Young Blood: Designers Market is a showcase of Australia’s best and brightest designers and a unique shopping experience.  It starts this week on Friday and goes until 5pm Saturday, so why not make a trip down to the city and have a look.

Young Blood at Christmas
Powerhouse Museum, 500 Harris Street Ultimo

Friday 7th December, 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Saturday 8th December, 8:00am – 5:00pm

http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/youngblood

Friends of the Earth Melbourne, in collaboration with the City of Yarra, will present the annual Solutions to Climate Change community festival in early December.

Learn and share practical knowledge about low impact lifestyles, renewable energy, and simple D.I.Y solutions to climate change. The afternoon will involve talks by climate change specialists, amazing workshops (for big and small), stalls, FoE’s foodie delights, and some fine rhythms!

Inspiration to Change is the festival theme, and the event is therefore focused on inspiring people to implement solutions to climate change and improve the health of the planet.

The festival is taking place in Darling Gardens, Clifton Hill, on the 8th of December from 1-5pm.

The Byte Me Festival 2007 is a showcase of digital content in its many forms: computer games, animation, mobile phone content, blogs, podcasts, digital photography, web and multimedia design, VJing, electronic music, music videos etc. Digital content is everywhere and part of every industry!

This is the first time this event has been held, and there’s a great line-up of international speakers: people who are working for Dreamworks, EA Games, The Weta Workshop and more. The Byte Me Festival runs from the 2nd December to 9th December 2007 at Perth Town Hall.

See the full program and more information about each event and the speakers on the ByteMe! Festival website!