I've mentioned the David Unaipon Award several times in passing but have never devoted a post specifically to it. Today seemed to be a good time to do it, as it would mean I've bookended this year's NAIDOC week with Monday Musings posts devoted to indigenous literature. Just to recap, David Unaipon is credited as the … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: David Unaipon Award
First Nations Australians
Monday musings on Australian literature: NAIDOC Week 2015
Australians will be aware that this week, July 5 to 12, is NAIDOC Week. NAIDOC originally stood for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee, the committee that was once responsible for organising national activities during NAIDOC Week. However, this acronym has now become the name of the week, which suggests just how significant, and well-accepted, this … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: NAIDOC Week 2015
Ellen van Neerven, Heat and light (Review)
It's silly I know, but I had a little thrill at the end of Ellen van Neerven's Heat and light, because not only was the last story set in a place where I spent six of the formative years of my childhood - Sandgate on the northern edge of Brisbane - but one of the characters learnt to … Continue reading Ellen van Neerven, Heat and light (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Indigenous writers recommend …
Last week, to commemorate the beginning of NAIDOC Week, I devoted Monday Musings to Anita Heiss's series of interviews with indigenous Australian writers, In conversation with BlackWords. I said then that this week's post would also draw from the series - and so here it is. I'm not 100% sure of Heiss's process, but I … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Indigenous writers recommend …
Tara June Winch, Swallow the air (Review for Indigenous Literature Week)
Tara June Winch's Swallow the air is another book that has been languishing too long on my TBR pile, though not as long as Sara Dowse's Schemetime. For Swallow the air, it was a case of third time lucky, because this was the third year I planned to read it for ANZLitLovers Indigenous Literature Week. Like the … Continue reading Tara June Winch, Swallow the air (Review for Indigenous Literature Week)
Monday musings on Australian literature: In conversation with Black Words
Today* marks the first day of NAIDOC Week 2014, which will run through to July 13. In honour of this, and of Lisa's Indigenous Literature Week at ANZLitLovers, I thought I'd devote this week's Monday Musings to indigenous Australian writers - and specifically to Anita Heiss's "In conversation with Blackwords" series. This series is described … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: In conversation with Black Words
Winter Solstice: New Lights and Dark Chords
While Hobartians are enjoying a full-on festival - Dark Mofo - to celebrate the Winter Solstice, we here in the national capital have had our little celebration. Or, at least, Mr Gums and I attended one. There might be others going on that I know nothing about. Winter Solstice: New Lights and Dark Chords was, … Continue reading Winter Solstice: New Lights and Dark Chords
On Howard Goldenberg writing about indigenous matters
It's funny how reviews go, at least how mine go anyhow. They sometimes head me off in a direction quite different to the one I started and I feel powerless* to change it. That happened with my recent review of Howard Goldenberg's novel, Carrots and Jaffas. I started by mentioning the issue of white writers … Continue reading On Howard Goldenberg writing about indigenous matters
Howard Goldenberg, Carrots and Jaffas (Review)
Howard Goldenberg, we are told in "About the Author" at the back of his debut novel Carrots and Jaffas, is the sole practitioner of a literary genre - the rhyming medical referral letter! Wouldn't I love to see some of those! Anyhow, you've probably guessed now that Goldenberg is a doctor, and you'd be right. But … Continue reading Howard Goldenberg, Carrots and Jaffas (Review)
Neomad: A Yijala Yala Project
First up, I have to admit that I'm rather challenged when it comes to e-book apps. I did love The Wasteland app which I reviewed a couple of years ago, but it was clearly designed for a, let us say, more staid demographic. Neomad, "a futuristic fantasy" in three episodes, is another matter. Consequently, my … Continue reading Neomad: A Yijala Yala Project
Whispering Gums 