Three years ago I reviewed Helen Garner's This house of grief about Robert Farquharson who drove his car into a dam in Victoria, resulting in the deaths of his three sons. It's a grim grim story, so you might wonder why I am now writing about her essay "Why she broke: The woman, her children and … Continue reading Helen Garner, Why she broke: The woman, her children and the lake (#Review)
Australian literature
Monday musings on Australian literature: Interviews with Aussie writers
Those of you who read my December Six Degrees meme will know that the starting book was Stephen King's It. Not surprisingly, a couple of bloggers - Kate (booksaremyfavouriteandbest) and Lisa (anzlitlovers) - made their first link Stephen King's On writing. Lisa then went on to link to an Australian book on writing, Kate Grenville's … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Interviews with Aussie writers
Unbreakable: Conversation with Jelena Dokic
If you are a fan of professional tennis you will probably have heard of Jelena Dokic who hit the world stage during the 1999 Wimbledon Championships. She was just 16 years old, and, as Wikipedia writes, "achieved one of the biggest upsets in tennis history, beating Martina Hingis 6-2, 6-0. This remains the only time … Continue reading Unbreakable: Conversation with Jelena Dokic
Monday musings on Australian literature: Teaching indigenous texts
This post was inspired by an email I received from Reading Australia announcing a partnership with the Broome-based indigenous publisher Magabala Books for a project that was inspired by the many teachers who reached out to Reading Australia to ask for more resources on works by Indigenous creators, and particularly units that showed non-Indigenous teachers … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Teaching indigenous texts
Non-fiction November 2017, Weeks 4 and 5
In my last My Literary Week post, I took part (sort of) in the Non-Fiction November meme, giving my responses for the first three weeks. Because the last two weeks ask some questions, I'd like to answer, I've decided to combine them is a second post. It's probably cheating, but ... Week 4, Nov. 20 to … Continue reading Non-fiction November 2017, Weeks 4 and 5
Stephanie Buckle, Habits of silence (#BookReview)
I have been champing at the bit to read local author Stephanie Buckle's debut short story collection, Habits of silence, ever since I attended its launch in August by John Clanchy at the Canberra Writers Festival. The readings that both Clanchy and Buckle herself gave from the book grabbed my attention and convinced me that … Continue reading Stephanie Buckle, Habits of silence (#BookReview)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Genre Worlds
While reading the GenreCon 2017 twitter feed, which resulted in last week's Monday Musings, I came across the twitter handle @PopFicDoctors. Intrigued, I checked them out and discovered they are behind a research project and manage the website Genre Worlds: Australian Popular Fiction in the Twenty-first Century. The project is being funded by an ARC … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Genre Worlds
Tony Birch wins the 2017 Patrick White Award
The Patrick White Award is one of Australia's very special literary awards, and one that I posted in detail about last year when Carmel Bird was the winner. It's special for a number of reasons. It is named for Patrick White who is, to date, Australia's only Nobel Laureate in Literature. But, as I wrote last year, … Continue reading Tony Birch wins the 2017 Patrick White Award
Monday musings on Australian literature: GenreCon 2017 by Tweet (#gcoz)
First off, no, I didn't attend this year's GenreCon which took place this weekend past in Brisbane, Queensland. However, I did see many of the tweets that emanated from attendees (using hashtag #GCoz) and found many of them extending beyond the genre focus. So, I thought I'd pass some on. Not all tweeters identified the … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: GenreCon 2017 by Tweet (#gcoz)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Ad hoc literary awards (1)
Wah! It's Sunday night (as I write this), and I've suddenly realised that I'll be out of town all Monday and Tuesday, so what to do about this week's Monday Musings? Something quick, that's what! So, I looked at my little list of ideas for something I could do fairly quickly, and noted one I'd … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Ad hoc literary awards (1)
