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 …
Women writers
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)
Monday musings on Australian Literature: Stilettos and Sponsors
Has that got your attention? If it has, I'm sorry if you think I'm going to talk about high society fund-raising parties. I'm afraid it's a bit more mundane than that ... but interesting I hope. The Stilettos I have in fact written about the Stilettos before, the Scarlet Stiletto Awards to be exact. To … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian Literature: Stilettos and Sponsors
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)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Forgotten writers 2, Eliza Hamilton Dunlop
When I started my Monday Musings sub-series on forgotten Australian writers a couple of months ago, I had a few writers in mind, including the first one I did, Helen Simpson. However, a couple of weeks ago, The Conversation published the latest in their Hidden Women of History series, and the subject was an Irish-Australian … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Forgotten writers 2, Eliza Hamilton Dunlop
Delia Owens, Where the crawdads sing (#BookReview)
Delia Owens' bestselling debut novel, Where the crawdads sing, is a problematical novel, as my reading group discovered - and yet, I couldn't help being emotionally engaged. It reminded me a little of a childhood favourite, Gene Stratton Porter's A girl of the Limberlost. My heart went out to Owen's protagonist, Kya, the maligned, ignored, … Continue reading Delia Owens, Where the crawdads sing (#BookReview)
Irma Gold, The breaking (#BookReview)
I have broken a golden rule! That is, I am reviewing Irma Gold's debut novel, The breaking, out of the order in which I received it for review, which is something I (almost) never do! But, I am attending an author event on this book this weekend, and I really wanted to have read it … Continue reading Irma Gold, The breaking (#BookReview)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Nancy Cato
Last year I posted on a book called Trailblazers: 100 inspiring South Australian women. I decided then that it could inspire some Monday Musings posts, because it includes writers among its inspiring women. The first writer to appear in this alphabetically-arranged book is Nancy Cato. She is described as "Writer and activist", which enhances her … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Nancy Cato
Jane Austen, Juvenilia, Volume the third (#Review)
This month my Jane Austen group completed our reading of Jane Austen's Juvenilia. (Click the links for my thoughts on the first and second volumes.) Volume the third is a little different to the other two, as it contains just two unfinished works: EvelynCatharine, or The bower Both were written in 1792, when she was … Continue reading Jane Austen, Juvenilia, Volume the third (#Review)
Jane Austen, Lesley Castle (#Review)
I mentioned in my post on the second volume of Jane Austen's Juvenilia, that I might do a separate post on one of its longer pieces, Lesley Castle. It's one of her three longer pieces in that volume, and is often published separately or in other compilations, so warrants some attention, methinks! Lesley Castle Lesley … Continue reading Jane Austen, Lesley Castle (#Review)
Whispering Gums 