Women writers

Shokoofeh Azar, The enlightenment of the greengage tree (#BookReview)

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I bought Shokoofeh Azar's novel The enlightenment of the greengage tree when it was longlisted for the 2018 Stella Prize, for which it was also shortlisted. However, it was its shortlisting this year for the International Booker Prize that prompted me to finally take it off the TBR pile. Born in Iran, artist and writer Azar … Continue reading Shokoofeh Azar, The enlightenment of the greengage tree (#BookReview)

Monday musings on Australian literature: Best Young Australian Novelists (2)

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The Sydney Morning Herald's Best Young Australian Novelists award is announced annually to coincide with the opening of the Sydney Writers Festival. Of course, there is no live festival this year, but awards announcements can still go ahead can't they? I have posted on these awards before, but that was 2013, so I figured I could … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Best Young Australian Novelists (2)

Julie Thorndyke, Mrs Rickaby’s lullaby (#BookReview)

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Quaint title, eh? I really didn't know what to expect when I accepted this book for review, but accept I did because the publisher is a quality little press and because the author, Julie Thorndyke, although unknown to me, has a track record as a writer, particularly of tanka. Mrs Rickaby's lullaby, however, is her … Continue reading Julie Thorndyke, Mrs Rickaby’s lullaby (#BookReview)

Tara June Winch, The yield (#BookReview)

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Tara June Winch's novel, The yield, follows her impressive - and David Unaipon award-winning - debut novel Swallow the air (my review). Ten years in the making, The yield could be described as her "passion project". It makes a powerful plea for Indigenous agency and culture. I wrote about The yield's genesis last year, but will repeat it … Continue reading Tara June Winch, The yield (#BookReview)

Monday musings on Australian literature: Authors respond to COVID-19

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In last week's Monday Musings I wrote more generally about COVID-19 and its impact on the Arts. Like that post, this one is not aiming to be a formal comprehensive one either; news and ideas are coming far too quickly. And, anyhow, as I also said last week, most if not all of you are … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Authors respond to COVID-19

David Carlin and Francesca Rendle-Short (eds), The near and the far: More stories from the Asia-Pacific region, Vol. 2 (#BookReview)

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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)

Author event: Heidi Sze on her book Nurturing your new life

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A book primarily intended for postpartum mothers is not really the sort of book Whispering Gums' readers would expect to see here, but let me explain. Melbourne-based Heidi Sze started her food blog, Apples Under My Bed, the same year I started mine. However, that's not our link. Rather, it's that later that year, Daughter … Continue reading Author event: Heidi Sze on her book Nurturing your new life