Do you have a favourite house that you lived in? I do. It's the lovely old Queenslander my family lived in for most of my primary school years. It was in Sandgate, Brisbane, and I still have vivid memories of those days, and that house and garden. Kim Scott, the author of Katherine's tropical housing … Continue reading Kim Scott, Katherine’s tropical housing precinct 1946-1956 (#BookReview)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Random thoughts from the mid-1930s
I've written a few posts in recent months about Australian literary culture in the 1930s - on moving beyond "gumleaf and goanna", on setting vs character, and two (here and here) on where Australian literature was heading. This week, I'm returning to the topic to share a random selection of comments made about Australian fiction in … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Random thoughts from the mid-1930s
Six degrees of separation, FROM Sanditon TO …
And so we come to the last Six Degrees of Separation meme of the year, and Kate has chosen a special book (for me anyhow) as our starting book. However, first, I need to tell you that if you are new to blogging, and don't know what this meme is about, please check host Kate's blog - booksaremyfavouriteandbest. … Continue reading Six degrees of separation, FROM Sanditon TO …
Monday musings on Australian literature: Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Fund
We all know that a writer's life is not a well-paid one. One way that writers keep going, that is, that enables them to continue writing, is through winning awards and grants. I report often on awards, and they also regularly appear in the media, but how much do we know about grants? And what … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Fund
Elizabeth Kuiper, Little stones (#BookReview)
Announcing their 2019 longlist back in February (see my post), the Stella Prize judges said that they "wished for more representations of otherness and diversity from publishers: narratives from outside Australia, from and featuring women of colour, LGBTQIA stories, Indigenous stories, more subversion, more difference". Elizabeth Kuiper's debut novel, Little stones, may not exactly fulfil this wish … Continue reading Elizabeth Kuiper, Little stones (#BookReview)
Tim Winton, The shepherd’s hut (#BookReview)
Tim Winton and Christos Tsiolkas have to be Australia's foremost contemporary writers about men and boys, Tsiolkas doing for urban/surburban males what Winton does for small town/rural ones. Winton's latest novel, The shepherd's hut, continues his exploration of males in extremis. It's strong, gritty, page-turning, and yet reflective too, which is not easy to pull-off. … Continue reading Tim Winton, The shepherd’s hut (#BookReview)
Monday musings on Australian literature: University of Canberra Book of the Year 2020
I wasn't necessarily planning to announce the University of Canberra's Book of the Year again this year, having written about it three times already - in 2012 when it was initiated, in 2014, when I checked to see how the program was going, and in 2018 to announce this year's book. However, next year's book … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: University of Canberra Book of the Year 2020
Non-fiction November 2019, Weeks 4 to 5
As for my first Nonfiction November post this year, I am concatenating my last two posts, and posting them in the middle of the two weeks. The meme is jointly hosted by Julz (Julz Reads) (Week 1), Sarah (Sarah’s Book Shelves) (Week 2), Katie (Doing Dewey) (Week 3), Leanne (ShelfAware) (Week 4) and Rennie (What's … Continue reading Non-fiction November 2019, Weeks 4 to 5
Monday musings on Australian literature: Deafness and Australian writers and writing
Today's post was inspired, of course, by my recently reading Jessica White's memoir-biography, Hearing Maud (my review), which parallels White's own experience of deafness with that of Maud Praed. This post will not be an exhaustive (or even comprehensive) discussion of the topic, but a broad-brush introduction to some of the ways deafness is reflected … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Deafness and Australian writers and writing
Jessica White, Hearing Maud (#BookReview)
Hybrid memoir-biographies take many forms. For a start, some are weighted more to biography while others more to memoir. As I wrote in my post on Jessica White's conversation with Inga Simpson, most of those I've read "have been mother-daughter stories, the biography being about the mother and the memoir, the daughter. White’s book is … Continue reading Jessica White, Hearing Maud (#BookReview)
Whispering Gums 