Contemporary is an odd word isn't it? I like using it, but worry about ambiguity, given it can mean either "living or occurring at the same time" or "belonging to or occurring in the present". So, when I say "contemporary thoughts on Elizabeth Harrower", how do you know which meaning I intend? Well, to put … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Contemporary thoughts on Elizabeth Harrower
Monday musings
Monday musings on Australian literature: Looking back, looking forward
As some of you know, I have been involved recently in looking after my aunt's estate. This weekend, my cousin and I checked out, again, the bookcase that contained old books, books that had belonged to my grandparents. One of the books that came to my attention was The golden treasury of Australian verse (e-version). … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Looking back, looking forward
Monday musings on Australian literature: Annual anthologies
This post would possibly be better done at the end of the year given that its subject - annual anthologies - relates most commonly to end-of-year publishing. However, not all such anthologies are published at year's end, and, anyhow, I was inspired to write this post because my reading group is about to do one … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Annual anthologies
Monday musings on Australian literature: Miles Franklin Award, the third decade (1978-1987)
Today's post is the third in my little sub-series of posts looking at the Miles Franklin Award by decade. As before, 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 by my Trove meanders. Women writers on the rise? The late 1970s and 1980s … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Miles Franklin Award, the third decade (1978-1987)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Spotlight on Larissa Behrendt
This is the fourth in my occasional series of Spotlight posts inspired by Annette Marfording's Celebrating Australian Writing: Conversations with Australian Authors, and this time I'm featuring an indigenous author to coincide with Lisa's (ANZLitLovers) Indigenous Literature Week. Larissa Behrendt is the perfect subject for what is also NAIDOC Week, not only because she has a few books under her belt, … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Spotlight on Larissa Behrendt
Monday musings on Australian literature: Recent books by Indigenous Australians
Next week, from 3rd to 10th of July, Lisa at ANZLitlovers is running her now annual Indigenous Literature Week. While she usually holds it during or near Australia's NAIDOC Week in order to support that program's goal of increasing awareness and understanding of indigenous Australian culture, she does in fact accept reviews of works by … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Recent books by Indigenous Australians
Monday musings on Australian literature: My Aussie reads of 1996
Today, I'm having a bit of fun - a little trip down memory lane, in fact. I was inspired in this by Canadian blogger Debbie (ExUrbanis) who recently wrote a post on her past reads. Ever on the lookout for ideas for Monday Musings, I leapt at this one. (I do a few ideas running around my head, … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: My Aussie reads of 1996
Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian writers, loquacious?
It's a brave person who tries to characterise a nation's literature. But this is apparently what Australian-French writer Jean-Francois Vernay has done in his book A brief take on the Australian novel (published this year by Wakefield Press). I haven't read the book, but Lisa (ANZLitLovers) is currently reading it, and she challenged me to write … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian writers, loquacious?
Monday musings on Australian literature: Dystopian fiction
For some reason, I'm often drawn to dystopian fiction. In my younger days I read Nevil Shute's On the beach (probably my first book of this ilk) and then, of course, George Orwell's 1984, Aldous Huxley's A brave new world, moving later on to books like Margaret Atwood's A handmaid's tale and Cormac McCarthy's The road, … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Dystopian fiction
Monday musings on Australian literature: Spotlight on Charlotte Wood
This is the third in my occasional series of Spotlight posts inspired by Annette Marfording's Celebrating Australian Writing: Conversations with Australian Authors. (See the end of this post for links to the first two.) Since Charlotte Wood won this year's Stella Prize, the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction (NSW Premier's Literary Awards), and has just been shortlisted for … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Spotlight on Charlotte Wood
Whispering Gums 