Continuing my little Monday Musings sub-series on "supporting" genres, I'm turning next to a rather "rubbery" genre, literary nonfiction. It is tricky to define - and partly for that reason, it is not obviously well supported. Literary nonfiction goes by a few other names including creative nonfiction and narrative nonfiction. This last one provides a … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Supporting genres, 4: Literary nonfiction
Monday musings
Monday musings on Australian literature: the Australian 9/11 novel
With the 20th anniversary of 9/11 having been commemorated on the weekend, I thought I might explore how 9/11 affected - if at all - Australian fiction. Before I start, though, I have two provisos: one is that my focus will be fiction, not literature, or culture more widely; and two is that, like many … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: the Australian 9/11 novel
Monday musings on Australian literature: Islands in Australian literature
"No man is an island" wrote John Donne, recognising, to put it very simply, that we are better together than alone. Right now, Australians are experiencing "island-ship" in multiple ways, because not only are we an island geographically, but also practically, given travel in and out is extremely limited. Moreover, many of us on the … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Islands in Australian literature
Monday musings on Australian literature: 2021 Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award longlist
I only occasionally use my Monday Musings post to make awards announcements. Today is one of those occasions, because the Nib Literary Awards longlist was announced today and I did want to share it, as it's one of Australia's quieter but yet interesting awards. I have written about it before and in that post you … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: 2021 Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award longlist
Monday musings on Australian literature: a “grim continent”?
These are grim times, so you might have assumed that our current predicament is today's topic, but no, we are going back to 1929. My, if there was a grim time, 1929 heralded such a one. However, it's not the Depression I'm going to either. In fact, the article I found in Trove, which inspired … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: a “grim continent”?
Monday musings on Australian literature: Supporting genres, 3: Biography
Time for another in my little Monday Musings sub-series on "supporting" genres. I've chosen Biography for this one, since the 2021 National Biography Award winner will be announced this month. However, I have written quite a bit about Australian biography before: Australian Literary Biographies The Hazel Rowley Literary Fund Indigenous Australian biographies The National Biography … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Supporting genres, 3: Biography
Monday musings on Australian literature: Poetry Month 2021
I have posted on World Poetry Day, which occurs in March, several times in recent years. And I have written about Australian poetry various times, including about the Red Room Company (or, Red Room Poetry). Their vision is very simple: "to make poetry in meaningful ways". They have initiated and supported various projects over the … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Poetry Month 2021
Monday musings on Australian literature: Miles Franklin Award, the fourth decade (1988-1997)
Miles Franklin, c. 1940s (Presume Public Domain, via Wikipedia) This is my fourth post in a little sub-series looking at the Miles Franklin Award by decade. As with the first three, written back in 2016, I don't plan to list all the decade's winners, as you can find them on the Award's official site. Instead, I'll share some interesting snippets, inspired … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Miles Franklin Award, the fourth decade (1988-1997)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Defining the novel, in 1975?
During one of my forays into Trove, I came across an intriguing little piece by Canberra artist-educator-reviewer, Malcolm Pettigrove. Pettigrove was a regular arts reviewer in The Canberra Times through the 1970s and 1980s, but it was his article published on 31 January 1975 that particularly caught my attention. It starts: NO issue in the … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Defining the novel, in 1975?
Monday musings on Australian literature: Talking literary awards
This Thursday will see the announcement of the winner of this year's Miles Franklin Literary Award. It's one of the more important days on the Australian literary calendar, but it has inspired another of those articles about the value of literary awards. Now, we have discussed awards here before. Back in 2012, I wrote about … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Talking literary awards
