Once again it's Karen's (Kaggsy's Bookish Rambling) and Simon's (Stuck in a Book) "Year Club" week. This time, it is 1961, and it runs from 13th to 19th April. Once again, I am devoting my Monday Musings to the week. I have already written about 1960s for the 1962 Club. It was an exciting decade, … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: 1961 in fiction
Monday musings
Monday musings on Australian literature: Tech noir
The genres - or, perhaps I mean sub-genres - keep coming. Recently, I've started hearing about something called tech noir. I've heard for some time of rural (or outback or drought) noir, and have read some in that genre because I love books with a strong sense of place. I am also interested in technology … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Tech noir
Monday musings on Australian literature: Blake Poetry Prize
Coincidentally, I reviewed a book of poetry by Paris Rosemont just as the longlist for the current Blake Poetry Prize was announced, and it includes a poem by her. The timing seemed right to give this prize some air. I have mentioned it before - but only in passing in my 2024 Poetry Month post … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Blake Poetry Prize
Monday musings on Australian literature: Melbourne, a City of Literature?
A year ago I finally wrote a post on the UNESCO Cities of Literature, focusing on Melbourne's designation as UNESCO's second such city in 2008, and Hobart's addition as Australia's second city in 2023. The full list is available online at the Cities of Literature website. As I wrote in that post, the criteria against … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Melbourne, a City of Literature?
Monday musings on Australian literature: Hazel Rowley Fellowship
Back in 2013, I wrote about the Hazel Rowley Literary Fund which was set up in 2011 by Rowley's sister and friends, in association with Writers Victoria. Hazel Rowley was, as many of you will know, one of Australia's most respected biographers. Her subjects were diverse, and not exclusively Australian. Indeed, most were not Australian, … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Hazel Rowley Fellowship
Monday musings on Australian literature: Turning 50 in 2026
No, not me, much as I wish it were! I'm talking books. Today being the day after International Women's Day, I thought to feature women in this week's Monday Musings. But how? Then I remembered that somewhere last year I'd seen a list of books turning 50, so decided to take inspiration from that and … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Turning 50 in 2026
Monday musings on Australian literature: Forgotten writers 17, Beatrice Grimshaw
Of all the writers I've researched for the AWW project, Beatrice Grimshaw is among the most documented, with articles in the Australian Dictionary of Biography (ADB) and Wikipedia, among others. And yet, she is little known today. This post, like most of my recent Forgotten Writers posts, draws on the one I posted on AWW. However, I … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Forgotten writers 17, Beatrice Grimshaw
Monday musings on Australian literature: Walter Scott Prize
Some of you will have come across the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction already. Brona (This Reading Life) recently posted on it, and I have mentioned it in passing a few times on this blog. Wikipedia provides good overview, as does the Prize's own website, so I am sharing information from both these sites. … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Walter Scott Prize
Monday musings on Australian literature: Trove treasures (16), Garrulity and Gracelessness in AusLit
(Courtesy OCAL, via clker.com) Another post in my Monday Musings subseries called Trove Treasures, in which I share stories or comments, serious or funny, that I come across during my Trove travels. Today's story popped up during my research for a post on Beatrice Grimshaw for the Australian Women Writers blog. It stunned me, and … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Trove treasures (16), Garrulity and Gracelessness in AusLit
Monday musings on Australian literature: Precarity and Late Capitalism
Over the years I have written posts about and reviews of books with strong socioeconomic underpinnings. In the nineteenth century these novels tended to be described as Social Novels (and I am have just an English one for reading group, review coming) or were seen under the banner of the Realist movement. In the early … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Precarity and Late Capitalism
Whispering Gums 