Last month, I posted on the winners of the 2025 Finlay Lloyd 20/40 Publishing Prize, of which Angus Gaunt's Anna was one. I am thrilled with this prize, not only because I love the novella form, but because of the variety of stories we are seeing. So far the fiction winners have been an historical … Continue reading Angus Gaunt, Anna (#BookReview)
21st century literature
Helen Garner and Sarah Krasnostein in conversation with Beejay Silcox
Last night's ANU/Meet-the-Author event was a sold-out affair, in a 500-seat theatre. And why not? Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper, and Sarah Krasnostein are among Australia's top writers of narrative nonfiction, and they have just produced a book about the Leongatha mushroom murders. Indeed, it's only because they have written about it that I am interested … Continue reading Helen Garner and Sarah Krasnostein in conversation with Beejay Silcox
Sofie Laguna in conversation with Karen Viggers
I don't know how it has happened, but tonight's conversation between Sofie Laguna and Karen Viggers is the first ANU/Meet-the-Author event I've attended this year. I did book one featuring Omar Musa a month ago, but I came down with laryngitis, as did, I believe, his interlocutor. (The show went on, with Karen Viggers, in … Continue reading Sofie Laguna in conversation with Karen Viggers
Brian Castro, Chinese postman (#BookReview)
Serendipity is a lovely word, and is even lovelier when it touches my reading. Such was the case with my last two books, Olga Tokarczuk's House of day, house of night (my review) and Brian Castro's Chinese postman. The connections between them are simple and complex. Both focus more on ideas than narrative, are disjointed … Continue reading Brian Castro, Chinese postman (#BookReview)
Louise Erdrich, The night watchman (#BookReview)
Louise Erdrich's Pulitzer Prizewinning The night watchman is historical fiction about a community fighting back against a government set on "terminating them". Erdrich, whom I have reviewed before, is an enrolled citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota and it is the story of this community's response to something called the … Continue reading Louise Erdrich, The night watchman (#BookReview)
Helen Trinca, Looking for Elizabeth: The life of Elizabeth Harrower (#BookReview)
Like many, I was astonished when I read Elizabeth Harrower's The watchtower (my review), upon its publication by Text Classics in 2012. Astonished not so much for its writing, though that is excellent, but for its subject, which is what we'd now call coercive control. The astonishment comes from the fact that The watchtower was … Continue reading Helen Trinca, Looking for Elizabeth: The life of Elizabeth Harrower (#BookReview)
Winnie Dunn, Dirt poor Islanders (#BookReview)
When my reading group chose our books for the second half of the year, the shortlist for the Miles Franklin Award had not yet been announced. However, wonderfully, the three books we chose from the longlist, all ended up on the shortlist. One of those was Winnie Dunn's debut novel, Dirt poor Islanders. It is … Continue reading Winnie Dunn, Dirt poor Islanders (#BookReview)
Wayne Bergmann and Madelaine Dickie, Some people want to shoot me (#BookReview)
Having finally read Wayne Bergmann and Madelaine Dickie's Some people want to shoot me, I am not surprised that it has been shortlisted in the Nonfiction category of this year's Western Australian Premier's Book Awards. It is moving; it is clearly written; and it is informative about big issues. Wayne Bergmann is a Nyikina* man … Continue reading Wayne Bergmann and Madelaine Dickie, Some people want to shoot me (#BookReview)
Andrea Goldsmith, The buried life (#BookReview)
Titles are intriguing things, and we don't always pay them the attention they deserve, but the title of Australian writer Andrea Goldsmith's ninth novel, The buried life, is worth thinking about. It is the third novel I've read by Goldsmith, and, like the others, is a contemporary story focusing on relationships and the stresses her … Continue reading Andrea Goldsmith, The buried life (#BookReview)
Elizabeth Strout, Olive Kitteridge (#BookReview)
Elizabeth Strout's Pulitzer prize winning novel Olive Kitteridge has been around for 17 years, but it's only now that I have managed to read it. And that's because my reading group scheduled it as our June read. It's not that I didn't want to read it - I really did - but other books kept … Continue reading Elizabeth Strout, Olive Kitteridge (#BookReview)
Whispering Gums 