I don't imagine Project Gutenberg needs any introduction to bloggers and blog readers, but I'm not sure how many are aware of the Australian sister site, Project Gutenberg Australia. This site is not formally connected with the original Project Gutenberg but, like the original, it provides access to international texts that are in public domain … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Project Gutenberg Australia
Monday musings
Monday musings on Australian literature: Reading about Australian women writers
In the 1980s my interest in Australian literature, which had been initially kindled by my parents and school, was renewed. In the 1980s, too, women writers started to flourish again. Consequently, this second wave interest of mine was drawn particularly to these women. I read their books of course (I'm thinking particularly of Elizabeth Jolley, … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Reading about Australian women writers
Monday Musings on Australian Literature: Writers’ retreats
The last Monday Musings in June was on Christina Stead's house and the current owners' plans to modify it in a way that would spoil some of its heritage significance. The commentary on the post included discussion of how writers' homes can be used. One rather apposite way is as writers' retreats. We have a … Continue reading Monday Musings on Australian Literature: Writers’ retreats
Monday musings on Australian literature: Some novels about the second world war
As I am still immersed in things paternal - and as my father served in the second world war - I thought that this week I'd take the easy way out again and list some of my favourite Australian novels about that war. Although I call myself a pacifist, I don't shy away from war … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Some novels about the second world war
Monday musings on Australian literature: Five fascinating fictional fathers
This week's Monday musings has a personal, sentimental, genesis. Last Friday, my 91-year-old father underwent his third major abdominal surgery in 6 years. It's a big ask for an older body but he's hanging in there. My parents, not surprisingly I suppose, were instrumental in my becoming a reader. My mother introduced me to Jane … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Five fascinating fictional fathers
Monday musings on Australian literature: Writers from South Australia
In the decade from the late 1960s to the late 1970s, South Australia, under premier Don Dunstan, was Australia's most progressive state. I won't list all the achievements - you can read them in the Wikipedia article linked on his name - but there were big social justice ones including the recognition of Aboriginal land … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Writers from South Australia
Monday musings on Australian literature: eBook publishing in Australia
First off, the disclaimer: I don't know a lot about what is happening with eBook publishing in Australia, so my goal here is as much to find out more from readers of this post as it is to impart knowledge. I thought a good place to start would be the Australian Publishers Association (APA) but didn't … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: eBook publishing in Australia
Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian Poetry Library (online)
It seems appropriate now, when I've been exploring the iPad app for TS Eliot's The waste land, to introduce the Australian Poetry Library website that was launched in late May. Essentially a digital library, it contains over 42,000 poems from over 170 poets. That's a pretty good start, particularly when the poets range from pioneers like … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian Poetry Library (online)
Monday musings on Australian literature: the National Centre of Biography
What is life? Life itself, as you will realise if you consult a dictionary, is hard enough to define. But what is a life? And why does it matter? For itself (a question of honour)? Or for what one can make of it as a biographer (which may mean trespass)? I am old-fashioned enough to … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: the National Centre of Biography
Monday musings on Australian literature: What value writers’ homes?
DKS, in a recent comment on this blog, and Lisa of ANZLitlovers, in a post last week, have brought to my attention the threat to Christina Stead's home, Boongarre, in Watsons Bay, Sydney. As a lover of the "literary road", I'm concerned and so decided to explore it a little more. The facts, as I … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: What value writers’ homes?
Whispering Gums 