Ann Blainey is next Summer Read author blogging from  21 - 24 December.

Ann Blainey has written five biographies. She has served on the council of two Australian opera companies and the Percy Grainger Museum in Melbourne. Her previous book was Fanny and Adelaide: The Lives of the Remarkable Kemble Sisters, one sister was a famous opera singer and the other a famous actress.

Her book I am Melba is one of the books on the Summer Read shortlist.

I am Melba tells the story of Melbourne’s Dame Nellie Melba, Australia’s first international superstar. Melba performed to overflowing concert halls within a few short years of travelling to London and Paris, and became a singing phenomenon and was the subject of much controversy. This biography captures the glamour, energy and excitement of this legendary Melburnian export.

As part of the free Summer Read events across Victoria, Ann will be appearing at:

• Miller’s Homestead - historic house owned by The City of Knox at the of Cnr Dorrigo Road and Melrose Crt, Boronia on Friday 6 February 2009, from 7.00 pm
   A celtic harp will play in the beautiful garden prior to and following Anne Blainey’s talk.
   For further information phone Ferntree Gully Library 9294 8140 or book online at  http://summerread12.eventbrite.com

• Wangaratta Library, 21 Docker Street, Wangaratta on Wednesday 11 February 2009, 7.00 – 8.00 pm
   Students from the Northern Rivers Academy of Music, will accompany Ann Blainey on a  journey through the life and times of Dame Nellie Melba.
   Join in and evening of All Things Melba starting with Melba champagne on arrival.
   For further information phone Wangaratta Library 5721 2366 or book online at  http://summerread18.eventbrite.com

• Collingwood Library, 11 Stanton Street, Abbotsford on Sunday 15 February 2009, 3.00 – 4.30 pm
   A choral recital will precede Anne Blainey’s talk and Melba Champagne, Peach Melba  and Melba Toast will be served
   For further information phone Collingwood Library on 1300 695 427 or book online at  http://summerread13.eventbrite.com

What Ann says about summer reading

“My happiest memory of summer reading is lying in the hayloft of my grandparent’s farm poring over old copies of The Australian Women’s Mirror. I was ten years old; and though I did not know it then, I was embarking on my first historical research. The magazines dated from the mid nineteen thirties, and I was fascinated by the unfamiliar world that their pages revealed. Even today, when I recall those summer afternoons, I can smell warm hay – and see The Phantom comic strip, which appeared weekly in those Mirrors. My summer reading is still historical. Last summer I read Ouida’s Moths. I gain the greatest pleasure from nineteenth century fiction.”