Rural dreams is another collection of short stories from small independent publisher MidnightSun, and it's another good one. I hadn't heard of Margaret Hickey before, but her website says that she's won a number of awards and is a performed playwright. Relevant to this book is that Hickey grew up in small country towns in … Continue reading Margaret Hickey, Rural dreams (#BookReview)
Review – Short stories
Jayant Kaikini, No presents please: Mumbai stories (#BookReview)
Jayant Kaikini is an Indian (Kannada) poet, short story writer, playwright, a public intellectual and a lyricist in Kannada Cinema. Kannada is new to me, but it's the language widely spoken in the Indian state of Karnataka, where Kaikini was born (in 1955). He is regarded, according to Wikipedia, as one of the most significant contemporary writers in … Continue reading Jayant Kaikini, No presents please: Mumbai stories (#BookReview)
Bill curates: M.L. Skinner’s The hand
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. During the latter part of January we will look at some of Sue’s older posts which have relevance to my Australian Women Writers Gen 3 Week, Part II,17-23 Jan, 2021. Mollie Skinner … Continue reading Bill curates: M.L. Skinner’s The hand
Carol Lefevre, Murmurations (#BookReview)
Murmurations is a beautiful, evocative word, and Carol Lefevre's latest book, titled Murmurations, does beautiful, thoughtful justice to it. It is though an unusual book. Styled by its author as a novella, it reads on the surface like a collection of short stories, except that the stories are not only connected by the various characters … Continue reading Carol Lefevre, Murmurations (#BookReview)
Emily Paull, Well-behaved women (#BookReview)
Well-behaved women is a debut collection of short stories by Western Australian writer Emily Paull. It is one of those collections that has a unique title, and what a perfect - and teasing - title it is for a collection of stories focused on women. It has, you won't be surprised to hear, the usual … Continue reading Emily Paull, Well-behaved women (#BookReview)
David Carlin and Francesca Rendle-Short (eds), The near and the far: More stories from the Asia-Pacific region, Vol. 2 (#BookReview)
This anthology, like the first The near and the far volume, stems from a project called WrICE (Writers Immersion and Cultural Exchange), an intercultural and intergenerational program which "brings together Australian and Asia-Pacific writers for face-to-face collaborative residencies in Asia and Australia". The most recent residencies have been in Indonesia (2018), The Philippines (2017) and China (2016). The … Continue reading David Carlin and Francesca Rendle-Short (eds), The near and the far: More stories from the Asia-Pacific region, Vol. 2 (#BookReview)
Amanda O’Callaghan, This taste for silence (#BookReview)
Short story collections are rarely recognised in literary fiction awards, but Amanda O'Callaghan's debut collection, This taste for silence, was shortlisted for this year's Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction. The judges described it as "inventive in its themes and by an author unafraid to enfold her readers into unsettling reading experiences". I would agree. This … Continue reading Amanda O’Callaghan, This taste for silence (#BookReview)
Lafcadio Hearn, Yuki-Onna (#Review)
I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted on a Library of America (LOA) Story of the Week. I usually "do" a few a year, but this is the first for 2019, even though I've identified several that I've wanted to do. However, when Lafcadio Hearn popped up last week - and with a Japanese story … Continue reading Lafcadio Hearn, Yuki-Onna (#Review)
Anton Chekhov, The lady with the little dog (#Review)
"The lady and with the little dog" was an out-of-left-field recommendation for my reading group for two reasons. One is that it is a single short story - not even a whole collection which we have done before. And the other is that the member who recommended it did so on the basis of its … Continue reading Anton Chekhov, The lady with the little dog (#Review)
Chris Womersley, A lovely and terrible thing (#BookReview)
Described as "twenty macabre and deliciously enjoyable stories for readers of Fiona McFarlane and Lauren Groff", Chris Womersley's newest book - his debut collection of short stories - wasn't necessarily a natural fit for me. I haven't read Lauren Groff, but I have read and really liked Fiona McFarlane's clever, memorable, The night guest (my … Continue reading Chris Womersley, A lovely and terrible thing (#BookReview)
Whispering Gums 