Last year I did a mini-review of Elizabeth Jolley's An innocent gentleman using some scrappy notes from when I read the book long before blogging. This post on Janette Turner Hospital's Orpheus lost has similar origins. I'm keen to add it here because I've read several of her novels, but none since blogging, and I really … Continue reading Janette Turner Hospital, Orpheus lost (Mini-review)
Australian literature
Monday musings on Australian literature: 5 Australian novels to theatre
Having recently posted on Alana Valentine's adaptation of Frank Moorehouse's Cold light, I thought I'd explore other theatrical adaptations of Australian novels, because we tend, when thinking of adaptations, to focus mostly on movies - at least, I think we do. Now, I haven't seen many theatrical adaptations of Aussie novels. We get some theatre … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: 5 Australian novels to theatre
Monday musings on Australian literature: Boosting women’s entries on Wikipedia
Have you heard or read about the large discrepancy in Wikipedia between biographical entries (or "individual profiles") for women and for men? The actual figure is a bit fluid because, of course, Wikipedia is a dynamic site, but most researchers on the topic come up with a figure of around 15-20% as the percentage of biographical articles … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Boosting women’s entries on Wikipedia
Monday musings on Australian literature: Whither magazines?
Are you a magazine reader? I was once a big magazine reader and subscriber - Ms Magazine, the Smithsonian, Choice and Australian Gourmet were my favourites in the 1980s and 1990s. In more recent times, I've gravitated to local literary journals like Griffith Review, Meanjin and Kill Your Darlings, but I tend not to subscribe to them. … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Whither magazines?
Mena Calthorpe, The dyehouse (Review)
Mena Calthorpe's novel The dyehouse was, as I wrote in a post last year, Text Publishing's choice for its 100th Text Classic, which surely says something about its quality or worth, wouldn't you think? And yet, as Lisa (ANZLitLovers) pointed out in her post, it is not mentioned in recent books discussing the history of Australian literature, … Continue reading Mena Calthorpe, The dyehouse (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Books that matter
In the comments on her post about Alan Paton's Cry, the beloved country, Lisa (ANZLitLovers) commented that we need "politically aware authors to keep writing books that matter". Hmm, I thought, most books I read matter, I think, but then a few posts later, when reviewing Jared Thomas' Songs that sound like blood, she made … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Books that matter
Festival Muse: Question time – Robyn Cadwallader with Irma Gold
Cadwallader (L) and Gold in the Muse bookshop Introducing the first event of their Sunday afternoon program, Dan, co-owner of Muse, commented on a peculiarity of Canberra: when they offer sessions on politics or history, they are packed out, but when the focus is fiction, the events are more intimate. Fine by me! I love small, … Continue reading Festival Muse: Question time – Robyn Cadwallader with Irma Gold
The natural way of things: Conversation with Charlotte Wood
I have just returned from an inspiring evening in which we got to see Aussie author Charlotte Wood in conversation with Guardian Australia's Katharine Murphy. It more than made up for our disappointment last year when Wood had to pull out of the Canberra Writers Festival due to illness. Tonight's event was presented "in association with the Canberra Writers Festival" and had the … Continue reading The natural way of things: Conversation with Charlotte Wood
Monday musings on Australian literature: Ali Cobby Eckermann’s big prize
Last week's news that Ali Cobby Eckermann had won a very special prize scuttled my plans for today's Monday Musings post, which is fine because it can wait, whereas this one can't. Last year, I wrote about Helen Garner winning the lucrative 2016 Windham-Campbell Prize for Non-Fiction. It was a new prize to me, and is American-based, so imagine … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Ali Cobby Eckermann’s big prize
Monday musings on Australian literature: Three Australian scriptwriters
In a tiny nod to Oscars week, I thought I'd introduce three Australian scriptwriters. I have written one Monday Musings on scriptwriters before in a post on the AWGIEs. There I named a few scriptwriters who also write novels, Luke Davies (who was, in fact, nominated for this year's Oscars for his script of Lion), Helen … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Three Australian scriptwriters
