The Kimberley region of Australia is a place of dreams. The most enduring and significant of these are, of course, those belonging to its indigenous inhabitants who have been there, it is believed, for around 40,000 years. Jump forward to recent centuries and we find new dreamers - the pearlers, the gold prospectors, the pastoralists,, … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Kimberley dreaming
Monday musings
Monday musings on Australian literature: Literary hoaxes and identity scandals
Have you ever heard of the Ern Malley affair? Or of Helen Demidenko? Or what about Mudrooroo? These are just three of Australia's literary controversies involving false identities. Why are Miles Franklin and Henry Handel Richardson perfectly acceptable pseudonyms, while Helen Demidenko, for example, is not? Aye, there's the rub... It seems to have something to do … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Literary hoaxes and identity scandals
Monday musings on Australian literature: Twenty Australian novelists in 1947
My Monday Musings of two weeks ago was about the first book in a series of four books on Australian fiction. The books were written by Colin Roderick and published by Angus and Robertson. The second book, which is today's topic, was published in 1947, two years after the first, and was titled Twenty Australian novelists. The novelists … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Twenty Australian novelists in 1947
Monday musings on Australian literature: Patrick White (would be) 100 (today)
I had planned to follow up last week's Monday musings with another post on Colin Roderick's mid-twentieth century series of books on Australian prose, but I hadn't remembered then that today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Patrick White, Australia's only Nobel Laureate for Literature*. Colin Roderick will therefore have to wait for the man who … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Patrick White (would be) 100 (today)
Monday musings on Australian literature: The Australian Novel, 1945 style
Every now and then I like to delve into the newspapers digitised by the National Library of Australia and made available via its website. Last week, I was pottering around researching another topic for Monday Musings (for which you'll now have to wait) when I came across an article written in 1945 about a series of … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: The Australian Novel, 1945 style
Monday musings on Australian literature: Writers from New South Wales
I've almost finished my Monday musings round-up of writers from the different states and territories of Australia, but have been putting off doing New South Wales because it's a bit scary to confront. New South Wales is Australia's most populous state. It is also, in terms of white settlement in Australia, our oldest state. And, … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Writers from New South Wales
Monday musings on Australian literature: The other David Campbell and the sin of misattribution
Much to my chagrin, the "other" poet named David Campbell drew to my attention recently to the fact that I had twice, in my blog, (mis)attributed a poem he'd written to the wrong David Campbell. The poem is "The Last Red Gum" and I first wrote about it in my post on The magnificent River … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: The other David Campbell and the sin of misattribution
Monday musings on Australian literature: Noongar/Nyungar, and the importance of place
Conceptions of home and understanding of place are the central issues in Noongar author Kim Scott's Miles Franklin award winning novel, That deadman dance, which I reviewed last year. From the opening pages of the novel Scott explores notions of home, as the white settlers confront the indigenous inhabitants of the land they are trying to … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Noongar/Nyungar, and the importance of place
Monday musings on Australian literature: World Book and Copyright Day, Australian-style
World Book Day 2012 was more than half over before I realised it existed. That could be my fault of course. I may have had my head so deep in my last blog post and my current book that I missed all the publicity ... Are you aware of World Book Day? April 23 was … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: World Book and Copyright Day, Australian-style
Monday musings on Australian literature: What value literary awards?
If you are an Australian reader, you have probably heard that the new Premier of Queensland, Campbell Newman, has abolished the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards. This was a shock as it had not been flagged during the election. His reason? To save some $250,000, as part of the Liberal National Party's promised cost-cutting drive! It was … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: What value literary awards?
Whispering Gums 