Brought to you straight from the afternoon presentation with Caroline Baum in the National Library of Australia Theatre: Fiction: Traitor, by Stephen Daisley Non-fiction: The hard light of day, by Rod Moss Young adult fiction: Graffiti moon, by Cath Crowley Children's fiction: Shake a leg, by Boori Monty Pryor and Jan Ormerod This afternoon's panel discussion followed the formal … Continue reading Winners of the 2011 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards
Author: Whispering Gums
Amazon: The good, the bad and the …
Well, let's not go there because, really, we all want convenient, economic access to good books don't we? And Amazon has done a great job of forging/championing a whole new world of book distribution - both through their online service for selling traditional books and then their development of the Kindle and eBook distribution. (I … Continue reading Amazon: The good, the bad and the …
Margaret Mendelawitz, Charles Dickens’ Australia. Book 1, Convict stories
So true may fiction be in the hands of a genius (from "Convict in the gold region", by Richard Horne) Richard Horne, in his article "Convicts from the gold region", describes a scene from Don Quixote in which Quixote meets and sets free some convicts by driving away their guards, only to have his generosity … Continue reading Margaret Mendelawitz, Charles Dickens’ Australia. Book 1, Convict stories
Monday musings on Australian literature: the National Centre of Biography
What is life? Life itself, as you will realise if you consult a dictionary, is hard enough to define. But what is a life? And why does it matter? For itself (a question of honour)? Or for what one can make of it as a biographer (which may mean trespass)? I am old-fashioned enough to … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: the National Centre of Biography
Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Melbourne scenes, 1850s
One of the contributors to Charles Dickens' weekly magazine Household Words was Richard Horne. According to the notes on Contributors in Margaret Mendelawitz's five-volume set, Charles Dickens' Australia, which I reviewed last week, Horne was an English-born author who lived in Australia from 1852 to 1869. He agreed to write travel pieces for Household Words "in return", … Continue reading Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Melbourne scenes, 1850s
TS Eliot’s The waste land, app-style
Hands up if you've seen Touchpress's gorgeous iPad app for TS Eliot's poem The wasteland? Now, if your hand is up, why didn't you tell me about it? Luckily, though, I have a real-life, dinky-di librarian friend who told me what my online friends didn't! This is not going to be a proper review as … Continue reading TS Eliot’s The waste land, app-style
Margaret Mendelawitz, Charles Dickens’ Australia: Selected essays from Household Words 1850-1859
It was not to be a high-brow intellectual periodical. Above all he wanted to reach and entertain the masses and, at the same time, help shape discussion and debate on the important social questions of the time. (from Introduction, by Margaret Mendelawitz) Charles Dickens' Australia is a set of five volumes containing essays, stories and … Continue reading Margaret Mendelawitz, Charles Dickens’ Australia: Selected essays from Household Words 1850-1859
Monday musings on Australian literature: What value writers’ homes?
DKS, in a recent comment on this blog, and Lisa of ANZLitlovers, in a post last week, have brought to my attention the threat to Christina Stead's home, Boongarre, in Watsons Bay, Sydney. As a lover of the "literary road", I'm concerned and so decided to explore it a little more. The facts, as I … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: What value writers’ homes?
MJ Hyland, Carry me down
If you like writers who unsettle, then MJ Hyland is a writer for you. Carry me down is my second Hyland. I read, loved and reviewed a later book of hers, This is how, nearly a year ago, and said then that I'd like to read more. I finally have, and am not disappointed. Carry … Continue reading MJ Hyland, Carry me down
Monday musings on Australian literature: Contemporary poetry and music
telegrams tremble like leaves from a wintering tree and the spider grief swings in his bitter geometry – they’re bringing them home, now, too late, too early. (from "Homecoming" by Bruce Dawe) Last night I was lucky enough to attend a private function at which a small, local, male a capella group, the Pocket Score … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Contemporary poetry and music
