Reading synchronicity strikes again! In the last couple of months, the issue of language, translation and culture has been crossing my path - in Diego Marani's The last of the Vostyachs, in Gabrielle Gouch's Once, only the swallows were free, and on Lisa's blog post about the AALITRA Symposium on Translation. I was consequently more than … Continue reading Linda Jaivin, Found in translation: In praise of a plural world (Review)
Author: Whispering Gums
Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian migration literature
Last week I reviewed Gabrielle Gouch's memoir, Once, only the swallows were free, in which she tells of her family's migration from Hungary to Romania to Israel, and then her own on to Australia. While Gouch focuses more on the brother left behind, she does touch on the challenges of migration - the dislocation and … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian migration literature
Meanjin’s Tournament of Books 2013, Round 1
Hmm, when I announced this year's Meanjin Tournament of Books over three weeks ago, I thought I'd be back before now with an update. However, the last match in Round 1 was only posted a couple of days ago, and I wanted to wait until the Round was finished before reporting back. So, here I am … Continue reading Meanjin’s Tournament of Books 2013, Round 1
Gabrielle Gouch, Once, only the swallows were free (Review)
Do you differentiate memoir from autobiography? I do. For me, a memoir, such as Gabrielle Gouch's Once, only the swallows were free, deals with a specific aspect of a person's life, such as a sportsman writing about his career when he retires from it or a person writing about her growing up, like, say, Alice … Continue reading Gabrielle Gouch, Once, only the swallows were free (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Australia Council Award
Last month the Australia Council announced this year's Lifetime Achievement Award for Australian Literature. This award used to be called the Writer's Emeritus Award, which I have written about before. Lifetime Achievement Award sounds better don't you think? After all, "emeritus" implies retirement but most winners never really retire - at least as far as … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Australia Council Award
Melissa Lucashenko, Sinking below sight (Review)
In this week's Monday Musings about the Walkley Awards, I noted that Melissa Lucashenko had won the award for Long Feature Writing for her essay "Sinking below sight: Down and out in Brisbane and Logan" in the Griffith Review. I've now read the essay, and thought I'd share it with you. I've reviewed Lucashenko before, … Continue reading Melissa Lucashenko, Sinking below sight (Review)
Russell Drysdale at Tarra Warra
If you'd asked me to name an Australian artist when I was young, two names would have popped into my head - Russell Drysdale and the indigenous artist Albert Namatjira. As I grew up, other names came to the fore, such as William Dobell, Sidney Nolan, Margaret Olley, Margaret Preston, Jeffrey Smart, and Brett Whiteley, not to mention … Continue reading Russell Drysdale at Tarra Warra
Monday musings on Australian literature: The Walkley Awards
The Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism are Australia's premier awards for journalists. Last week the winners of the 58th awards were announced. According to the Walkley Foundation website, the awards were established in 1956 by Ampol Petroleum founder Sir William Gaston Walkley. Apparently, according to the website, William Walkley appreciated the media’s support for his … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: The Walkley Awards
Delicious descriptions: Diego Marani on translation
In Diego Marani's The last of the Vostyachs, which I have just reviewed, the two linguists argue about language. The Russian, Olga, sees language as key to communication across cultures and to conveying plural meanings. She says to the Finnish Jarmo: Your language has never known the dizzying heights of universality. No one studies it … Continue reading Delicious descriptions: Diego Marani on translation
Diego Marani, The last of the Vostyachs (Review)
Italian writer Diego Marani's The last of the Vostyachs was originally published in 2002, but the English translation was not published until 10 years later in 2012. How lucky we are that it was, because this book is unlikely to have been written by an English-language writer. Its focus on the relationship between language, culture and … Continue reading Diego Marani, The last of the Vostyachs (Review)
Whispering Gums 