Last year, I published a guest post by Annette Marfording, who was, for many years, the Program Director of the Bellingen Readers and Writers Festival. At the time of this post, she had just self-published her book, Celebrating Australian Writing: Conversations with Australian Authors, containing a selection of interviews she'd conducted over many years with a wide range of … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Spotlight on Robert Dessaix
Annie Dillard, The Maytrees (Review)
I am not, as I wrote in my recent post on Emma Ayres' memoir Cadence, a big "reader" of audiobooks. In fact, until Cadence, I hadn't listened to one for a few years. However, we do have a few here that we had given Mr Gums' mother as her sight started to fail and which … Continue reading Annie Dillard, The Maytrees (Review)
School friend annual 1964
The things you find when you start to declutter! School friend annual 1964 is a blast from my very distant past. Yes, I know, some of you weren't born then, but I can't resist sharing the sort of books produced for young girls in the olden days! I loved receiving annuals and anthologies, books in my … Continue reading School friend annual 1964
Stella Prize 2016 Longlist
The announcement of the Stella Prize Longlist is a red-letter day for the Australian Women Writers Challenge ... and also for me of course. So, today, I share the list with you. The shortlist will be announced on March 10. The judges look good to me: writer Emily Maguire, memoirist/essayist Alice Pung, author/academic Brenda Walker, … Continue reading Stella Prize 2016 Longlist
Monday musings on Australian literature: National Libraries Day (UK)
Caroline of Book Word blog has written a wonderful post about National Libraries Day in the UK, which took place just this last weekend, on Saturday, 6th February. Caroline provides three witnesses to argue for the value of libraries: Peter Balaba, Head Librarian, Nakaseke Community Library, Uganda, who talks about the outreach programs they provide in a book-poor … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: National Libraries Day (UK)
George G. Foster, The eating-houses (Review)
Some of you will know that Mr Gums and I love to eat out. So, when I saw a Library of America (LOA) Story of the Week titled "The eating-houses" by one George G Foster appear in my in-box at the end of last year, I knew I had to read it. I just had … Continue reading George G. Foster, The eating-houses (Review)
Steve Toltz, Quicksand (Review)
Aldo Benjamin, the anti-hero of Quicksand, accuses wannabe-writer-friend Liam of having "such little imagination". You could not, however, accuse the novel's author, Steve Toltz, of this. Quicksand reads a bit like a 19th century satirical novel transplanted into the 21st century. It is big in size (though not as big as his first, A fraction of the whole), broad in subject … Continue reading Steve Toltz, Quicksand (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: New Australian releases for 2016
With the first month of 2016 already gone, I thought it was time I had a look around to see what new works are in the pipeline this year from our Aussie authors. This is a serendipitous list, partly because tracking down this information isn't easy and partly because I'm more interested in providing a flavour … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: New Australian releases for 2016
Halina Rubin, Journeys with my mother (Review)
I've read a lot of World War 2 literature over the years, but very little from the Polish point of view, so I was more than willing to read Halina Rubin's Journeys with my mother when it was offered to me a few months ago. Rubin was born in Warsaw on 27 August 1939. Note the date: her mother, … Continue reading Halina Rubin, Journeys with my mother (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Aussie writing duos
My inspiration for Monday Musings comes from various sources - my own interests, roving around Trove, news articles or stories I come across, or other bloggers. Today's post was inspired by Lisa's (ANZLitLovers) post on Gert Loveday's novel, Writing is easy. Gert Loveday is a collective pseudonym for two sisters, Joan Kerr and Gabrielle Daly. … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Aussie writing duos
Whispering Gums 