Edwina Preston's Bad art mother was my reading group's June book, replacing our previously scheduled book because we'd heard Bad art mother was to be the featured book in the Canberra Writers Festival session, Canberra's Biggest Book Club. This suited me, as, coincidentally, I'd just started reading it! Bad art mother has been shortlisted for two … Continue reading Edwina Preston, Bad art mother (#BookReview)
Author: Whispering Gums
Monday musings on Australian literature: First Nations Australian non-fiction
Since 2013, I have devoted the Monday Musings that occurs in NAIDOC Week to a First Nations topic. This year I've chosen First Nations Australian non-fiction. I have previously written Monday Musings on biographies, autobiographies and memoirs by First Nations writers, but what about other sorts of non-fiction? Before I get to that though, a bit about … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: First Nations Australian non-fiction
Six degrees of separation, FROM Time shelter TO …
Well, the BIG DECLUTTER is essentially done. Now it is the BIG CLEAN. Boring! So let's move on to something far more interesting than how to clean ovens, bathrooms and windows. In other words, let's think about this month's Six Degrees meme. If you don't know how it works, please check host Kate's blog - … Continue reading Six degrees of separation, FROM Time shelter TO …
ACT Notable Book Awards 2023
Board Chair Emma Batchelor, and acting CEO Katy Mutton, at the Awards Tonight I attended the presentation of the ACT Notable Book Awards which are made by Marion (the ACT Writers Centre). It was a well-organised event, but had a wonderfully natural and friendly feel to it at the same time, appeals to me. I'll … Continue reading ACT Notable Book Awards 2023
Monday musings on Australian literature: A question about things
A different sort of Monday Musings this week ... My reading group's June book is Edwina Preston's Bad art mother, which was published by Wakefield Press last year and which I'll be reviewing soon. (If you don't know it and are interested, you can check out Lisa's review.) It was shortlisted this year for the … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: A question about things
Tuesday Atzinger, The River (#Review)
Back in January I reviewed two stories from Ellen van Neerven and Rafeif Ismail's anthology Unlimited futures: Speculative, visionary Blak+Black fiction for Bill's (The Australian Legend) Australian Women Writers Gen 5 Week. The stories I reviewed were the second and third in the anthology because they were the first two by Australians in it. The … Continue reading Tuesday Atzinger, The River (#Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Trove treasures (9), Pro-novel reading, early 20th century
Last week, in my Trove Treasures series, I shared some ideas published in the 19th century arguing for reading novels. Now, I am sharing some from the first decades of the 20th century. The articles range from 1903 to 1928, with many, again, coming from London. Diversion and instruction Two papers - Brisbane's The Telegraph … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Trove treasures (9), Pro-novel reading, early 20th century
Leslie Marmon Silko, The man to send rain clouds (#Review)
After a two-month hiatus, I return to my reading from Great short stories by contemporary Native American writers with a three-decade jump from D'Arcy McNickle's 1936-published "Train time" to Leslie Marmon Silko's "The man to send rain clouds", which was published in 1968 . Leslie Marmon Silko Again, I'm using anthology editor Bob Blaisdell's brief … Continue reading Leslie Marmon Silko, The man to send rain clouds (#Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Trove treasures (8), Pro-novel reading, 19th century
Édouard Manet, The Reading (1865-1873), Manet's son reading in the background. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Continuing my Trove Treasures series, I am turning this week to some of the discussions I found about the value of novel-reading. Three months ago, I shared some of the arguments made against novel-reading, but in fact, in the … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Trove treasures (8), Pro-novel reading, 19th century
Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in chemistry (#BookReview)
Bonnie Garmus' debut novel Lessons in chemistry made a splash on best-of-2022 booklists last year, resulting in my reading group scheduling it this year. It is an enjoyable read, but the intriguing thing is that more than one reader I know couldn't remember what it was about a few months after reading it. Each remembered … Continue reading Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in chemistry (#BookReview)
