Let me start by saying I really enjoyed reading Emily Bitto's The strays. It was scheduled for my reading group the day after my return from Tasmania, and I suddenly found myself in the last day of my Tasmanian holiday without having started the book. Wah! I read it in two days, helped by several … Continue reading Emily Bitto, The strays (Review)
Author: Whispering Gums
Don Miller, Will to win: The West at play (Review)
Sport is probably not the first subject you expect to find here, but it is in fact the focus of my latest read, Don Miller's Will to win: The West at play. Published by independent Melbourne press, Hybrid Publishers, it was offered to me after my Monday Musings post a few months ago on Australian Rules in literature. … Continue reading Don Miller, Will to win: The West at play (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Serendipitous finds in Tasmania
Well folks, I've not posted here for a week. As I wrote last Monday, I've been travelling in Tasmania, and have only returned home this afternoon. I have some ideas for future Monday Musings, and could have researched one for today, but I can't resist sharing a few more of my Tasmanian literary experiences. Tasmania is home … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Serendipitous finds in Tasmania
Monday musings on Australian literature: A Tasmanian interlude
You may have noticed that it's been fairly quiet here at the Gums over the last week or so. This is because I've been travelling for nearly two weeks now in Australia's island state of Tasmania. I scheduled last week's Monday Musings in advance and had planned to also schedule a Tasmanian "Let's get physical" … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: A Tasmanian interlude
Prison post: Letters of support for Peter Greste
If you're Australian, you'll know who Peter Greste is. If you're not, you may know. He was one of three Al Jazeera English journalists* who were arrested in Cairo in late 2013 for "spreading false news, belonging to a terrorist organisation and operating without a permit". It was a ridiculous charge and we all thought … Continue reading Prison post: Letters of support for Peter Greste
Monday musings on Australian literature: Writer-in-residence programs
I've written before about Writers' Retreats, which are sometimes framed as writer-in-residence programs. However, for this post, I want to focus not on those programs that are designed for writers to withdraw (retreat) to focus on a personal project, but on those for which engagement with the community in which they reside is a significant … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Writer-in-residence programs
Delicious descriptions: Danielle Wood on mothering
In my post on Danielle Wood's Mothers Grimm I focused on how mothers feel about being mothers, but the book is also about the need to BE mothered. So, I thought I'd share a couple of short excerpts from the book about this aspect. It will also give you a better sense of Wood's wry but resigned … Continue reading Delicious descriptions: Danielle Wood on mothering
Danielle Wood, Mothers Grimm (Review)
If you thought from the title of Danielle Wood's latest novel, Mothers Grimm, that it comprises a retelling of fairytales you'd be right - and wrong. Right, because the stories contained within do springboard from specific fairytales, but wrong if you expect the new stories to be retellings. The wordplay on the title - Mothers … Continue reading Danielle Wood, Mothers Grimm (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Literary fellowships
In past Monday Musings I've written about Writers' retreats and Writers' development programs. Related to these are fellowships. They involve providing a writer with money and/or resources to enable them to develop a new work. Fellowships usually involve a significant amount of money, and tend to be granted for specific projects. Australia Council Fellowships are offered … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Literary fellowships
Paddy O’Reilly, Peripheral vision: Stories (Review)
The title of Paddy O'Reilly's latest collection of short stories, Peripheral vision, comes from the story "Restraints", in which the narrator, standing in a robotics lab where things have gone awry, says: ... and I caught again a flicker in my peripheral vision. It's a good title for the book because the stories are about … Continue reading Paddy O’Reilly, Peripheral vision: Stories (Review)
Whispering Gums 