Monday musings on Australian literature: Trove treasures (4), Impatient readers

Time is short tonight as my downsizing move has hit a little roadblock. In a nutshell, our furniture and some of our goods are sitting on a truck awaiting transfer to our new apartment where the lift went out of service the same time that the truck was being loaded. That was last Thursday. We … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Trove treasures (4), Impatient readers

Monday musings on Australian literature: Trove treasures (3), Novel reading and health

My second post in this Trove Treasures subseries shared some arguments against novel reading. I do have a pro-novel-reading post, but today I thought I'd go a bit lighter - I think it's lighter! - and some of the ideas I came across discussing the impact of novel reading on health. Novel-reading disease I found … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Trove treasures (3), Novel reading and health

Monday musings on Australian literature: Trove treasures (2), Anti novel reading

Recently, I started a new Monday Musings sub-series, Trove Treasures. That first post concluded on a rear-admiral reading novels while waiting for a court martial, and I said that my next post "might be one on novel reading and men". I still plan to do that, but I've decided to first share some of the … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Trove treasures (2), Anti novel reading

Monday musings on Australian literature: A letter from Mary Gilmore

Gilmore, by May Moore, 1916 State Library of New South Wales (Public Domain) Mary Gilmore (1865-1962) is, I suspect, not well-known outside of Australia, but she was (is) a significant Australian poet - so significant that she earned herself a dame-hood! Wikipedia describes her as "an Australian writer and journalist known for her prolific contributions to Australian literature and … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: A letter from Mary Gilmore

Monday musings on Australian literature: on 1923: 4, Austra-Zealand’s best books and Canada (2)

Last week I wrote about Canadian librarian, George Locke, commissioning Australian critic and journalist AG Stephens to compile the "best 100 imaginative Australian and New Zealand books" to be sent for exhibition in Toronto's public library". I ended on the commission having been completed, but I did not include his list because, not only had … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: on 1923: 4, Austra-Zealand’s best books and Canada (2)

Monday musings on Australian literature: on 1923: 3, Austra-Zealand’s best books and Canada (1)

For my third post in my Monday Musings 1923 series, I'm moving away from publisher initiatives, like the NSW Bookstall Co and the Platypus Series, to something a bit different. It's an intriguing story about what one paper called "inter-Imperial amity". It goes like this ... Mr. George H. Locke (1870-1937) - as the newspapers … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: on 1923: 3, Austra-Zealand’s best books and Canada (1)

Monday musings on Australian literature: Trove treasures (1), Reading novels

During my Trove searches for specific topics, I come across - serendipitously - other articles that are interesting and worth sharing. So, I have decided to create an occasional sub-series called Trove Treasures. My first group comprises some random little pieces, particularly jokes, that I've come across about reading novels. Humorous snippets The interesting thing … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Trove treasures (1), Reading novels

Monday musings on Australian literature: Beach (or Summer) reads

It is currently summer down under and so, despite some unseasonably cold weather in various parts, the thoughts of many have turned to "beach reads". Most of us understand that to mean escapist, easy-to-read, non-demanding fiction, although we don't all define our own "beach reading" that way. But, do you know the history of the … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Beach (or Summer) reads

Monday musings on Australian literature: Digital Lending Right

Australia implemented a Public Lending Right (PLR) in 1975. It's a Federal Government program which makes payments to eligible creators and publishers, in recognition of income they lose (in other words, don't get!) through loans and other free uses of their books in public lending libraries. PLR schemes operate many countries around the world, including … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Digital Lending Right

Monday musings on Australian literature: on 1923: 2, The Platypus Series

My first post in my Monday Musings 1923 series featured an update on the 1880-established NSW Bookstall Company, which, you may remember, focused on supporting Australia's writers and readers by publishing Australian books and selling them for just one shilling each. In 1923, another publishing initiative appeared on the scene, Angus and Robertson's Platypus Series. … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: on 1923: 2, The Platypus Series