Courtesy: UQP One of the threads that runs through Karen Lamb's biography, Thea Astley: Inventing her own weather, is Astley's ongoing frustration about her work not being appreciated or recognised. On the face of it, this seems neurotic or, perhaps, paranoid. After all, she was the first writer to win the Miles Franklin Award four times, … Continue reading Karen Lamb, Thea Astley: Inventing her own weather (Review)
21st century literature
Rochelle Siemienowicz, Fallen (Review)
Being a reader who focuses more on "truths" than "facts", I'm not averse to writers playing around with fact in their fiction or fiction in their fact. This issue raises its head most frequently in historical fiction of course, but it's also present in autobiographies, memoirs and even biographies. And so, here I am, having … Continue reading Rochelle Siemienowicz, Fallen (Review)
Kate Grenville, One life: My mother’s story (Review)
Kate Grenville is one of Australia's best known contemporary writers, and is one of that small band to have succeeded both critically and commercially. Most know her for The secret river, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize among other awards. I enjoyed that, and the other novels of hers that I've read, with my … Continue reading Kate Grenville, One life: My mother’s story (Review)
Tony Birch and Ellen van Neerven in Review of Australian Fiction 10 (4)
I have been wanting to write about the oddly titled Review of Australian Fiction for some time. I say oddly titled because, contrary to what it might sound like, this does not contain reviews but short fiction. Established in 2012, it is published, electronically (or digitally), every two weeks. Each issue contains two stories by Australian authors: one by an established … Continue reading Tony Birch and Ellen van Neerven in Review of Australian Fiction 10 (4)
Alice Robinson, Anchor point (Review)
I love it when the book I'm reading picks up ideas explored in my previous book. Alice Robinson's debut novel Anchor point is, in reality, far removed from Mark Henshaw's The snow kimono (my review), but the first line of Henshaw's book - "There are times in your life when something happens after which you are … Continue reading Alice Robinson, Anchor point (Review)
Mark Henshaw, The snow kimono (Review)
I wasn't far into Mark Henshaw's The snow kimono before I started to sense some similarities to Kazuo Ishiguro. I was consequently tickled when, about halfway through, up popped a secondary character named Mr Ishiguro. Coincidental? I can't help thinking it's not - but I haven't investigated whether Henshaw has said anything about this. I'm not at all suggesting, … Continue reading Mark Henshaw, The snow kimono (Review)
Wendy Scarfe, Hunger town (Review)
A little over halfway through Wendy Scarfe's novel, Hunger town, one character says to another that "kindness needs to be a political way of life". It sounds a little naive I suppose, but in recent months the idea of kindness, in the political as much as the personal arena, has been playing on my mind. … Continue reading Wendy Scarfe, Hunger town (Review)
Kavita Nandan, Home after dark (Review)
When Kavita Nandan offered me her novel to review I was happy to accept because its setting - Fiji, Australia and India - intrigued me. I've read several novels set in India, and by Indian writers, but none set in Fiji or by Fijiindian writers. Moreover, as Nandan wrote in her email, and as the … Continue reading Kavita Nandan, Home after dark (Review)
Sam Tranum and Lois Kapila, Love on the road 2015 (Review)
Rules, they say, are made to be broken, and so it was that I broke my rule* of not accepting overseas publications for review and said yes to a short story anthology from Ireland, Love on the road 2015: Twelve more tales of love and travel. I'm not exactly sure, in fact, why an Irish publisher … Continue reading Sam Tranum and Lois Kapila, Love on the road 2015 (Review)
Emma Ashmere, The floating garden (Review)
I had a little chuckle when, fairly early in Emma Ashmere's novel, The floating garden, we discover that our main character, Ellis Gilbey, writes a gardening column under the name Scribbly Gum! Good name, I thought. If it hadn't been for my school song inspiration, this would have been the name for me! There's another … Continue reading Emma Ashmere, The floating garden (Review)
Whispering Gums 