Margaret Atwood, Negotiating with the dead: A writer on writing (#BookReview)

My reading for Buried in Print Marcie's annual MARM month has been both sporadic and minimal, to say the least, but this year I finally got to read a book that has been on my TBR shelves for a long time and that I have planned to read over the last few MARMs. It's Atwood's … Continue reading Margaret Atwood, Negotiating with the dead: A writer on writing (#BookReview)

Monday musings on Australian literature: Forgotten writers 16, Edna Davies

Of all the forgotten writers I’ve researched, Edna Davies proved by far the most difficult. Even AustLit had nothing on her besides a list of a few works, but she intrigued me so I soldiered on. This post, like most of my recent Forgotten Writers posts, a revision, with a little bit of added information, … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Forgotten writers 16, Edna Davies

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

Teffi, The examination (#Review, #1925 Club)

Mostly for the Year Clubs, I read an Australian short story, usually from one of my anthologies. However, for 1925, I couldn't find anything in my anthologies, so turned to other newspaper-based sources, including Trove, but I mainly found romances or works that were difficult to access. And then, out of the blue, I found … Continue reading Teffi, The examination (#Review, #1925 Club)

Monday musings on Australian literature: Forgotten writers 15, Tarella Daskein

I first came across Tarella Daskein back in 2021 when Bill (The Australian Legend) wrote a post about her as the result of her coming up in discussions and reading about Katharine Susannah Prichard. She then slipped my mind until a couple of months ago when I was searching around for a subject for my … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Forgotten writers 15, Tarella Daskein

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)

Olga Tokarczuk, House of day, house of night (#BookReview)

About 30 pages into Olga Tokarczuk's novel, House of day, house of night, I turned to Mr Gums and said, I have no idea what I am reading, which is unusual for me. I certainly don't pretend to understand everything I read, but I can usually sense a book's direction. However, something about this one … Continue reading Olga Tokarczuk, House of day, house of night (#BookReview)