Emma's guest Monday Musings post last week on Randolph Stow provided the impetus for me to finally retrieve Gabrielle Carey's Moving among strangers: Randolph Stow and my family from my TBR pile. I've been wanting to read it for the longest time, but ... well, those of you with big TBRs will understand. Moving among strangers, whose … Continue reading Gabrielle Carey, Moving among strangers (#BookReview)
Carmel Bird (ed), The stolen children: Their stories (#BookReview)
Commenting on my post on Telling indigenous Australian stories, Australian author Carmel Bird mentioned her 1998 book The stolen children, describing it as her contribution "to the spreading of indigenous stories through the wider Australian culture". It contains stories told to, and contained in the report of, the National Enquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and … Continue reading Carmel Bird (ed), The stolen children: Their stories (#BookReview)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Guest post from ACT Lit-blogger Emma Gibson
With the ACT Lit-bloggers of the Future program in its closing months, I thought it would be lovely for you to hear directly from Emma and Angharad via a guest post, and they both agreed. First up is Emma - and she chose to write about ... The great Australian writer you’ve (possibly) never heard of: Randolph … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Guest post from ACT Lit-blogger Emma Gibson
My literary week (9), some thoughts about fiction …
It's been a busy week, what with getting ready for our road trip to Port Macquarie, and then doing said road trip, so reading has been slowed down somewhat. However, that doesn't mean that things literary have been forgotten. Why write fiction? Like most of you who read this blog, I expect, I'm always looking … Continue reading My literary week (9), some thoughts about fiction …
Anosh Irani, The parcel (#BookReview)
One of the main reasons I read is to enter worlds unknown to me - physical worlds and more interior or personal ones. Anosh Irani's novel The parcel meets this criterion perfectly. It is set in the Kamathipura red-light district of Bombay/Mumbai, and its main character is a eunuch, or hijra, named Madhu. Brought up … Continue reading Anosh Irani, The parcel (#BookReview)
Monday musings on Australian literature: International Day of the Girl and adult Aussie fiction
Last week, on October 11, was UN International Day of the Girl. Its aim was to focus "attention on the need to address the challenges girls face and to promote girls’ empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights". More than that, the day, says the UN, also marked "the beginning of a year-long effort to … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: International Day of the Girl and adult Aussie fiction
Sofie Laguna in conversation with Karen Viggers
What a treat it was to witness a conversation between two lively, intelligent Australian women writers in the company of other writers. I mean, as you can see from the post title, Miles-Franklin award-winning author Sofie Laguna and local writer Karen Viggers whose book The lighthousekeeper's wife has just hit 500,000 copies sold in France! … Continue reading Sofie Laguna in conversation with Karen Viggers
Ellen van Neerven (ed.), Writing black (#BookReview)
Writing black: New indigenous writing from Australia is one of the productions supported by the Queensland Writers Centre's if:book that I wrote about in a recent Monday Musings. It's an interactive e-book created using Apple's iBooks platform, and can be downloaded free-of-charge via the if:book page or directly from iBooks. Writing black was edited (and commissioned) by Ellen van … Continue reading Ellen van Neerven (ed.), Writing black (#BookReview)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Grateful Brits send books to Aussies
As I was searching Trove for another topic, I came across some articles that I just had to share, particularly given my recent posts on bookswapping and bookselling for charity. These articles date from post-World War 2 when Britain was living under strict rationing, which continued for a long time - until 1954, in fact. To … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Grateful Brits send books to Aussies
Six degrees of separation, FROM Like water for chocolate TO …
I've decided to change my blog titling practice for my Six Degrees meme, from including the end book to not! I've decided it's more fun to read the post following the connections until the end, rather than knowing the end book at the beginning? Let me know what you think. But now, the formalities. Six Degrees of … Continue reading Six degrees of separation, FROM Like water for chocolate TO …
Whispering Gums 