A year ago I finally wrote a post on the UNESCO Cities of Literature, focusing on Melbourne's designation as UNESCO's second such city in 2008, and Hobart's addition as Australia's second city in 2023. The full list is available online at the Cities of Literature website. As I wrote in that post, the criteria against … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Melbourne, a City of Literature?
Commentary
Monday musings on Australian literature: Invasion Day/Australia Day (2026)
It's Monday, and I did have a post planned, until I remembered that this Monday has a very particular date, 26th January. So, I decided to postpone that post in order to make a brief statement about this date which, for many decades, has been designated Australia Day. And we have a public holiday in … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Invasion Day/Australia Day (2026)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Why festivals?
I did have another plan for today's Monday Musings, but it seemed wrong to ignore the elephant in the room, that is, the dire situation facing the Adelaide Festival's Writers Week. Australians will not need me to explain what has happened, but for those of you not across the events, I'll briefly explain. The Adelaide … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Why festivals?
Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian writers and AI
Today I saw an Instagram post promoting the latest interview on Irma Gold and Karen Viggers' podcast, Secrets From the Green Room. The interview was with Emily Maguire, and the promo shared this: Other people of my age who've been working at something for as long as I've been working at writing - they have … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian writers and AI
Monday musings of Australian literature: National Tree Day
Around ten years ago, I wrote a post on National Arbor Day. It was inspired by a Library of America story. The thing is that then I didn't, and I still don't hear, about Arbor Day anymore. Indeed, Mr Gums and I reminisced that it was mainly through school that we heard about it at … Continue reading Monday musings of Australian literature: National Tree Day
On the comedy of Jane Austen (1905)
A regular part of my Jane Austen group's monthly meeting is a show-and-tell which means of course that we share anything new we've acquired, seen or heard about relating to Jane Austen. At our February meeting, a member brought along a first edition (I think) of a book a friend had given him as a … Continue reading On the comedy of Jane Austen (1905)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Gloomy books
As I did last year for 1923, I plan a series of posts through this year about Australian literature in the year 1924. What I write about will be driven by what I find. So far, I've found articles on the Platypus Series, but I wrote about that inititiative last year, and of course about … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Gloomy books
Monday musings on Australian Literature: the Story Factory
In last week's Monday Musings on Parramatta's inaugural Laureate for Literature, I mentioned that Parramatta had been chosen as the second location for the non-profit organisation, the Story Factory. I said I'd do a separate Monday Musings on it, and have decided it might as well be now. So, who or what is the Story … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian Literature: the Story Factory
What would you recommend?
Last week, Mr Gums and I drove back from Melbourne where we had spent the holiday season with family. Having spent over two weeks in the city - very lovely because we saw family - I did want a little country respite before hitting our own (much smaller, admittedly) city. Bright, in Victoria's Alpine Shire … Continue reading What would you recommend?
Monday musings on Australian literature: on 1923: 7, Humour
With 1923 nearly over, I'm running out of time to share more of the thoughts and ideas I found regarding Australian literature in 1923 from Trove. This post, I thought to share some of the ideas expressed about humour in Australian literature. Humour wasn't always specifically mentioned in 1923 as being a feature of Australian … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: on 1923: 7, Humour
Whispering Gums 