Today's post concludes my Fridays with Featherstone series. It comprises my follow-up interview with Nigel wherein I ... well, you'll see soon enough ... INTERVIEWER (C'est moi!) I enjoyed reading your interview with Susan Errington of Wet Ink, Nigel, but of course that was prepared before the publication of your latest book, the novella I’m … Continue reading Fridays with Featherstone, Part 5: The wrap
Australian literature
Delicious descriptions from Down under: Patrick White on men and sheep
A few months ago I wrote a Monday Musings on the representation of sheep - well, people who work with sheep anyhow - in Australian literature. I was therefore tickled when early in Patrick White's Happy Valley, which I reviewed last week, he talks of men who work with sheep, as follows: Men who work … Continue reading Delicious descriptions from Down under: Patrick White on men and sheep
Monday musings on Australian literature: Coming up in 2013
In a first for Whispering Gums, I have decided to post about coming attractions. It seemed an appropriate first Monday Musings for the year. But, how to do it? As I can't possibly list them all, I'm going to make a selection and group them in sets that make sense to me. So here, as … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Coming up in 2013
Patrick White, Happy Valley (Review)
My love affair with Patrick White, figuratively speaking, began in my last year of high school when I studied Voss. Always partial to Aussie literature, I was, at 17 or 18, bowled over by White's writing, passion and vision - and by his rather acerbic, though mostly compassionate, view of the way people submerge their … Continue reading Patrick White, Happy Valley (Review)
Fridays with Featherstone, Part 4: On writing and admired writers
Today, I bring you the final part of Susan Errington's Wet Ink interview with Nigel Featherstone. In this part Nigel talks primarily about some of the writers he admires or who have inspired him - and how they relate to his writing. I love the fact that many of the writers Nigel admires are also … Continue reading Fridays with Featherstone, Part 4: On writing and admired writers
Highlights of 2012: Notable reads for 2012
To complete my 2012 round-up triumvirate, which started with my blogging highlights and was followed by my Australian Women Writers challenge wrap-up, this post documents my notable reads of the year. If you are sick of me and my round-ups, I won't be offended if you click away now! Like last year, I'm not doing … Continue reading Highlights of 2012: Notable reads for 2012
Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian Women Writers’ Challenge 2012 Round-up
It seems fitting that my last Monday musings for 2012 be devoted to the Australian Women Writers Challenge, partly because it turned out to be quite a significant event in Australia's literary calendar for the year, and partly because I introduced it in my first Monday musings of the year. The challenge was instigated by … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian Women Writers’ Challenge 2012 Round-up
Highlights of 2012: Blogging and the Reading Life
It's been a busy year chez Gums and so I've decided to write two highlight posts - one listing some favourite reads, and this one for other blogging and reading highlights. Here, in no particular order, they are ... The challenge to do when you don't do challenges I decided when I started blogging that … Continue reading Highlights of 2012: Blogging and the Reading Life
Fridays with Featherstone, Part 3: Using the Arts and Landscape in fiction
Today, I bring you the third part of Nigel Featherstone's Wet Ink interview with Susan Errington. One of the things that stands out in the two novellas I've read by Featherstone is the way he uses the arts. Even though the title of the first novella, Fall on me, is a direct reference to the … Continue reading Fridays with Featherstone, Part 3: Using the Arts and Landscape in fiction
Thea Astley, Hunting the wild pineapple (Review)
Thea Astley's "Hunting the wild pineapple" is both a short story and the title of a collection of connected short stories (that includes, of course, the title story). Today I am going to write on the short story as it's one of the 16 included in the current Meanjin Tournament of Books - and it … Continue reading Thea Astley, Hunting the wild pineapple (Review)
Whispering Gums 