Week 3 of our Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011 longlist reviewing project brings you ... Mahmoud Dowlatabadi's The colonel (Iran) from Lisa of ANZLItLovers. This sounds quite different in style and structure, but worth reading, particularly since it's from a country whose literature is little known to me. Yan Lianke's Dream of Ding Village (China) from Matt … Continue reading Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011: Reviews from the week November 27 to December 3
Literary awards
Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011: Reviews from the week November 20-26
Week 2 of our Man Asian Literary Prize 2011 longlist reviewing project (whew!) .... Matt of A Novel Approach is off and running with: Banana Yoshimoto's The lake (from Japan), which is high in my priority list as I've read Yoshimoto before and I'm particularly interested in Japanese literature. And Fay of Read, Ramble with Tarun … Continue reading Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011: Reviews from the week November 20-26
Monday Musings on Australian Literature: Pondering Meanjin’s Tournament
My recent post on the semifinals of Meanjin's Tournament of Books engendered some comments on the value or validity of the tournament itself - so I thought, having dedicated myself to reporting on the tournament, I should comment on what I think about it as an event. I'll start by saying that I don't take literary competitions … Continue reading Monday Musings on Australian Literature: Pondering Meanjin’s Tournament
Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011: Reviews from the week of November 13-19
Lisa of ANZLitLovers has hit the ground running with two reviews this week - and she says that already she is going to find it hard to choose between the two. That augurs well (or badly, depending on your point of view!) for our judging, doesn't it? Anyhow, here are links to Lisa's reviews: Jamil … Continue reading Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011: Reviews from the week of November 13-19
Kyung-Sook Shin, Please look after mother (Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011)
Two of the Man Asian Literary Prize team have cheated! They read and reviewed Please Look After Mother by Kyung-Sook Shin before our team was formed, and are showing me up big-time. I bear no grudge though and happily point you to their reviews. We are, as they say, on our way! Matt's review at … Continue reading Kyung-Sook Shin, Please look after mother (Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011)
Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize, 2011
This week, to whet your appetite (unbeknownst to you!), I focused my Monday Musings on Asian Australian writers ... What, do you say, was I whetting your appetite for? Well, for a plan to review the longlist for this year's Man Asian Literary Prize, which is an annual literary award given to the best novel* by an … Continue reading Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize, 2011
Howard Jacobson, The Finkler question
Whispering Gums, as you would expect, writes erudite marginalia and so you'd be in for a treat if you ever obtained my copy of Howard Jacobson's 2010 Booker award winning novel, The Finkler question. The margins are peppered with my reactions, like, you know, "Ha!" and "Oh dear". Riveting stuff ... and yet, what comments … Continue reading Howard Jacobson, The Finkler question
Alexis Wright, Carpentaria
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
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
Winners of the 2011 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards
Brought to you straight from the afternoon presentation with Caroline Baum in the National Library of Australia Theatre: Fiction: Traitor, by Stephen Daisley Non-fiction: The hard light of day, by Rod Moss Young adult fiction: Graffiti moon, by Cath Crowley Children's fiction: Shake a leg, by Boori Monty Pryor and Jan Ormerod This afternoon's panel discussion followed the formal … Continue reading Winners of the 2011 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards
Whispering Gums 