For the past five years my Jane Austen group has been reading Jane Austen's letters in a rather higgledy piggdledy manner*. We have nearly finished now. We have just done her first letters, and next year we will conclude, logically at last, on her final letters. What a fascinating time we've been having. Jane Austen's … Continue reading Jane Austen’s letters, 1796-1800
Michael Sala’s The last thread is 2013’s Pacific Region Winner of the Commonwealth Book Prize
I don't know about you but I find blogging a challenge when I'm travelling, as I have been for much of May. I love my iPad for staying in touch, but I don't find it easy to write blog posts on it - either via the WordPress app or the browser. And, our old PC … Continue reading Michael Sala’s The last thread is 2013’s Pacific Region Winner of the Commonwealth Book Prize
Monday musings on Australian literature: City, bush and outback
If today weren't Monday, this would probably be a literary road post but it is Monday which means of course that it's a Monday Musings instead! See how flexible I am? I know I talk a lot here about the bush and the outback but they are topics that keep cropping up in my reading … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: City, bush and outback
Delicious descriptions from Down under: Andrew Croome on Nevada
I recently reviewed Andrew Croome's Midnight empire which is mostly set in and around Las Vegas, an area I have travelled through several times. Here is Croome's description of his protagonist Daniel being introduced to the region: Mythic horizons. They drove into the liquid road-shimmer of the desert, past the Joshua trees and the creosote bushes that bordered the I95. … Continue reading Delicious descriptions from Down under: Andrew Croome on Nevada
On the literary road: Gundagai Redux
Gundagai, a small country town only two hours drive from my home, was the first place featured in my first literary road post back in 2009. I didn't on that occasion write about its early history. The Gundagai area was home to the Wiradjuri people, and was settled by white people in the late 1820s. … Continue reading On the literary road: Gundagai Redux
Monday musings on Australian literature: Miles Franklin Award shortlist and the woman question
Things have been looking up lately on the women writers front. Last year two women - Anna Funder (All that I am) and Gillian Mears (Foal's bread) - made an almost clean sweep of our major literary awards. This year women writers are again faring well, with the Miles Franklin shortlist comprising all women. The … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Miles Franklin Award shortlist and the woman question
Andrew Croome, Midnight empire (Review)
Andrew Croome's latest novel Midnight empire is yet another read this year that is outside my usual fare. I read it because of my reading group's focus this Centenary year on Canberra writers. It wasn't a big ask, though, because I had read and enjoyed his first novel, Document Z. While both deal with spies, … Continue reading Andrew Croome, Midnight empire (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Place
Place. It's a complex thing isn't it? Arti (Ripple Effects) commented on my recent post on Gerard Manley Hopkins' "Spring and Fall" that ... while spring may be a welcome sight, for some strange reasons, I miss winter’s snow. (not the temp. just the beautiful snow scenes). Would I miss winter and snow? Not on … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Place
Woven Words: What a night!
As we were driving home from Woven Words, the most recent event associated with The invisible thread anthology, it occurred to me that the evening, which blended words with music, was rather like a three movement musical composition. It went a bit like this: Sara Dowse's bright and slightly quirky allegro Alex Miller's intense adagio … Continue reading Woven Words: What a night!
Autumn and a favourite poem
I was lying in front of a sunny window reading my current novel this afternoon when an urge came upon me to write about one of my favourite poems. It's one of the few I can recite from heart. The poem is "Spring and Fall" by Gerard Manley Hopkins, and it goes like this: To … Continue reading Autumn and a favourite poem
