Alexis Wright's Carpentaria won the Miles Franklin Award in 2007 and I read it back around then but it's a book that keeps coming back to me so I thought it was time I shared why. This won't be my usual review, but rather random comments on the ideas that float around my head. First though, you … Continue reading Alexis Wright, Carpentaria
First Nations Australians
Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Kim Scott on confronting the new
Here is the first of two or more (depending on how the spirit moves me) Delicious Descriptions from Kim Scott's book That deadman dance. My first one presents two excerpts which describe people confronting the new. First, the British settlers during their expedition to find land: They found a path, rocky and scattered with fine … Continue reading Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Kim Scott on confronting the new
Kim Scott, That deadman dance
(Image courtesy Picador Australia) About a third of the way into Kim Scott's novel That deadman dance is this: We thought making friends was the best thing, and never knew that when we took your flour and sugar and tea and blankets that we'd lose everything of ours. We learned your words and songs and stories, and never … Continue reading Kim Scott, That deadman dance
Monday musings on Australian literature: Indigenous Australian autobiographies
When I was a child my father told me to be proud I was of "aboriginal descent". Perhaps it was the silence surrounding his words that made them resonate as they did; I'd certainly heard no such thing anywhere else in my life, certainly not in my reading or schooling. There didn't seem much in … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Indigenous Australian autobiographies
Monday musings on Australian literature: Writers from our north
Queensland is the state of my birth, and that makes it special to me! It is a large state and one of our most geographically diverse, ranging from the tropical north to the arid west, from the subtropical south to the temperate inland southeast. It has one of Australia's most popular tourist destinations, the Great … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Writers from our north
Marie Munkara, Every secret thing
They all nodded, not knowing what the hell curry* was but getting gist of the story all the same. Marie Munkara leads us a merry dance with Every secret thing, her first book, which won the David Unaipon Award for an unpublished Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander writer. What exactly is this "thing" she presents … Continue reading Marie Munkara, Every secret thing
Animal Kingdom scoops the 2010 AFI Awards
Australia's version of the Oscars - the AFI (Australian Film Institute) Awards - was held last night and, as my post title announces, Animal Kingdom (which I reviewed a few months ago) won, deservedly I think, almost every major category . The major awards were as follows: BEST FILM: Animal Kingdom BEST DIRECTION: David Michôd, Animal Kingdom … Continue reading Animal Kingdom scoops the 2010 AFI Awards
Ah, sweet synchronicity of life!
Ok, I know that "synchronicity" doesn't really scan with "mystery" but it just felt right. Last night, wearing one of my hats, I attended the National Film and Sound Archive's event, Coo-ee: Sound Day: Sounds of Australia 2010. (Phew, that's a mouthful isn't it?). Sounds of Australia is an NFSA initiative aimed at creating a … Continue reading Ah, sweet synchronicity of life!
Monday musings on Australian literature: Indigenous writers
It's important I think that my third post be on our indigenous writers. Again it's going to be pretty idiosyncratic as my reading in this area has been scattered, not for lack of interest so much as the old "so many books" issue that we all know only too well. I was first introduced to … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Indigenous writers
Indigenous Australian stories – and digital technologies
In my recent on the literary road post, I referred briefly to Indigenous Australian stories. Rather coincidentally, I have just spent three days at a conference titled Information Technology and Indigenous Communities, hosted, primarily, by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) with the aim of exploring "the ever-increasing use of … Continue reading Indigenous Australian stories – and digital technologies
Whispering Gums 