Walter Mason will talk on Martin Chuzzlewit and the lure of America at the NSW Dickens Society on Saturday June 2, 2018

Saturday, 2nd June
A talk by Walter Mason: Martin Chuzzlewit and the Lure of America

Walter is the Vice-President of the NSW Dickens Society, a professional speaker, author and tour guide. Dickens’ final exploration of the picaresque form in The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit has always been one of his least-discussed books, but in this talk, Walter Mason makes the case for it being one of his best. Dickens made a decision to switch the scene to America partway through the novel, and Walter also looks at Dickens’ relationship to America and the ways in which it was portrayed by his peers in English literature.

This talk is hosted by the NSW Dickens Society.

Non-members are always welcome.

Entry for non-members is $10.

Meetings are held at 10.30 at the Sydney Room, City Tattersalls Club, 194 – 204 Pitt Street (near Market Street), Sydney. No bookings required. $5 entry fee for NSW Dickens Society members. $10 for non-members.

Thang Ngo — Blogging Your Interests Tuesday, 13 February 2018, 12:30pm at the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts - FREE!

My own wonderful life partner Thang Ngo is giving a talk at the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts in February that should interest all who want to document their travels.

Thang Ngo — Blogging Your Interests

Tuesday, 13 February 2018, 12:30pm – 1:30pm

Venue: Mitchell Theatre 

Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts

We all have something we’re passionate about. Our interests can be as diverse as politics, food, fashion, music, gardening and more.

Blogging is a way of sharing your passion with the world and engaging with others who share your interests.

Well-known food blogger Thang Ngo will reveal how to use your passion to build an engaged community through blogging.

Learn tips, tricks and tactics for starting a successful blog and finding your niche, in addition to strategies for maintaining your motivation and building readership. Find out how blogging helps your career by developing your understanding of digital writing and social media.

FREE — Everyone Welcome

No Bookings Required

 

About Thang Ngo

Thang started blogging over 17 years ago as a local government Councillor in Fairfield to engage with constituents. In 2009, he started a food blog to celebrate the rich and flavoursome food of migrant eateries in his neighbourhood. Today, Noodlies is one of Australia’s most popular food blogs and is credited with helping fuel the popularity of Asian street food, such as Vietnamese pork rolls.

https://noodlies.com/

Walter Mason lectures on Charles Dickens' final novel "The Mystery of Edwin Drood"

On Saturday June 11, 2016, I am proud to be lecturing to the NSW Dickens Society on Charles Dickens' final, unfinished, novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

It has been such a delight reading this book closely and researching it, and I am excited to present some wonderful stories about Dickens at the lecture. Keep your ears out for opium, mysterious goings-on in church crypts and the lingering effects of mesmerism. I even cover Dickens' activities from beyond the grave!

NSW Dickens Society Meetings are always open to all, and the cost for guests is only $10 - money well spent that helps keep this precious literary society alive.

Details:

Edwin Drood and the Death of Dickens - a talk by Walter Mason at the NSW Dickens Society.

John Everrett Millais' sketch of Charles Dickens shortly after his death in 1870

Saturday 11th of June at the Castlereagh Boutique Hotel, 1st Floor

169 Castlereagh St

Sydney (about 5 minutes walk from Town Hall Station).

10.30am start

Entry fee for guests (all welcome) $10 

 

Walter Mason lectures on Bhutan, April 8, 2016, 1pm - Ashfield Library

In August 2015 I was lucky enough to travel to Bhutan, one of the most beautiful and fascinating places on Earth.

Do join me at Ashfield Library on Friday April 8, 2016 for a lecture on Bhutan's culture, history and religion, accompanied with amazing photographs I took while I was there.

This is a free event, and all are welcome - do mark your diaries.

Details:

Friday April 8, 1pm - Level 6 Council Chambers, Ashfield Library

Walter Mason will give an illustrated lecture Om Mani Padme Hum and the Dragon Kingdom of Bhutan.

This is a Seniors Week event.

Tonight at Leichhardt Library

The windows of the Actor's Pagoda in Saigon's Go Vap district.

Tonight (June 28) I will be telling some of the stories behind Destination Saigon, showing some lovely pictures and having a whole lot of fun - it would be woderful if you could join me!
I will be introducing some new material, so if you have heard me before, never fear - there will be something novel for you to experience tonight.
This is a free event, starting at 6.30 pm. Details:

Author Talk : Walter Mason @ Leichhardt Library

28 Jun 2012
6:30pm - 8:00pm
28 June - Join Walter - writer, spiritual tourist and a lifelong dilettante - for an evening of conversation and armchair travel. Bookings essential - 9367 9266

 Conversations with...Walter Mason

 

Come and join Walter, raconteur extraordinaire, for our June author talk at the library. 

Walter's first book, Destination Saigon, offers the reader a taste of the real Vietnam and its people on a sometimes funny, always fascinating journey from the bustling cities to out of the way villages, into Buddhist monasteries and along the Mekong - a real delight for armchair travellers and those contemplating their own adventure.

Destination Saigon was named one of the ten best travel books of 2010 by The Sydney Morning Herald.

