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?
Literary events
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”
Jennifer Forest, Jane Austen’s sewing box
...and so the current Jane Austen juggernaut rolls on. The latest that has come to my attention is Canberra writer Jennifer Forest's book Jane Austen's sewing box. Must admit that I was a little sceptical when I first heard of it, but I saw it, bought it, and was pretty impressed. It's a nicely produced book … Continue reading Jennifer Forest, Jane Austen’s sewing box
Flight of the Mind: Day 1, Summary
Today I went to the National Library of Australia's Flight of the Mind conference - and, well, my mind took flight! The conference title comes from Virginia Woolf: The old problem: how to keep the flight of the mind, yet be exact. All the difference between the sketch and the finished work. Today's program focused … Continue reading Flight of the Mind: Day 1, Summary
Breakfast with David, Malouf that is
"Exploring in the dark" is how David Malouf frames the process of writing. In other words, writing, he says, brings out what is within the writer but is not fully understood until the writing starts. Furthering this notion, he quoted Herman Hesse as saying that a writer needs to be "a sleepwalker with the absolute … Continue reading Breakfast with David, Malouf that is
Whispering Gums 