Anna Hartley is an Australian writer.

She has lived in Paris and Beijing since 2011.

Her work has been published in The Washington Post, France 24, Forbes Travel Guide, The Houston Chronicle, The New Zealand Herald, The Vancouver Sun, the Beijinger, and Babbel Magazine.

Exporing Melbourne, One Meal At A Time

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Exporing Melbourne, One Meal At A Time

Published in לאשה‎ Laisha Magazine, January 2016

Bing! I hop out of the way as another tram trundles through the middle of a busy street. Having long since disappeared from many cities, the tram is still very much part of Melbourne, a quirky patch on the quilt that is this complex, vibrant city. A melting pot of cultures, of interests, languages and history, Australia’s second largest city has a lot to offer visitors, and I’m eager to get to know it a little on my three day visit.

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How YouTube Taught Met To Knit: A Christmas Yarn

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How YouTube Taught Met To Knit: A Christmas Yarn

Published in PRIMOLife December 2015

A man shouts in terror as dirty fingers rake at his clothes. Frenzied, shambling ghouls moan with an ungodly hunger as they pile upon him, teeth bared. There is an agonized, terrified scream as teeth bite into living flesh, tendons are torn and blood spurts onto the ground. 

“Damn!” I gasp. “I dropped a stitch again!”

Human civilization as we know it has been destroyed, dead people have become terrifying zombies while the living are grimly hunted, and I can’t seem to keep my rows even. Don’t let those Granny’s fool you. Knitting, as it turns out, requires a lot of skill- especially if you watch TV at the same time.

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about November the 13th

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about November the 13th

I’ve tried to write something about the attacks of November 13th for weeks. It never feels like the right time, or the right way. Still doesn’t. How can one possibly begin to put words to the enormous confusion of horror, pain, death, anger, grief, emotions, news reports, lack of sleep, tears that was it. How can one begin to describe something that you can’t touch, and which changed the very world in which you live, has coloured the way you see everything, and has made everything Before and After?

How can I, one among millions begin to even try? What right do I have to tell this story?

Like pushing magnets together, my words resist one another. The harder I push, the more violently they slip away into a messy pile on the other side of meaning.

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Feet First: an interview with Raewyn Hill, director of new Perth contemporary dance company Co3

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Feet First: an interview with Raewyn Hill, director of new Perth contemporary dance company Co3

I got to interview the inspiring Raewyn Hill, director of new Perth contemporary dance company Co3 for the Summer 2015/2016 issue of Marque Magazine. We talked about their opening season, getting out of your artistic comfort zone, and off the record, drinking cognac in Montmartre, her old stomping grounds. 

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'Tours for people who don't want to do tours': an interview with Margaret River tour guide Sean Blocksidge

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'Tours for people who don't want to do tours': an interview with Margaret River tour guide Sean Blocksidge

I had a lot of fun recently chatting with Margaret River tour guide Sean Blocksidge, who I interviewed for the inaugural issue of Your Margaret River Magazine. In 2010 he won Western Australian Guide of the Year, he’s been rated the #1 Thing To Do in Australia on Trip Advisor, and he once took Jeremy Clarkson on an adventure tour and lived to tell the tale, yet the journey hasn’t always been a smooth one.

Being a tour guide myself it was fascinating to get his perspective on the scene, and the story of his business, as well as  some insider tips for that even a locals will appreciate. 

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Hey You! Yes You: meet Ellen, who has been up the Eiffel Tower over 700 times

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Hey You! Yes You: meet Ellen, who has been up the Eiffel Tower over 700 times

Welcome to "Hey You! Yes You", a new series in which I'll introduce you to a new marvelous person that I have encountered here on Earth,  each with their own interesting story. 

For the first ever post of I have chosen a friend of mine here in Paris, Ellen. Ellen is a seriously talented musician and singer, who has just finished recording a to-be-named new album.  

By regularly coaxes the magic of unicorns out of her voice and into our ears on the Paris music scene. By day she works in one of the most beautiful places on earth: The Eiffel Tower. As a tour guide, and has been up the Tower more than a hundred times. Like, way more.

I thought it would be fun to ask her a few questions about what that is like. 

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Anna's Adventures: Rock climbing in the Portuguese wilderness

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Anna's Adventures: Rock climbing in the Portuguese wilderness

Published in PRIMOLife Magazine November 2015

I’m in a tough position and I can’t see a way out. My chalky fingertips are pressed hard into the rock. The knot at my waist grates against the wall, and my legs are zinging with tension. I look like a ninja mid fly-kick, splattered against the front of an unyielding cliff. It seems that every muscle in my body is flexed, straining to keep me perched in this unlikely position, and I’m burning energy fast. My right leg begins to ‘Elvis’, shake uncontrollably under the pressure and I know I have to make a move soon. I really, really don’t want to fall.

Rock climbing in the wilderness is well, exactly as tough as it looks.

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Anna's Adventures: Brewing beer on a 40°C day!

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Anna's Adventures: Brewing beer on a 40°C day!

Published in PRIMOLife Magazine October 2015

It’s more than 40°C inside without a hit of a breeze, and I’m standing over a cauldron of bubbling broth, wrestling with what looks like a giant, hot tea-bag. Sweat pours off me as I press and squeeze the precious juices out of the sopping, heavy mass, labouring to get every last drop. My arms tremble with the fatigue. I need a beer.

