Remember the old-fashioned book made of paper? The one whose cover protects its white pages inside, peppered with tightly-packed print? I’m happy for readers and writers to commune with each other in any way they choose, but still, a real book in the hand might be worth two on any other device ... for relaxation, … Continue reading Booksmaxxing
Author: Margaret McCaffrey
Margaret is a Melbourne/Naarm-based writer developing a memoir about the relationship she had with her father, a wounded veteran of the Second World War and prisoner of war in Germany.
Excerpts from her manuscript can be found in American Writers Review, Jewels of San Fedele and Clairitage Press. In 2013 she was awarded a scholarship to the Norman Mailer Writers Colony in Provincetown, where she began her manuscript.
In 2015, she gained an MA in Creative Writing from Wilkes University, PA. She writes non-fiction, personal essay and the occasional short story.
Winner of 2026 American Writers Review Contest
It was a pleasure to judge this year's AWR contest. It's my second year representing Elwood Writers as one of the judges, and such an honour to read all the contributions. In two years, the quality of entries just keeps rising. Congratulations to editor D Ferrara on a short-list full of surprises and containing something … Continue reading Winner of 2026 American Writers Review Contest
Join the 2026 AWR Contest: ‘The Truth Will Set You Free’
Last year, on behalf of Elwood Writers, Barry Lee Thompson and I had the pleasure of judging submissions to the American Writers Review (AWR) annual literary contest. The editor of San Fedele Press, D Ferrara, themed the 2025 entries to both contest and anthology as ‘Buyers’ Remorse’. Writers these days are encouraged to be good literary citizens, … Continue reading Join the 2026 AWR Contest: ‘The Truth Will Set You Free’
Princess Diaries
Sifting through the online lit news, one writer’s anecdote caught my eye. An Australian magazine had invited authors to respond to the prompt: ‘What I Wish I’d Known about Writing’. Shirley Le, whose work I’m not yet familiar with, had a visceral response. When she first announced publicly that she wanted to write, her cousin … Continue reading Princess Diaries
A Change is Gonna Come*
"Live like a mighty river. Freedom and happiness are found in the flexibility and ease with which we move through change." This sentiment, attributed to the Buddha, becomes more relevant for me as I grow older. If I Iearned one thing during Lockdown, it's that everything changes all the time. And so it is with … Continue reading A Change is Gonna Come*
Stories, Songs and a Post Office in Harlem
December 2025 marked the fifth anniversary of Every Second Tuesday, the anthology released by Elwood Writers in 2020. In the middle of a wild Melbourne lockdown, my writing group launched its book via an online event with Readings books. One story of mine included was a personal essay, 'The White Woman’, written after a visit to … Continue reading Stories, Songs and a Post Office in Harlem
Stories of Change and Place
The interconnection between change and place became more apparent to me once I'd finalised my piece for Tim McQueen’s program on Vision Australia Radio (VAR). In preparing with Elwood Writers for Cover to Cover, I better understood that change happens all the time – no matter our resistance – but that it always occurs in place, … Continue reading Stories of Change and Place
Radio Stars
UK author and media personality Richard Osmond recently announced on his own podcast that audio books are the fastest-growing format in the publishing industry. The reason being that you can listen to an audio book while driving, gardening, lulling yourself to sleep or even … ironing! In other words, you are free to multitask – … Continue reading Radio Stars
Buy Now, Regret Later – a literary contest
We've all done it. Experienced buyer's remorse, that is. That pair of '70s bell bottoms you thought you looked so good in, but rarely fitted into. The gifts you've stored for years for which you've never found a suitable recipient. A life - maybe - you've bought into, but since wondered about. What about when … Continue reading Buy Now, Regret Later – a literary contest
Books, Bans, and the Battle for the Soul of a Nation
Persimmon Tree is a US literary publication for women over the age of sixty. (I just qualify!) Recently the magazine called for subscribers to offer their thoughts on ‘The Assault on the Cultural and Intellectual Life of America’. As my country, Australia, has just emerged from a spirited national election, in which the vote shifted … Continue reading Books, Bans, and the Battle for the Soul of a Nation
WRITINGS AND MUSINGS OF MARGARET MCCAFFREY 