My second Sydney Writers Festival's Live and Local event for 2021 was an hour after the first one. This left me time to fill in. It was disappointing that the National Library's Bookplate Cafe was closed by then, which I think has happened in previous years. It would have been nice to sit down with … Continue reading Sydney Writers Festival 2021, Live and Local (Session 2)
Sydney Writers Festival 2021, Live and Local (Session 1)
This is the third year I've attended Sydney Writers Festival's Live and Local live-streamed events at the National Library of Australia. More often than not, I attend these events alone, but I was lucky to find that one of our wonderful local authors, Karen Viggers, was also attending alone, so I had company in my … Continue reading Sydney Writers Festival 2021, Live and Local (Session 1)
Six degrees of separation, FROM Beezus and Ramona TO …
Happy May Day, everyone, not that we celebrate it here in Australia. Still, it's a day with some fascinating traditions so I'm at least going to mark it! And now, having done so, I will get onto our Six Degrees of Separation meme. If you don't know how it works, please check out meme host … Continue reading Six degrees of separation, FROM Beezus and Ramona TO …
Sara Phillips (ed), The best Australian science writing 2020 (#BookReview)
In 2016, my reading group discussed the 2015 edition of The best Australian science writing. We enjoyed it so much that we decided to do it again, and so this month we read the 2020 (tenth anniversary) edition. Our discussion was as engaged as before (and the overall reasons I enjoyed this volume are the … Continue reading Sara Phillips (ed), The best Australian science writing 2020 (#BookReview)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Writing about the war between the wars (2)
Last week's post focused on attitudes to writing about the war during the interwar period, particularly in relation to the realism of books like Erich Maria Remarque's All quiet on the western front. This post continues the discussion, but will share some specific war writing from the article that inspired this series. But first, a … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Writing about the war between the wars (2)
Bill curates: Best Young Australian Novelists
Bill Curates is an occasional series where I delve into Sue’s vast archive, stretching back to May 2009, and choose a post for us to revisit. Today, what I'd like to know is where do all the Best Young Novelists go? Emily Maguire, who's featured in this post from 2013, wrote one about Gundagai a few years … Continue reading Bill curates: Best Young Australian Novelists
Stella Prize 2021 Winner announced
Unfortunately - though not really - I was not able to "attend" the online announcement as I did last year, as I'm spending a few days in the Snowy Mountains with Mr Gums and two friends. Before I announce the winner, which most of you will have heard by now anyhow, here is a quick … Continue reading Stella Prize 2021 Winner announced
Monday musings on Australian literature: Writing about the war between the wars
By accident, really, I came across an article from the 1930s in Trove about war novels. However, with Anzac Day coming up here in Australia next weekend, it seemed apposite to follow up. So, I did - and was somewhat surprised by what I found. Not surprisingly, World War 1 was still fresh in people's … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Writing about the war between the wars
Arthur Gask, The passion years (#Review, #1936Club)
A couple of weeks ago, I posted a Monday Musings in support of Karen (Kaggsy's Bookish Rambling) and Simon (Stuck in a Book) #1936 Club, which involves participants reading, posting and sharing books from the chosen year.The #1936 Club has been running, 12-18 April, which means it is about to finish. In my post I … Continue reading Arthur Gask, The passion years (#Review, #1936Club)
Trevor Shearston, Hare’s fur (#BookReview)
While I want to, I often don't manage to follow up books recommended by Lisa but Trevor Shearston's Hare's fur particularly caught my attention. He was an Australian author I didn't know; the novel is set in the Blue Mountains; and the protagonist is a potter, which sounded intriguing. So, I bought it - over … Continue reading Trevor Shearston, Hare’s fur (#BookReview)
Whispering Gums 