I'm guessing most of you have heard of the Vienna Boys Choir, but you may not, particularly if you're not Australian, have heard of Dorothea Mackellar and Elena Kats-Chernin. Mackellar (1885-1968) was an Australian writer, best known for her poem "My country". Kats-Chernin (b. 1957) is an Australian composer who was born in Tashkent (in what was … Continue reading Dorothea Mackellar, Elena Kats-Chernin and the Vienna Boys Choir
Author: Whispering Gums
Monday musings on Australian literature: Aussie Lit and Facebook
In writing this week's Monday Musings I will be venturing a little into my discomfort zone. It's not that I don't use Facebook because I do, having been a member since 2007, but that I'm not an expert in how to make the most of it. I figure though that this post might encourage some … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Aussie Lit and Facebook
How many ways can you ask Google a question?
Just over a year ago I wrote a review of the film (and book) Red Dog. In it I avoided talking about how the film ends, but that hasn't stopped people asking. My Red Dog post is one of my top five posts and it's there largely because of the following searches: does red dog … Continue reading How many ways can you ask Google a question?
Monday musings on Australian literature: Australia’s pioneer novelists
One of the reasons I started this Monday Musings series was to encourage me to read, think and/or learn about my country's literature, but in doing so I mostly write about books and authors I know and have read. Occasionally though I explore authors and works that are not so familiar to me. Today's post … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Australia’s pioneer novelists
Toni Jordan, Nine days (Review)
Toni Jordan's latest novel, Nine days, is somewhat of a departure from her first two novels which are more in the chicklit vein, albeit chicklit with a difference. The thing is, I don't generally read chicklit, but I did enjoy Addition and Fall girl, so I was more than willing to read Jordan's next offering. I … Continue reading Toni Jordan, Nine days (Review)
Andrew Blackman, Nights on Fair Isle (Review)
You probably know by now that I occasionally like to review short stories that are available online, most often those published by the Library of America. So when author and blogger, Andrew Blackman, recently posted that one of his stories had been published online, I thought I'd check it out. "Nights on Fair Isle" is, … Continue reading Andrew Blackman, Nights on Fair Isle (Review)
Queensland Literary (Fiction) Awards, 2012: Woo-hoo
Readers of this blog might remember that earlier this year the new premier of Queensland axed his state's Premier's Literary Awards ... to a great outcry from literary aficionados around the country. However, with a wonderful can-do attitude and the support of private sponsors, a group of volunteers revived the awards, rebadged as the Queensland … Continue reading Queensland Literary (Fiction) Awards, 2012: Woo-hoo
Monday musings on Australian literature: Some favourite Aussie television adaptations
Today's Monday Musings is the third in my series on filmed adaptations of Aussie literature, though this time I'm talking television adaptations. The television adaptation of books - mostly into miniseries - has become big business over the last few decades. You only have to look at the BBC and the success it's had with … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Some favourite Aussie television adaptations
Alexander McCall Smith, The Saturday big tent wedding party (Review)
I have a number of tenets - if that's not too grand a word for it - according to which I read. These include that I don't read series books and I don't read crime. However, the best rules are made to be broken, aren't they? And so, I break mine for our family holiday tradition which is to … Continue reading Alexander McCall Smith, The Saturday big tent wedding party (Review)
Anna Funder, Stasiland (Review)
Anna Funder's Stasiland, which won the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction, is one of those books that can be reviewed from multiple angles, and I know that when I get to the end of this review I'm going to be sorry about the angles I didn't get to discuss. But, I can only do what … Continue reading Anna Funder, Stasiland (Review)
Whispering Gums 