Today's post was inspired, of course, by my recently reading Jessica White's memoir-biography, Hearing Maud (my review), which parallels White's own experience of deafness with that of Maud Praed. This post will not be an exhaustive (or even comprehensive) discussion of the topic, but a broad-brush introduction to some of the ways deafness is reflected … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Deafness and Australian writers and writing
Women writers
Jessica White, Hearing Maud (#BookReview)
Hybrid memoir-biographies take many forms. For a start, some are weighted more to biography while others more to memoir. As I wrote in my post on Jessica White's conversation with Inga Simpson, most of those I've read "have been mother-daughter stories, the biography being about the mother and the memoir, the daughter. White’s book is … Continue reading Jessica White, Hearing Maud (#BookReview)
Helen Garner in conversation with Sarah Krasnostein
To say I was thrilled when Son Gums' partner offered to buy tickets for us to see Helen Garner in conversation (last Saturday) would be an understatement. I have never seen Garner live before so that would be one bucket-list item ticked had I a bucket list! The fact that the conversation was to be … Continue reading Helen Garner in conversation with Sarah Krasnostein
Sue Ingleton, Making trouble: Tongued with fire (#BookReview)
In my recent post on Jessica White talking about her hybrid memoir-biography Hearing Maud, I commented that I'm intrigued by the ways in which biography is being rethought in contemporary literature. When I wrote that, I not only had White's book in mind, but Sue Ingleton's Making trouble. You can probably guess why from its sub-sub-title: "an … Continue reading Sue Ingleton, Making trouble: Tongued with fire (#BookReview)
Monday musings on Australian literature: 1930s, moving beyond “gumleaf and goanna”
Time for another post inspired by Trove, this one, as often happens actually, discovered while researching something else. What I discovered was the discussion that went on in the 1930s about Australian fiction's coming of age - and the fact that much of this was down to the women writers of the time (about which … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: 1930s, moving beyond “gumleaf and goanna”
Special Book and Event Giveaway for Jessica White’s Hearing Maud
Regular readers here will know that I very rarely do give-aways. However, when Jessica White, who is on the Australian Women Writers Challenge team with me and whose novel Entitlement I've reviewed, asked whether I'd be happy to do a giveaway for her latest book, Hearing Maud, and her conversation with Inga Simpson at Muse, … Continue reading Special Book and Event Giveaway for Jessica White’s Hearing Maud
Ros Collins, Rosa: Memories with licence (#BookReview)
Memoirs are tricky things. There are readers who love them, readers who hate them, and readers like wishy-washy me who sit in the middle. I sit in the middle because, for a start, I don't like to say "never" when it comes to reading. I sit in the middle because I couldn't cope with a … Continue reading Ros Collins, Rosa: Memories with licence (#BookReview)
Jocelyn Moorhouse, Unconditional love: A memoir of filmmaking and motherhood (#BookReview)
Although it is quite a traditional memoir, style-wise, Jocelyn Moorhouse's Unconditional love: A memoir of filmmaking and motherhood is particularly interesting for a couple of reasons. Firstly, she's an artist who had a happy childhood. Who knew that could happen? Secondly, while most memoirs focus on one aspect of the writer's life - such as … Continue reading Jocelyn Moorhouse, Unconditional love: A memoir of filmmaking and motherhood (#BookReview)
Grace L. Chao and Amanda Ambinder Shapiro, Bookclub social: A reader’s guide to online book clubs (#BookReview)
Back in 2016, I completed a survey about online bookclubs, and answered some supplementary questions about "my" sort of club. I also took part in a follow-up telephone interview with the two American researchers involved, Grace Chao and Amanda Shapiro. Now, three years later, they have completed their research and self-published it in their book, … Continue reading Grace L. Chao and Amanda Ambinder Shapiro, Bookclub social: A reader’s guide to online book clubs (#BookReview)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Introducing Charmian Clift
There's no way I can do justice in a short post to such this complex woman about whom so much has been written, but I'd like to add Charmian Clift to Monday Musings posts featuring Aussie authors, not only because she and her husband, author George Johnston, were one of our significant literary couples, but … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Introducing Charmian Clift
Whispering Gums 