Yes, Australia has a "deep south", though we may not necessarily call it that. It's Tasmania, an island hanging off the southeast of mainland Australia. Like Western Australia, it can sometimes feel like another country. You have to go over the sea to it - and when you get there, you sometimes find yourself saying, … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Writers from our Deep South
Australian literature
Monday musings on Australian literature: The Australian bildungsroman
I know the sad truth. About everything. (Craig Silvey, Jasper Jones) In past posts, I've talked of enjoying coming-of-age novels (aka bildungsroman) and so today I thought I'd share 5 (cos 5 seems like a manageable number for a list like this - and gives you an opportunity to contribute your own!) Australian novels in … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: The Australian bildungsroman
Hate trees! Love bumpy roads!
I was a contrary child. When my family went on long car trips, a few decades ago now, I would, in my sunny way, announce to my parents, "I hate trees, love bumpy roads". Guess what my parents were talking about prior to this pronouncement from their co-operative first-born? This refrain, as you can imagine, … Continue reading Hate trees! Love bumpy roads!
Monday musings on Australian literature: West Coast Writers
For the non-Australians among you, Western Australia is our biggest state and, for many of us, is further away from where we live than New Zealand. Moreover, its main population areas are on the coast: there is a lot of desert between the eastern states and where most Western Australians live. Consequently, it would be … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: West Coast Writers
Monday musings on Australian literature: Japan and Australia
I had another post partly drafted for today but, due to the events of last week in Japan, I've decided to postpone that idea for another time. Australia (and we are not the only country in this) has a close relationship with Japan - much of it positive, some of it negative (this latter to do … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Japan and Australia
Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Nam Le on a storm
Australia is not all surf, sand and sea, as much as the tourist industry likes to have it so. We actually do have "weather", as many quaintly call anything that is not fine, sunny and calm. It is, in fact, autumn here now ... after a rather unusual summer (in most parts of the country). … Continue reading Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Nam Le on a storm
Marie Munkara, Every secret thing
They all nodded, not knowing what the hell curry* was but getting gist of the story all the same. Marie Munkara leads us a merry dance with Every secret thing, her first book, which won the David Unaipon Award for an unpublished Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander writer. What exactly is this "thing" she presents … Continue reading Marie Munkara, Every secret thing
Monday musings on Australian literature: SPUNC has spunk
Yes, come here for your wit. I bet I'm the first one to have thought of that line! SPUNC*, in case you haven't heard of them and you probably haven't, is the Small Press Network (in Australia). The acronym actually stands for Small Press Underground Networking Community. It was formed in Melbourne in 2006 and … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: SPUNC has spunk
Monday musings on Australian literature: Two Australian icons
Donald Horne (1920-2005) and Geoffrey Blainey (b. 1930) are Australian icons, not only for their body of work - which is significant - but for phrases they coined which have become part of our national consciousness. Not all Australians today will know who coined them, but most will have heard the phrases themselves. The lucky … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Two Australian icons
Monday musings on Australian literature: The triumvirate
I've mentioned Marjorie Barnard in a couple of posts recently, but I suspect few Australians and even fewer readers from overseas (except of course Tony of Tony's Bookworld) have ever heard of her. Rather than write specifically about her, though, I thought I'd talk a little about the Australian literary scene of the 1920s to … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: The triumvirate