Thursday 28 June

6:30pm - 8:00pm 

Leichhardt Library

Bookings essential - 9367 9266

Free event - All welcome

Light refreshments served

 

Walter Mason to Speak on the Mysteries of Angkor Wat, Monday 24 October 2011

Angkor Wat: The Beauty and Spiritual Significance of Cambodia's Great Forgotten City

At the Southern Cross Academy of Light
Monday, 24th October 2011
St John’s Uniting Church Hall, cnr of Yeo Street and Barry Street, Neutral Bay. Enter off Barry Street. Session starts 7:30pm. Entry Fee: $15, concession $10.

Forgotten for centuries in the jungles of Cambodia, Angkor Wat was once the world's greatest and most sophisticated city. Re-discovered by French explorers in the nineteenth century, this massive stone structure was both a political and a religious centre, built to illustrate the creation myths of Hinduism, and later accommodating many of the schools of Buddhism. In this fascinating talk Walter will take us through the stories, history and meanings of the great temple of Angkor Wat.


Walter Mason is a travel writer whose book on Vietnam, Destination Saigon, was named by the Sydney Morning Herald as one of the 10 best travel books of 2010.
Walter is currently at work on his next book, a spiritual journey through Cambodia. He is also in the final stages of writing his doctoral dissertation at the University of Western Sydney's Writing & Society Research Group, where he is writing a history of self-help literature in Australia."

Walter Mason Speaking at Sydney Unitarian Church - Sunday 14th August

Walter Mason, author of Destination Saigon, is in the final stages of writing his doctoral dissertation on the history of self-help books in Australia.





Join him as he presents an entertaining, fascinating and utterly unique talk on the intriguing progress of this most-maligned of literary genres.

Details:

Walter Mason Speaks on Self-Help Literature in Australia (Part of the Sunday Service)
10.30am Sunday 14th August
Sydney Unitarian Church
15 Francis Street East Sydney

"Destination Saigon" author Walter Mason speaking on 24th June

Swedenborg and Self-Help: The Influence of Emanuel Swedenborg on the Modern Literature of Self Improvement

Speaker: Walter Mason

FRIDAY 24TH JUNE 2011 at 7.45pm
Swedenborg Centre, 1 Avon Road, North Ryde
Cost: $7; concession $5 (including refreshments)

While most imagine that self-help books are something new, emerging fully-formed at some mysterious point in the late 1960s, they are, in fact, a venerable literary form with their roots stretching back into the 18th century. Many of the earliest self-help writers were students of Swedenborg's writings, and his ideas have filtered into our culture via the medium of popular self-help, from "How to Win Friends and Influence People" to "The Secret."
In this talk Walter Mason, who is completing his doctoral dissertation on the history of self-help literature in Australia, will discuss the people and ideas that have connections to Swedenborg and that have gone on to make up part of the rich history of popular non-fiction in the West.

Swedenborg Association of Australia Inc.
North Ryde Group - Telephone: (02) 9888 1066
website: www.swedenborg.com.au

Temple Bells of Sydney

Those who have been to my talks or my meditation classes would know that I have a thing for temple bells.
Indeed, there is a passage in Destination Saigon in which I talk about that most exquisite Vietnamese pasttime - listening to the afternoon bell in the temple garden.
I thought I would document some of the bells in the temples in my neighbourhood.
Unfortunately local councils in Australia are not so keen on the exquisite sound of the temple bell, and they are only allowed to be sounded at certain times - hence the stern note on this bell at Minh Quang temple.



Thien An temple has an embarrassment of bells, it would seem.
One stands forlornly in an ante-room of the main prayer hall, seemingly neglected.



One has its own groovy little shelter in the temple garden.



And there's even a miniature one attached to the eaves outside the kitchen.



At the Mingyue Chinese temple there is a gorgeous specimen in the main prayer hall, suspended in its own custom-built red frame.

Author ecounter @ Lindfield Library : Walter Mason

Author Encounter at Lindfield Library with Walter Mason

When: Wednesday 24 March
Venue: Lindfield Library, 265 Pacific Highway, Lindfield
Time: 10.00am for a 10.30am start
Cost: $5.00 (includes light refreshments)
Bookings are essential and can be made at all branches of Ku-ring-gai Library, by phoning 94240 428 or emailing us at lind.library@kmc.nsw.gov.au
Books will be available for purchase and signing by the author.

About the talk

From the crazy heat and colour of Saigon to the quieter splendour of Hanoi, Walter Mason gives us a rare, joyous and at times hilarious insight into twenty-first century Vietnam. Seduced by the beauty and charm of its people, and the sensuousness of its culture, we can almost taste the little coconut cakes cooked over a fire in a smoky Can Tho kitchen, or smell the endless supplies of fresh baguettes and croissants just out of city ovens.

Travelling off the beaten track to far-flung villages and lesser-known towns, we cruise along the Mekong, board hopelessly overcrowded local buses or perch perilously on the back of motor-bikes. Behind-the-scenes visits to Buddhist monasteries reveal a quieter and more transcendent world beyond the busy day trips of tourists. And in the process we begin to see the country through the eyes of its people.
Join us as we get a taste of the real Vietnam and its people on a sometimes funny, always fascinating journey from the bustling cities to out of the way villages, into Buddhist monasteries and along the Mekong - a real delight for armchair travellers and those contemplating their own adventure.