Earlier today Miles Franklin Literary Award's Trust Company announced the longlist for this year's award. As usual, it includes the full gamut - expected titles, along some surprise inclusions and omissions. One of the interesting exclusions would have to be, I think, Christos Tsiolkas' Barracuda (my review). It certainly deals with "Australian life in any of its … Continue reading Miles Franklin Award 2014 Longlist
Jessica Anderson, One of the wattle birds (Review)
I have finally read Jessica Anderson's final novel, One of the wattle birds, which has been sitting in my beside cabinet since my parents gave it to me in 1998! Never let it be said that I don't read books given to me - though, on reflection, I'd prefer you didn't hold me to that! … Continue reading Jessica Anderson, One of the wattle birds (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Unpublished manuscript awards
I've recently reviewed a couple of books which have won unpublished manuscript awards: Hannah Kent won the inaugural Writing Australia Unpublished Manuscript Award in 2011 for Burial rites (my review), and Margaret Merrilees won the Unpublished Manuscript Award at the Adelaide Writer's Week in 2012 for The first week (my review). Now, I've discussed awards a few … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Unpublished manuscript awards
Barbara Baynton, Billy Skywonkie (Review)
Well, I must say that "Billy Skywonkie", my fifth* story from Barbara Baynton's Bush studies, fair near defeated me, so I was rather relieved to read in Susan Sheridan's introduction that "in this story and others, Baynton's use of dialect to represent the speech of these uneducated bush folk can also act as a barrier … Continue reading Barbara Baynton, Billy Skywonkie (Review)
Hannah Kent, Burial rites (Review)
"We'll remember you" says Margrét to Agnes on the day of her execution. We sure will, if Hannah Kent's debut novel Burial rites has anything to say about it. Kent's book is the second novel set in Iceland I've read, the first being Icelandic writer Halldor Laxness's unforgettable Independent people. Although Laxness's novel is set a century after Burial rites, … Continue reading Hannah Kent, Burial rites (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Pascall Prize
The Pascall Prize is one of those under-the-radar sorts of awards, that is, one that tends not to get much general press. However, that doesn't mean it's not significant. In fact, I've had it in my list of topics for a couple of years but, having mentioned in my David Malouf birthday post last week … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Pascall Prize
William Wells Brown, Madison Washington (Review)
Having recently reviewed Harriet Ann Jacobs' story "The lover" in the Library of America's (LOA) Story of the Week program - and also having seen the movie 12 Years a Slave - I couldn't ignore William Wells Brown's story, Madison Washington, when it appeared last month as an LOA offering. Brown (1814-1884), like Jacobs, was born into slavery. He managed to … Continue reading William Wells Brown, Madison Washington (Review)
David Malouf turns 80
I'm not in the habit of celebrating authors' special birthdays, but David Malouf is a very special Aussie author - and he turns 80 today. Some have suggested over the years that he would be a worthy Nobel Laureate - and I'd agree. He is quite the Renaissance man in the breadth of his interests … Continue reading David Malouf turns 80
Monday musings on Australian literature: More on nurturing Australian literary classics
In early 2012, I wrote a post on nurturing Australian classics in which I mentioned, among other things, some publishing initiatives such as Text Classics and Sydney University's Australian Classics Library. Text Publishing has continued since then to publish more and more titles, with over 70 titles now being available. Presumably this means that sales are … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: More on nurturing Australian literary classics
Jo Baker, Longbourn (Review)
"Never say never" is one of my favourite mottos, though I must admit there are some things I never will do, such as climb Mt Everest, say, or even write a novel. However, when it comes to reading choices, there are certain types of books that are not my preference, such as crime and Jane … Continue reading Jo Baker, Longbourn (Review)
