In a comment on my review last week of Kate Grenville's One life, Lisa (ANZLitLovers) asked "Where's Australia's George Orwell?". This was in reference to the idea that more novelists should write about climate change to help change public opinion. Interesting question, I thought, and one that I could explore in a Monday Musings. You … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Where is Australia’s George Orwell?
Rochelle Siemienowicz, Fallen (Review)
Being a reader who focuses more on "truths" than "facts", I'm not averse to writers playing around with fact in their fiction or fiction in their fact. This issue raises its head most frequently in historical fiction of course, but it's also present in autobiographies, memoirs and even biographies. And so, here I am, having … Continue reading Rochelle Siemienowicz, Fallen (Review)
Kate Grenville, One life: My mother’s story (Review)
Kate Grenville is one of Australia's best known contemporary writers, and is one of that small band to have succeeded both critically and commercially. Most know her for The secret river, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize among other awards. I enjoyed that, and the other novels of hers that I've read, with my … Continue reading Kate Grenville, One life: My mother’s story (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian novels adapted for opera
Today's post is inspired by an article, "Fly away Peter: When Australian literature goes to the opera", published in May this year in The Conversation. Written by Michael Halliwell, Associate Professor of Vocal Studies and Opera at the University of Sydney, it was inspired by the production of an opera based on David Malouf's wonderful novel, Fly away Peter. Now, as some … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian novels adapted for opera
Tony Birch and Ellen van Neerven in Review of Australian Fiction 10 (4)
I have been wanting to write about the oddly titled Review of Australian Fiction for some time. I say oddly titled because, contrary to what it might sound like, this does not contain reviews but short fiction. Established in 2012, it is published, electronically (or digitally), every two weeks. Each issue contains two stories by Australian authors: one by an established … Continue reading Tony Birch and Ellen van Neerven in Review of Australian Fiction 10 (4)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian literary autobiographies
I've written Monday Musings on autobiographies and memoirs by indigenous Australians, and I've reviewed biographies of Australian writers, like Mary Durack and Madeleine St John. However, I haven't written about what we might call literary autobiographies, that is, autobiographies by authors. So, today's the day. I have read several literary autobiographies, but few since I started blogging. Being a … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian literary autobiographies
Alice Robinson, Anchor point (Review)
I love it when the book I'm reading picks up ideas explored in my previous book. Alice Robinson's debut novel Anchor point is, in reality, far removed from Mark Henshaw's The snow kimono (my review), but the first line of Henshaw's book - "There are times in your life when something happens after which you are … Continue reading Alice Robinson, Anchor point (Review)
Mark Henshaw, The snow kimono (Review)
I wasn't far into Mark Henshaw's The snow kimono before I started to sense some similarities to Kazuo Ishiguro. I was consequently tickled when, about halfway through, up popped a secondary character named Mr Ishiguro. Coincidental? I can't help thinking it's not - but I haven't investigated whether Henshaw has said anything about this. I'm not at all suggesting, … Continue reading Mark Henshaw, The snow kimono (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Science-based non-fiction
National Science Week, which inspired last week's post, finished yesterday, but I decided to extend it a day by writing a post on Australian non-fiction on science subjects. I'll focus of course on works created for general readers, not academic works. Unlike last week's list, I haven't read all the books I list here. Given the … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Science-based non-fiction
Sherwood Anderson, Adventure (Review)
As some of you will know, I started discussing books online in January 1997 when I joined a listserv-based international reading group. I was active in that group until around the time I started blogging, when I found I could no longer keep up with all my on-line presences. In the period that my involvement … Continue reading Sherwood Anderson, Adventure (Review)
Whispering Gums 