Following last week's Monday Musings, and my recent review of Gay Lynch's historical novel, Unsettled, I thought it might be worth teasing out the fraught issue of "modern sensibilities" in this genre. By teasing out, I mean that this will not be a thorough analysis of the topic so much as my sharing a few … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Modern sensibilities and Historical fiction
Monday musings
Monday musings on Australian literature: Supporting genres, 1: Historical fiction
While my prime focus here is literary and classic fiction, I do also delve into other forms (like biography, autobiography/memoirs, poetry, history), and other genres (like crime, dystopian fiction, and historical fiction). So, I've decided to start a little MM subseries on other genres and forms, starting with historical fiction. My aim is less to … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Supporting genres, 1: Historical fiction
Bill curates: Monday musings on Indigenous Australian writers
Bill curates is an occasional series where I delve into Sue's vast archive, stretching back to May 2009, and choose a post for us to revisit. The feature of Whispering Gums that we all most look forward to is Monday Musings. But when did they start? It took me a while to locate - WordPress … Continue reading Bill curates: Monday musings on Indigenous Australian writers
Monday musings on Australian literature: Alison Lester
Saturday, as I noted in my Six Degrees of Separation post, was National Bookshop or Love Your Bookshop Day in Australia (and in Great Britain too, it seems). For last year's day, I wrote a post on author-owned/managed bookshops, most of which were located in places other than Australia. The exception was Australian children's author … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Alison Lester
Monday musings on Australian literature: Nib Literary Award
The Mark & Evette Moran Nib Literary Award is a somewhat unusual award that I've been receiving notifications about for years, but have never posted specifically on (though Lisa of ANZLitLovers has.) It's unusual for a couple of reasons. One is that its focus is on celebrating "excellence in research and writing in Australia", and the … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Nib Literary Award
Monday musings on Australian literature: Urban vs Suburban
Responding to my Monday Musings 10th anniversary post question regarding topics readers might like to see covered, Sue wrote that "there’s so much emphasis on regional writing which is wonderful – since I live outside the cities – but I think urban based fiction could be interesting". I've been pondering this for a long time, … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Urban vs Suburban
Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian Writers’ Centre
I have written posts now on writers centres in every Australian state and territory, but there is also, would you believe, an Australian Writers' Centre. Who are they, and where do they fit in? It seems like they are primarily a provider of writing courses. When you click on the About link on their website, … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian Writers’ Centre
Monday musings on Australian literature: Bookprint, Australian-style
Have you heard of the term or concept of bookprint? I came across it in a December 2019 article in The Conversation titled "5 Australian books that can help young people understand their place in the world". The Conversation credits the term to African-American educator Alfred Tatum who, according to the University of Illinois' Today website, coined … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Bookprint, Australian-style
Monday musings on Australian literature: Libraries and librarians in Australian fiction
I only have myself to blame! I asked for readers to suggest topics they'd like to see in Monday Musings and two suggestions came back, one from novelist Angela Savage asking for a post on libraries and librarians in Australian fiction. Her request was inspired by her recent appointment as the CEO of Public Libraries … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Libraries and librarians in Australian fiction
Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian literary dynasties
Some years ago I wrote a Monday Musings post on Australia's literary couples. However, it recently occurred to me that we also have some literary dynasties, which could be fun to explore. This post, like many of its ilk, is a bit of a fishing exercise. I will share a few that came to me, … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian literary dynasties
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