Retired but not contented

I’m excited to tell you that the non-fiction book I’ve been working on for some time, on finding contentment in retirement, will be published this year.

The book’s theme was triggered by a comment to me from a student in a University of the 3rd Age (U3A) class discussing retirement: ‘I’m retired, and doing a lot of things to keep busy, but I’m not contented.’

More news to come on that front …

Indie bookshop visits

I’ve continued my visits to independent bookshops in 2026 – Petrarch’s well-established friendly bookshop in Launceston, Tasmania and Annie’s small and friendly bookshop in Peregian, Sunshine Coast, Queensland. I bought Hannah Kent’s memoir, Always Home, Always Homesick, at Petrarch’s and Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet at Annie’s. I’ve seen the Hamnet movie and found the book follows a different but not unrelated plot.

Men’s Shed Writers Group

The Writers Group at Oxley Men’s Shed is also under way again in 2026, meeting every fortnight. As usual, the enthusiastic and productive group produced stories on a variety of topics for our first reading from school and sporting memories to the Vietnam War and government (over)spending incidents.  This year we’re also looking at being more creative in our use of language, beginning with a discussion of a page from Anthony Doerr’s wonderfully written book, All the Light We Cannot See.

Until next time

Darryl Dymock