Those of you who followed the literary award season in Australia last year will have seen Fiona McFarlane's debut novel The night guest pop up several times. The more it popped up, the more I wanted to read it - but also the more I thought it would be good to read with my reading … Continue reading Fiona McFarlane, The night guest (Review)
Author: Whispering Gums
Monday musings on Australian literature: Writer development programs
I'm not a writer - as regular readers here would know - so I only have an outsider's understanding of how writers develop their skills. Here is what I know. First, of course, writers have to write - and write - and write. This is a pretty lonely business - and I suspect, often a frustrating … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Writer development programs
Ellen van Neerven, Heat and light (Review)
It's silly I know, but I had a little thrill at the end of Ellen van Neerven's Heat and light, because not only was the last story set in a place where I spent six of the formative years of my childhood - Sandgate on the northern edge of Brisbane - but one of the characters learnt to … Continue reading Ellen van Neerven, Heat and light (Review)
Tara Moss, The fictional woman (Review)
In terms of feminist argument, I'm not sure that Tara Moss told me anything I didn't already know or believe in her first work of non-fiction, The fictional woman, but that didn't stop me enjoying her take, her approach. Moss is an interesting woman. Her careers as a model and a crime writer meant she wasn't really on my … Continue reading Tara Moss, The fictional woman (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: New prize for experimental NON-fiction
We've all heard of prizes for experimental fiction, I'm sure, such as the new(ish) Goldsmith's Prize won by Eimear McBride's A girl is a half-formed thing in 2013, but have you heard of a prize for experimental non-fiction? I hadn't until I read about Lifted Brow's new prize recently. The Lifted Brow is a Melbourne-based … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: New prize for experimental NON-fiction
The Griffyns go to China with Gough
... figuratively speaking, of course! The Griffyn Ensemble commenced their 2015 season in fine style, with guest artist, Chinese pipa player, Professor Zhang Hongyan. As always, the concert had a theme, evident from its title, Whitlam in China (and the development of friendly relations between our two countries). It was a tightly performed, well conceived and thoroughly … Continue reading The Griffyns go to China with Gough
Stella Prize 2015 Longlist
As a team-member of the Australian Women Writers' Challenge, I'm particularly interested in the Stella Prize, which, as you probably know, is a prize limited to Australian women writers. The great thing about it, though, is what it isn't limited to - and that is form and genre. The first winner in 2013 was a … Continue reading Stella Prize 2015 Longlist
Monday musings on Australian literature: Capital men novelists
It's been a year since I wrote my post on Capital women novelists, the third in my series on Canberra's writers. (The other two were Capital women and Capital men poets.) Today I am finally getting to the male novelists. I'll start in a round-about way with a local controversy. Last year, the ACT government changed the … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Capital men novelists
On understanding the arts
Earlier this year I wrote a post about reading difficult literature. I said that I like to be challenged by literature, and discussed the features that define "difficulty" for me. Since then I've come across various statements, some contradictory, about the role of "difficulty" in the arts - and I thought I'd share them with … Continue reading On understanding the arts
John Clanchy, Six: New tales (Review)
John Clanchy, like Julian Davies whose Crow mellow I recently reviewed, is another Australian writer I'd heard of but not read until his piece in the Canberra centenary anthology, The invisible thread. What a treasure trove that has turned out to be! Anyhow, titled "The gunmen", Clanchy's contribution was an excerpt from his first novel, The life … Continue reading John Clanchy, Six: New tales (Review)
Whispering Gums 