Some months ago, I became aware of The Miles Franklin Rights Project, and of course, it piqued my interest, so I flagged it for a future Monday Musings. The project apparently commenced in early 2021, and is still continuing. Before I describe the project, though, I need to explain for non-Aussie readers here that the … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: The Miles Franklin Rights Project
Literary awards
Monday musings on Australian literature: Supporting genres, 8: Science fiction
Unlike my last two posts in this "supporting genres"series, today's is a true-blue genre. The problem is, as many of you will realise, that it takes me way, way out of my comfort zone. However, with this week being National Science Week in Australia, I decided that it was a good time to tackle this … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Supporting genres, 8: Science fiction
Monday musings on Australian literature: Supporting genres, 7: Poetry
As with the last post in this series, which was on novellas, poetry isn't so much a genre as a form. However, to repeat what I said then, when I started this sub-series, I couldn't find one all-inclusive word to cover all the types of literary works I thought I'd cover, so settled on "genres". … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Supporting genres, 7: Poetry
Miles Franklin Award 2022 winner announced
While once again I haven't read (yet, anyhow) any of the Miles Franklin shortlist, I do try each year to announce the winner of this significant Australian literary award. You may remember that this year's shortlist was: Michael Mohammed Ahmed’s The other half of youMichelle de Kretser’s Scary monsters (Lisa’s review)Jennifer Down’s Bodies of light Alice Pung’s One hundred days (kimbofo’s review)Michael … Continue reading Miles Franklin Award 2022 winner announced
Miles Franklin Award 2022 shortlist
I didn't post this year's longlist when it came out last month, and if any of you have been following the award you will know that controversy has, once again, hit it, with one of the longlisted books, John Hughes' The dogs, being withdrawn on the grounds of plagiarism. That's a shame for me, as … Continue reading Miles Franklin Award 2022 shortlist
Damon Galgut, The promise (#BookReview)
Damon Galgut's Booker Prize winning novel, The promise, is one of those novels that grabbed me intellectually and emotionally from its opening pages. The plot, itself, is straighforward. It concerns a White South African family's promise to give a house on their property to their Black maid, whom their grandfather had acquired "along with the … Continue reading Damon Galgut, The promise (#BookReview)
Shelley Burr, Wake (#BookReview)
Regular readers here will know a few things about me. One is that I don't regularly read crime, and another is that for three years, before the pandemic struck, I was the litblogging mentor for an ACT Writers Centre program. One of the last two participants in that program was Shelley Burr, author of the … Continue reading Shelley Burr, Wake (#BookReview)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Best Young Australian Novelists (4)
The current winners of this year's Best Young Australian Novelists were announced recently. I haven't seen much publicity, so given I've reported on this award for the last two years, I thought I'd do it again this year. It's a worthwhile award, and one that has seen writers go on to develop good careers. Just … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Best Young Australian Novelists (4)
Stella Prize 2022 Winner announced
The 2022 Stella Prize winner was announced tonight and it's not a surprise, as several of us in the blogosphere rather thought that Evelyn Araluen's Dropbear would be the winner. Indeed, I was so confident I took it with me to Melbourne this month, fully intending to read it. But, there was not much reading … Continue reading Stella Prize 2022 Winner announced
Jess Hill, See what you made me do (#BookReview)
I took me a long time to read Jess Hill's 2020 Stella award-winning See what you make me do, partly because I bought the e-book version which I read in fits and starts and partly because of its content. As the Aussies among you will know, Hill's book is an intense, thorough discussion of domestic … Continue reading Jess Hill, See what you made me do (#BookReview)