Cirrus@Austlit

President’s Letter

As this magazine goes to print we have received the saddest news – our beloved Rosie Scott died on 4 May. She was such a champion for the marginalised and supportive of colleagues old and young. A Sydney PEN life-member, Rosie leaves a significant legacy for us to build on. She was a PEN person through and through, and an example of what compassion, intelligence and a willingness to work hard can achieve. Her anthologies of and about asylum seekers made sure this topic was discussed.

Sadly, this is also a time to pay tribute to two other fine women writers who were great friends with Rosie, the mother and daughter Anne Deveson and Georgia Blain who died within days of each other. I knew Anne from over two decades ago when we had a lively discussion over dinner about a documentary she wanted to make about the Middle East. She wanted to interview women politicians from Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, etc. and had told me she was going to call it ‘the politics of peace’. I couldn’t wait to see it screened. Sadly September 11 occurred and she told me it was no longer a possibility. She continued to write about this topic and many others. These were all women committed to telling important stories and asking questions about society, and the place of women and other marginalised groups in contemporary life.'