As with most of my guest posters here, I met Christina through blogging and thus discovered not only another Australian litblogger (there aren't many of us) but one who is also a writer. Her special interest is memoir and her blog is titled Memory and You. I enjoy (a good) memoir but don't get to … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Guest post from Christina of Memory and You
Vale Rosemary Dobson (Australian poet)
Last time I wrote about poet Rosemary Dobson was in my post on Australian literary couples but my post today is a sadder one as Dobson died this week, just a week or so after her 92nd birthday. She had a long career as a poet, starting soon after World War 2. When she first came … Continue reading Vale Rosemary Dobson (Australian poet)
Apostrophes amok
Seen on our recent holiday in Kununurra, in the Kimberleys: Don't you feel sorry for the "table tops"? They look rather lonely in there. My philosophy regarding apostrophes is a simple one: When in doubt, leave them out. I find the odd missing apostrophe far less distracting than the opposite - but perhaps that's just … Continue reading Apostrophes amok
Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Elizabeth Harrower on Circular Quay
When I reviewed Elizabeth Harrower's The watch tower the other day I wanted to fill it up with quotes from the book because her writing is so delicious. And that means, of course, that it is perfect for a Delicious Descriptions post. The one I've chosen occurs at the end of Part 2 (of three … Continue reading Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Elizabeth Harrower on Circular Quay
Elizabeth Harrower, The watch tower (Review)
Cover for The watch tower (Courtesy: Text Publishing) Elizabeth Harrower's fourth and final novel, The watch tower, is a rather harrowing (couldn't resist that) read. It is also an astonishing read, and I wonder why it has had such little recognition over the decades or so since its publication in 1966. Thanks to Text Classics, … Continue reading Elizabeth Harrower, The watch tower (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Kimberley dreaming
The Kimberley region of Australia is a place of dreams. The most enduring and significant of these are, of course, those belonging to its indigenous inhabitants who have been there, it is believed, for around 40,000 years. Jump forward to recent centuries and we find new dreamers - the pearlers, the gold prospectors, the pastoralists,, … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Kimberley dreaming
unDISCLOSED, the second national indigenous art triennial
Indigenous Australian art has, over the last few decades, become big business in Australia and overseas, and for good reason. It is unique and it is beautiful. Most Australians, I suspect, only know of the "traditional" dot painting style of the Central Australian Desert and perhaps the wood carvings of the Torres Strait Islands. However, … Continue reading unDISCLOSED, the second national indigenous art triennial
Monday musings on Australian literature: Literary hoaxes and identity scandals
Have you ever heard of the Ern Malley affair? Or of Helen Demidenko? Or what about Mudrooroo? These are just three of Australia's literary controversies involving false identities. Why are Miles Franklin and Henry Handel Richardson perfectly acceptable pseudonyms, while Helen Demidenko, for example, is not? Aye, there's the rub... It seems to have something to do … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Literary hoaxes and identity scandals
Catherine McNamara, The divorced lady’s companion to living in Italy (Review)
What would you say to a cross between chick lit, those mature-women-finding-themselves travel memoirs (like, say, Mary Moody's Au revoir or Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love), and Alice in Wonderland? Such a fusion is how I'd describe Catherine McNamara's first novel, The divorced lady's companion to living in Italy. Intrigued? Then read on ... The plot is simple. Marilyn … Continue reading Catherine McNamara, The divorced lady’s companion to living in Italy (Review)
Kate Chopin, After the winter (Review)
I am, as many of you know, a Kate Chopin fan and I therefore tend to keep an eye out for her in the Library of America's (LOA) Story of the Week program. "After the winter", one of her earlier works, was an LOA story in April and so here I am for the fourth time … Continue reading Kate Chopin, After the winter (Review)
Whispering Gums 