I've been thinking for some time about writing a Monday Musings on Australia's Literary Festivals but I have finally been spurred to do it after attending the Canberra Readers' Festival last weekend. This is partly because I actually managed to attend a festival and partly because the last speaker was Australian literary doyen, Frank Moorhouse, who caught … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian Literature: Australian Literary Festivals
Literary events
Canberra Readers’ Festival 2012: For the love of reading
You could all be looking at tulips ... said Kate Grenville, the first speaker at today's Canberra Readers' Festival. She was referring to Floriade, Canberra's popular, crowd-drawing annual spring festival, and the fact that today was a glorious day. Just right, in fact, for tiptoeing through the festival's stunning tulip beds. But instead, we keen readers … Continue reading Canberra Readers’ Festival 2012: For the love of reading
What do Anna Funder and Amarcord have in common?
Leipzig! It's funny isn't it how some person, place, idea (or whatever) that you hadn't come across in who knows how long suddenly makes its presence felt more than once in a short amount of time. This is what happened to me this week when I attended, on Sunday, a conversation at the National Library … Continue reading What do Anna Funder and Amarcord have in common?
Monday musings on Australian literature: Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2012
Last year I attended and reported on the post-announcement panel for the Prime Minister's Literary Awards, held at the National Library of Australia. I attended again this year and, since it occurred today, Monday, I've decide to devote this week's Monday musings to it. First, the winners: Fiction: Gillian Mears' Foal's bread (My review) Poetry: Luke … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2012
Monday musings on Australian literature: Some Australian Literature online events for 2012
What better way to kick off Monday Musings in 2012 than by heralding some exciting Australian Literature initiatives from around the 'net. Here they are, in no particular order: Australian Women Writers Challenge 2012 by Elizabeth Lhuede. Her aim is to promote women writers across all fields and genres of writing. The challenge involves signing up … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Some Australian Literature online events for 2012
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
Monday musings on Australian literature: Guest authors at the Sydney Writers’ Festival
Regular readers of Monday musings will remember that a recent post in the series was inspired by the Qantas flight magazine, The Australian way. Well, I've been in the air again ... this time for a longer trip, as Mr Gums and I have again left daughter and dog in charge at home, and are … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Guest authors at the Sydney Writers’ Festival
Jane Austen: Conservative or progressive?
I must admit that, fan as I am of Jane Austen (of her wit and clear-eyed observation of humanity), I have sometimes been conflicted about whether she is, as this post title asks, conservative or progressive. She was innovative in terms of the history of the novel - her sure use of the third person … Continue reading Jane Austen: Conservative or progressive?
Sarah Waters in conversation with Marion Halligan
Sarah Waters, 2006 (Courtesy: Annie_C_2, via Wikipedia, under Creative Commons CC-BY-2.0) In a delightful coincidence, Sarah Waters was in town tonight for a literary event, just one night after my reading group discussed her novel The little stranger - and so, naturally, those of us who were free turned up to hear her converse with … Continue reading Sarah Waters in conversation with Marion Halligan
Conversing with “a slightly shambolic dandy”
"A slightly shambolic dandy" is how journalist Elizabeth Grice described novelist Alexander McCall Smith in Britain's Telegraph newspaper. Shambolic works to some degree, but dandy? That's not quite how I would describe him after tonight's literary event in which he "conversed" with Colin Steele, retired university librarian, long-term bibliophile, and reviewer for The Canberra Times. … Continue reading Conversing with “a slightly shambolic dandy”
Whispering Gums 