Anita Heiss's Am I black enough for you? is a challenge to categorise, so I'll start with writer Benjamin Law's description on the cover of my edition. He calls it "part family history, part manifesto" to which I'd add "part memoir" because "family history" does not really cover the self-description aspect of the book. For … Continue reading Anita Heiss, Am I black enough for you (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: BlackWords
NAIDOC Week, to which last week's Monday Musings was dedicated, officially finished yesterday, but I've decided to bookend it with another Monday Musings focusing on indigenous Australian literature. This post, in fact, also harks back to two Monday Musings ago which talked about the AustLit database - because I want to introduce you to one … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: BlackWords
Melissa Lucashenko, How green is my valley (Review)
Almost a year ago I reviewed a short story, "The silent majority", by Melissa Lucashenko. It was published in the Griffith Review of November 2009. I enjoyed the story and so, in honour of NAIDOC Week and ANZLitLovers Indigenous Literature Week, I thought I'd review another of her Griffith Review contributions. This one, "How green … Continue reading Melissa Lucashenko, How green is my valley (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Indigenous Australian memoirs
As Australians would know, this week - July 7-14 - is NAIDOC week. NAIDOC originally stood for an organisation - ‘National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee’ - but the acronym has now become the name of the week itself. Fascinating how acronyms can take on lives of their own, isn't it? Anyhow, the theme … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Indigenous Australian memoirs
Willa Cather, Peter (Review)
Surely a whole year can't have passed since I last wrote about a Library of America short story? But yes, it has. My last one was Robert Frost's "The question of a feather" in July last year. Many times I've chosen one to read, and many times I've let other things get in the way … Continue reading Willa Cather, Peter (Review)
Rachel Hennessy, The heaven I swallowed (Review)
It feels strange to be reviewing a Vogel Literary Award runner up, which Rachel Hennessy's The heaven I swallowed was in 2008, in a year when the judges decided not to award the prize because they didn't find ‘that special quality that a winning entry has’. C'est la vie I suppose, but what a shame … Continue reading Rachel Hennessy, The heaven I swallowed (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: AustLit FREE TRIAL
When I first discovered AustLit (Australian Literature Resource) in the early 2000s I was thrilled. What fan of Aussie literature wouldn't be excited by a database for Australian writers and writing? Created in 2000 by Australia's university sector and led by the University of Queensland, AustLit "aims to be the definitive virtual research environment and … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: AustLit FREE TRIAL
Satellite Boy (Movie review)
It's disappointing to say the least that the new Australian film, Satellite Boy, is in very limited distribution. It was released 10 days ago, and in my city, with 6 cinema complexes, it is screening in only one. Why? It's rather an indictment of Australian audiences that such a film is not receiving wider distribution. … Continue reading Satellite Boy (Movie review)
Delicious descriptions from Down under: Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell on books
There are many delicious descriptions to choose from Hilary Mantel's Bring up the bodies, which I reviewed earlier this week, and some have already been posted by bloggers in other posts (such as John at Musings of a Literary Dilettante, Lisa at ANZ LitLovers, and Alex in Leeds). Their excerpts relate more to thematic issues, … Continue reading Delicious descriptions from Down under: Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell on books
Hilary Mantel, Bring up the bodies (Review)
In her author's note at the end of her second Thomas Cromwell novel, Bring up the bodies, Hilary Mantel writes that: In this book I try to show how a few crucial weeks might have looked from Thomas Cromwell's point of view. I am not claiming authority for my version; I am making the reader … Continue reading Hilary Mantel, Bring up the bodies (Review)
Whispering Gums 