And then it was time to hop into the car, and drive over the lake for the sold-out session (as indeed was my first session of the day), Simon Winchester in conversation with Richard Fidler. There was no time for lunch! Why did I choose this session? Why not? It's Simon Winchester! This session was … Continue reading Canberra Writers Festival 2019, Day 1, Session 3: Simon Winchester in conversation with Richard Fidler
Australian writers
Canberra Writers Festival 2019, Day 1, Session 2: Defining moments – True Crime Panel
The reason for my second choice for the day - a panel discussion on true crime - may not seem quite so obvious as my first, so I'll explain. I don't read a lot of crime, but I do watch it, and I have a slightly more than passing interest in true crime. I loved … Continue reading Canberra Writers Festival 2019, Day 1, Session 2: Defining moments – True Crime Panel
Canberra Writers Festival 2019, Day 1, Session 1: Capital culture
It's Canberra Writers Festival time again. The theme continues to be Power, Politics, Passion, reflecting Canberra's specific role in Australian culture and history. I understand this. It enables the Festival organisers to carve out a particular place for itself in the crowded festival scene, but the fiction readers among us hunger for more fiction (and, for … Continue reading Canberra Writers Festival 2019, Day 1, Session 1: Capital culture
Sebastian Smee, Net loss: The inner life in the digital age (#BookReview)
If you've been reading my blog recently, you'll already know why I am reviewing Sebastian Smee's Quarterly Essay edition, "Net loss: The inner life in the digital age", but to briefly recap, it's because it inspired a member of my reading group to recommend we read Anton Chekhov's short story, "The lady with the little … Continue reading Sebastian Smee, Net loss: The inner life in the digital age (#BookReview)
Vale Kerry Reed-Gilbert
Note: It is traditional in most indigenous Australian communities to avoid using the name of a deceased person, for some time after their death. And so, as is my wont regarding writing about indigenous writers, I checked out what I believed to be authoritative precedents, and found that Wiradjuri woman Kerry Reed-Gilbert's name has been used … Continue reading Vale Kerry Reed-Gilbert
Stan Grant, On identity (#BookReview)
Stan Grant seems to be the indigenous-person-du-jour here in Australia. I don't say this disrespectfully, which I fear is how it may come across given Grant's views "on identity", but it feels true - particularly if you watch or listen to the ABC. He pops up regularly on shows, sometimes as presenter, other times as … Continue reading Stan Grant, On identity (#BookReview)
Tony Birch, The white girl (#BookReview)
We need more novels like Tony Birch's The white girl and Melissa Lucashenko's Too much lip. This is not to say that we don't need all the wonderful Indigenous Australian literature I've read and reviewed here over the years, but some of the books, as excellent (and as beloved by me) as they are, can … Continue reading Tony Birch, The white girl (#BookReview)
Chris Womersley, A lovely and terrible thing (#BookReview)
Described as "twenty macabre and deliciously enjoyable stories for readers of Fiona McFarlane and Lauren Groff", Chris Womersley's newest book - his debut collection of short stories - wasn't necessarily a natural fit for me. I haven't read Lauren Groff, but I have read and really liked Fiona McFarlane's clever, memorable, The night guest (my … Continue reading Chris Womersley, A lovely and terrible thing (#BookReview)
Nigel Featherstone, Bodies of men (#BookReview)
Nigel Featherstone's latest novel, Bodies of men, is a brave book - and not because it's a World War 2 story about love between two soldiers at at time when such relationships were taboo, though there is that. No, I mean, because it's a World War 2 story that was inspired by Featherstone's three-month writer-in-residence … Continue reading Nigel Featherstone, Bodies of men (#BookReview)
Enza Gandolfo, The bridge (#Bookreview)
If there are people I admire more than any others, it's those who are able to empathise with, and forgive, someone who has done them great wrong. This complex question of forgiveness - of self and of others - is one of the issues explored in Enza Gandolfo's Stella Prize short-listed novel, The bridge. However, it's … Continue reading Enza Gandolfo, The bridge (#Bookreview)
Whispering Gums 