Back in May while I was travelling in Japan, Jennifer Byrne (host of The First Tuesday Bookclub) convened one of her special Jennifer Byrne Presents panel discussions, this one on "The future of the book". I finally got around to watching it this week. Her panelists were Richard Watson (writer and strategist on the future!), … Continue reading All that holding, lifting and turning … the future of the book
Mary Austin, The scavengers
I've never heard of Mary Austin but when I saw this story (essay), "The scavengers", appear as a Library of America offering, I had to read it, because it's about the deserts of California - and I love those deserts. Mary Austin (1868-1934) was an early nature writer about the American southwest. LOA's notes tell us that she moved … Continue reading Mary Austin, The scavengers
Monday musings on Australian literature: Are short stories on the rise?
Today I'll dip my toes into the muddy waters that comprise short stories. Regular readers of this blog know that I'm rather partial to short stories. Why, I wonder, are they still pretty much the second class citizen of the literary world? Marion Halligan said, on the release of her latest collection, Shooting the fox, that her … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Are short stories on the rise?
The Hunter (movie)
The Hunter. Daniel Nettheim. Porchlight Films, 2011 A guilty confession. I hadn't heard of or read Julia's Leigh's apparently highly acclaimed novel, The Hunter, before this recent Australian movie was made. I'm not quite sure why that is. Maybe it was just child-rearing busy-ness at the time of its publication. Anyhow, the film is now … Continue reading The Hunter (movie)
What do Di Gribble and Steve Jobs have in common?
You probably think it's strange to put these two luminaries together - one a lesser-known Australian publisher and entrepreneur and the other an international icon in personal computing. But the thing is, you see, that besides the fact that they both died this week - from cancer - Gribble and Jobs both entered my life … Continue reading What do Di Gribble and Steve Jobs have in common?
Irma Gold, Two steps forward
Irma Gold's* Two steps forward is, apparently, the last release in Affirm Press's Long Story Short series. I have reviewed two others previously - Gretchen Shirm's Having cried wolf and Leah Swann's Bearings - but, before talking about this book, I must say how much I love the books themselves. I am starting to read eBooks. I … Continue reading Irma Gold, Two steps forward
Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian literary couples
Are you fascinated, like I am, by literary couples? It seems so romantic to share one's calling with another ... even if the reality is not always as idyllic or as successful as it sounds. We've all heard of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath, Virginia and Leonard Woolf, to name … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian literary couples
Hazel Rowley, Franklin and Eleanor: An extraordinary marriage
I wonder what would make an Australian biographer decide to write about an American couple? And I wonder, having now read Hazel Rowley's Franklin and Eleanor: An extraordinary marriage, what she would have made of, say, Joseph and Enid Lyons, Australia's own political power couple. Unfortunately we'll never know as Rowley died just around the … Continue reading Hazel Rowley, Franklin and Eleanor: An extraordinary marriage
Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Albert Camus on world peace
How's this for a bit of communication across cultures: an Australian biographer reporting a French writer commenting on the death of an American president. It comes from the book I'll be reviewing in the next couple of days, Hazel Rowley's Franklin and Eleanor: An extraordinary marriage. In it Rowley quotes Albert Camus on the death of Franklin … Continue reading Delicious descriptions from Down Under: Albert Camus on world peace
Monday musings on Australian literature: Writers from Victoria
Over the course of these Monday musings have been occasional posts on writers from specific geographic locations in Australia - but I have not done our two most populous regions, the states of Victoria and New South Wales. The time has come to confront there two - and so, today, I present you Victoria. Now … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Writers from Victoria
Whispering Gums 