And I’ll have to wait another eight weeks to get it.

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How To Be A Tourist (That Tour Guides Like)

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How To Be A Tourist (That Tour Guides Like)

I’ve been a bicycle tour guide in Paris for more than two years, and this is a topic I’ve been thinking of writing about for a while. I resisted it because I’m not a fan of bitchsticles (bitchy-list-articles) and I couldn’t really see how this would interest anybody except me and my guide friends.

Then I realised something that changed my mind:

The tour you get depends on the tourist you are.

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Anna's Adventures: Cooking authentic French cuisine

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Anna's Adventures: Cooking authentic French cuisine

Published in PRIMOLife Magazine September 2015

“Turn it! Turn it!”

Oil spits out of the sizzling pan, splattering my white apron and everything in the vicinity. I stand back, wielding shiny kitchen tongs like Steve Irwin fending off a particularly aggressive snake. Amid the encouragement of my companions, I flip the excitable chicken pieces one by one.

I like to cook, but usually without an audience so I can hide the chaos, the panic, the improvising and the fact that I’ve used every single dish in the kitchen. Yet here I am, in the beautiful Parisian home of Paule Caillat, aka, a proper French cook.

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A Mini Guide to Paris: Eating, Visiting and Loving in the City of Lights

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A Mini Guide to Paris: Eating, Visiting and Loving in the City of Lights

Published in Marque Magazine August 2015

Paris is one of the most visited cities in the world, and home to some of its most iconic monuments. Crammed with historical sites, museums, fashion boutiques and fantastic restaurants, it provides endless entertainment for those that choose to visit. It can also appear overwhelming and visitors often make the mistake of trying to cram in too much. After four years in the City of Lights, I still haven’t seen everything, so take my advice, relax, breathe, and hold onto these basic tips when planning your Paris escape. 

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Rediscovering Russia, one vintage Soviet lens at a time

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Rediscovering Russia, one vintage Soviet lens at a time

When Valentin Tchoukhounine returned to St Petersburg for the first time in ten years, to sort through the home of his late Grandfather, he discovered a box of dusty Soviet-era camera lenses, last used in the 1950’s and 60’s. 

Drawn to their unusual design and archaic features, he decided to adapt three of them, a Zenitar 16mm f2.8, Helios 44 f2.0, and a Helios 40 f1.5 to his own digital camera, and use them to document and reimagine the city of his childhood, which had changed so dramatically in his absence.  

The romanticism of using these vintage lenses appealed to Valentin, as did the irony of literally viewing Russia through Soviet glass, but what he quickly learned was that he was in the possession of no ordinary lenses. 

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(un petit) Tour de France: Riding From Paris to le Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte

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(un petit) Tour de France: Riding From Paris to le Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte

One of the hazards of being a bike guide is that lots of your friends will also be bike guides, and will invite you to go on crazy rides to strange places with very little planning.

It's awful. 

Last month, we went to the Vaux le Vicomte estate, 41km from Paris as the crow flies. 

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Adventures in the South of France: Exploring the 'perched village' of Lacoste

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Adventures in the South of France: Exploring the 'perched village' of Lacoste

Provence has got to be one of the most adorable regions in France.

A land of lavender, vineyards, fruit trees, gently rolling hills and the occasional limestone range... Of ancient village centres, narrow cobblestone streets and carved stone fountains... The true paysage, the authentic rural heart of France which has remained unchanged throughout the centuries in its deeply significant traditions and unrelenting adorableness.

Did I mention lavender? 

If I'm honest, the self-conscious provincialism can wear pretty thin, especially in the bigger towns where vendors cackle with delight at the commencement of the tourist season, and even on brand new buildings the paint is artfully weather-worn.

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Oh Brothers, where art thou? Exploring New Norcia, a Benedictine monastery hidden in the Western Australian outback

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Oh Brothers, where art thou? Exploring New Norcia, a Benedictine monastery hidden in the Western Australian outback

Published in The Washington Post, June 18 2015

"You can find some incredible things in the outback of Western Australia, and after about two hours of driving we come upon one: a Benedictine monastery. This is New Norcia, founded more than a century and a half ago as a mission and now one of the state’s most unlikely tourist destinations."

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Anna's Adventures: A 70+ Year Old Camera + Darkroom Magic = The World's Slowest Selfie

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Anna's Adventures: A 70+ Year Old Camera + Darkroom Magic = The World's Slowest Selfie

Published in PRIMOLife Magazine June 2015

Taking a picture with a persnickety 1950’s Linhof Technika camera is hard work, but when Kit, my friend and artist invited me to try out large format photography using a technique that is over one hundred years old, I couldn’t wait to get started.

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In Which Our Heroine Goes Bald

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In Which Our Heroine Goes Bald

I cut it all off.

There was no ceremony.

With my housemate in the other room I slipped away and unpacked the men’s clipper kit I’d purchased the day before. Inches of wavy hair fell into the sink as I ran the nibbly grille over my scalp. Rawl! Rawl! It growled deeply as it encountered thick patches. Rewl! Rewl! It cried at the short ones. I looked at myself in the mirror. My eyes, enormous now, looked back from between my black eyelashes. My thick eyebrows seemed thicker and I decided to start penciling them again. I ran my hands over my dome, still scattered with the debris of the massacre, and reveled in the tingly massage. I felt Egyptian, ancient, feline.  

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