Having discussed in this week's Monday Musings Margaret Merrilees' essay on white authors writing about indigenous Australians, I'm now getting to my promised review of her debut novel, The first week, in which she does just this. It also, according to Wakefield Press's media release, won the Adelaide Festival's Unpublished Manuscript Award in 2012. I can see why … Continue reading Margaret Merrilees, The first week (Review)
Wrapping in the rain
Mr Gums and I spent last weekend in the lovely historic town of Beechworth staying with two other couples in the gorgeous 1890s Indigo Cottage (owned by one of the couples). Quite coincidentally, we discovered that this weekend was Beechworth's WRAP Festival. That's Writers, Readers and Poets, an annual event that has been sponsored by the Beechworth … Continue reading Wrapping in the rain
Monday musings on Australian literature: White writers on Indigenous Australians
Over the years I've read many books written by white Australian writers on indigenous Australians*, including Mrs Aeneas Gunn's We of the Never Never, Nene Gare's The fringe dwellers, Thomas Keneally's The chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Kate Grenville's The secret river, Peter Temple's The broken shore, and several books by Thea Astley. Later this week I'll be reviewing another, … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: White writers on Indigenous Australians
Stella Prize 2014 longlist
I'm not going to write a long post on the Stella Prize longlist because Paula Grunseit has written a good rundown of the books on the Australian Women Writers' challenge website. Do check it out if you are interested to know more about the books (which I'll list below). The Stella Prize, regular readers here … Continue reading Stella Prize 2014 longlist
Poetry at the Gods … with Les Murray
What can I say but that it was wonderful to be in the presence of the man who is arguably Australia's greatest living poet, Les Murray. Poetry at the Gods is a monthly event which has been run for many years by local poet Geoff Page*. (The Gods is a cafe-bar attached to the Australian … Continue reading Poetry at the Gods … with Les Murray
Monday musings on Australian literature: Bread and Cheese Club and Indigenous Australians
Since last week's Monday Musings post on Melbourne's curious, but now defunct, Bread and Cheese Club, I've been doing further research into its various activities, and have found it to be an amazingly vibrant organisation. The club's motto was "Mateship, Art and Letters" and a major focus seemed to have been Australian writers. Certainly its … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Bread and Cheese Club and Indigenous Australians
Evie Wyld, All the birds, singing (Review)
Quite by coincidence, I read Evie Wyld's second novel All the birds, singing straight after Eleanor Catton's The luminaries. I was intrigued by some similarities - both have a mystery at their core, and both use a complex narrative structure - but enjoyed their differences. Wyld's book is tightly focused on one main character while Catton's sprawls (albeit in … Continue reading Evie Wyld, All the birds, singing (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: The Bread and Cheese Club
I bet that title has you wondering! It was certainly new to me when I came across a book in my late mother-in-law's collection titled Fellows all: The chronicles of the Bread and Cheese Club. Published in 1943, and written by HW Malloch, this book is a history of the early years of the club … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: The Bread and Cheese Club
Delicious descriptions: More on Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries
Rightly or wrongly, I try to keep my reviews to a reasonable length. When they start creeping up to 1200 words, I worry that readers will be discouraged from reading. There's so much to read out there - so many books, so many blogs, so many articles. And so, when my review of The luminaries … Continue reading Delicious descriptions: More on Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries
Eleanor Catton, The luminaries (Review)
Now here's the thing ... I don't make a practice of reading mysteries. I really don't care about who dunnit. When Mr Gums and I watch television crime shows, I rarely concentrate enough to work out the plot intricacies, but I do watch the characters. I'm always interested in the detectives and their relationships. I … Continue reading Eleanor Catton, The luminaries (Review)
