The decision to republish, last year, Sara Dowse's pioneering 1983 novel, West Block, was prescient. Think about this. In last weekend's The Saturday Paper (14 August 2021), journalist Karen Middleton wrote about an issue involving the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. In her article, she shares some comments made about this Department by law … Continue reading Sara Dowse, West Block (#BookReview)
Review
Claudine Jacques, The Blue Cross/La Croix bleue (#Review, #WITmonth)
I haven't taken part in Women in Translation month (#WITmonth) before but decided to dip my toes in this year with a translated short story. I hoped to find one online and I did, "The Blue Cross" (or, in its original French, "La Croix bleue") by New Caledonian writer Claudine Jacques. Coincidentally, I found it … Continue reading Claudine Jacques, The Blue Cross/La Croix bleue (#Review, #WITmonth)
Bill curates: Mary Church Terrell’s What it means to be coloured …
Bill Curates is an occasional series where I delve into Sue’s vast archive, stretching back to May 2009, and choose a post for us to revisit. In 2011, when today's post was first published, Barack Obama was in his first term as President and then Senate Majority Leader, Republican Mitch McConnell, was pursuing a scorched earth policy of … Continue reading Bill curates: Mary Church Terrell’s What it means to be coloured …
Nardi Simpson, Song of the crocodile (#BookReview)
Nardi Simpson's Song of the crocodile is a tight multi-generational saga set in the fictional town of Darnmoor over the last decades of the twentieth century. It tells the story of the people of the Campgrounds, who are ostracised, exploited and abused by the white townspeople. Between the Campgrounds and the town proper, with its … Continue reading Nardi Simpson, Song of the crocodile (#BookReview)
Emma Ashmere, Dreams they forgot (#BookReview)
Emma Ashmere's short story collection, Dreams they forgot, is different again from recent short story collections I've read. Certainly very different from the most recent, Adam Thompson's Born into this (my review). One of the things that makes it different is its breadth in terms of time and place. Thompson's collection, for example, is mostly … Continue reading Emma Ashmere, Dreams they forgot (#BookReview)
Jonathan Shaw, None of us alone (#BookReview)
Some of you will know of Jonathan Shaw as the blogger at Me fail? I fly! If you read his blog, you will also know that he loves poetry: he writes it, he reviews it. None of us alone is his first commercially published collection, though he has self-published five collections and has had a … Continue reading Jonathan Shaw, None of us alone (#BookReview)
Stan Grant, On Thomas Keneally (Writers on writers) (#BookReview)
Stan Grant's On Thomas Keneally is the second I've read in Black Inc's Writers on writers series, Erik Jensen's On Kate Jennings (my review) being the first. As I wrote in that post, the series involves leading authors reflecting "on an Australian writer who has inspired and influenced them". Hmm ... the way Keneally inspired … Continue reading Stan Grant, On Thomas Keneally (Writers on writers) (#BookReview)
Adam Thompson, Born into this (#BookReview)
When my brother gave me Tasmanian author Adam Thompson's Born into this earlier this year, I told him I'd save it for Lisa's ILW 2021, which I did - and which means I can now thank him properly for a yet another well-chosen gift, because this is a strong, absorbing and relevant read. If you … Continue reading Adam Thompson, Born into this (#BookReview)
Steven Conte, The Tolstoy Estate (#BookReview)
Steven Conte burst on the scene in 2008 when he won the inaugural Prime Minister's Literary Award with his 2007-published debut novel, The zookeeper's war. I always intended to read it but somehow it never happened. Jump to 2020, and Conte's second novel, The Tolstoy Estate, was published. That's a big gap, but what he's … Continue reading Steven Conte, The Tolstoy Estate (#BookReview)
Malcolm Knox, Bluebird (#BookReview)
Malcolm Knox's sixth novel, Bluebird, comes with some impressive endorsements. On the front cover is "Charlotte Wood, author of The weekend", while the back features "Christos Tsiolkas, author of Damascus and The slap" and "Adam Gilchrist, former test cricketer and beach-goer". Hang on, Adam Gilchrist? What the? Some of you will know why, but I … Continue reading Malcolm Knox, Bluebird (#BookReview)
