History is, in a way, the main subject of my reading group's October book, Stan Grant's Talking to my country. I'm consequently somewhat nervous about writing this post, because discussions of history in Australia are apt to generate more emotion than rational discussion. I will, though, discuss it - through my interested lay historian's eyes. … Continue reading Stan Grant, Talking to my country (#BookReview)
Australian literature
Monday Musings on Australian literature: the Boundless Festival
Last Saturday, the NSW Writers’ Centre and Bankstown Arts Centre presented Boundless: A Festival of Diverse Writers, which they describe as the "first-ever festival focused on Indigenous and culturally diverse Australian writers and writing". My first reaction was, Really? Surely not. There was Blak and Bright held last year in Melbourne. But, hmm, that was specifically … Continue reading Monday Musings on Australian literature: the Boundless Festival
Gabrielle Carey, Moving among strangers (#BookReview)
Emma's guest Monday Musings post last week on Randolph Stow provided the impetus for me to finally retrieve Gabrielle Carey's Moving among strangers: Randolph Stow and my family from my TBR pile. I've been wanting to read it for the longest time, but ... well, those of you with big TBRs will understand. Moving among strangers, whose … Continue reading Gabrielle Carey, Moving among strangers (#BookReview)
Carmel Bird (ed), The stolen children: Their stories (#BookReview)
Commenting on my post on Telling indigenous Australian stories, Australian author Carmel Bird mentioned her 1998 book The stolen children, describing it as her contribution "to the spreading of indigenous stories through the wider Australian culture". It contains stories told to, and contained in the report of, the National Enquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and … Continue reading Carmel Bird (ed), The stolen children: Their stories (#BookReview)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Guest post from ACT Lit-blogger Emma Gibson
With the ACT Lit-bloggers of the Future program in its closing months, I thought it would be lovely for you to hear directly from Emma and Angharad via a guest post, and they both agreed. First up is Emma - and she chose to write about ... The great Australian writer you’ve (possibly) never heard of: Randolph … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Guest post from ACT Lit-blogger Emma Gibson
Monday musings on Australian literature: International Day of the Girl and adult Aussie fiction
Last week, on October 11, was UN International Day of the Girl. Its aim was to focus "attention on the need to address the challenges girls face and to promote girls’ empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights". More than that, the day, says the UN, also marked "the beginning of a year-long effort to … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: International Day of the Girl and adult Aussie fiction
Sofie Laguna in conversation with Karen Viggers
What a treat it was to witness a conversation between two lively, intelligent Australian women writers in the company of other writers. I mean, as you can see from the post title, Miles-Franklin award-winning author Sofie Laguna and local writer Karen Viggers whose book The lighthousekeeper's wife has just hit 500,000 copies sold in France! … Continue reading Sofie Laguna in conversation with Karen Viggers
Ellen van Neerven (ed.), Writing black (#BookReview)
Writing black: New indigenous writing from Australia is one of the productions supported by the Queensland Writers Centre's if:book that I wrote about in a recent Monday Musings. It's an interactive e-book created using Apple's iBooks platform, and can be downloaded free-of-charge via the if:book page or directly from iBooks. Writing black was edited (and commissioned) by Ellen van … Continue reading Ellen van Neerven (ed.), Writing black (#BookReview)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Grateful Brits send books to Aussies
As I was searching Trove for another topic, I came across some articles that I just had to share, particularly given my recent posts on bookswapping and bookselling for charity. These articles date from post-World War 2 when Britain was living under strict rationing, which continued for a long time - until 1954, in fact. To … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Grateful Brits send books to Aussies
Catherine McKinnon, Storyland (#BookReview)
It is still somewhat controversial for non-indigenous Australian authors to include indigenous characters and concerns in their fiction, as Catherine McKinnon does in Storyland. But there are good arguments for their doing so. One is that not including indigenous characters continues the dispossession that started with white settlement. Another is that such fiction brings indigenous characters and … Continue reading Catherine McKinnon, Storyland (#BookReview)
