Today* marks the first day of NAIDOC Week 2014, which will run through to July 13. In honour of this, and of Lisa's Indigenous Literature Week at ANZLitLovers, I thought I'd devote this week's Monday Musings to indigenous Australian writers - and specifically to Anita Heiss's "In conversation with Blackwords" series. This series is described … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: In conversation with Black Words
Australian writers
Richard Rossiter (ed), The trouble with flying and other stories (Review)
The trouble with flying and other stories is the second collection I've read from the Margaret River Short Story Competition. I greatly enjoyed last year's collection, Knitting and other stories, so was very happy to read this one. I'm pleased to see Margaret Press maintain its commitment to publishing stories from the competition, and hope that annual publication will help … Continue reading Richard Rossiter (ed), The trouble with flying and other stories (Review)
Howard Goldenberg, Carrots and Jaffas (Review)
Howard Goldenberg, we are told in "About the Author" at the back of his debut novel Carrots and Jaffas, is the sole practitioner of a literary genre - the rhyming medical referral letter! Wouldn't I love to see some of those! Anyhow, you've probably guessed now that Goldenberg is a doctor, and you'd be right. But … Continue reading Howard Goldenberg, Carrots and Jaffas (Review)
Barbara Baynton, Bush church (Review)
"Bush church" is my sixth and last* story from Barbara Baynton's Bush studies, and it presented a rather pleasant change in tone from most of the others in the book. I'm sorry in a way that I read these stories quite out-of-order. "Bush church" is the fifth story in the collection, appearing after "Billy Skywonkie" … Continue reading Barbara Baynton, Bush church (Review)
Deborah Sheldon, 300 degree days & other stories (Review)
What I found particularly interesting about Deborah Sheldon's short story collection, 300 degree days & other stories, is that the stories deal almost exclusively with a particular type of family relationship, the one to do with children, parents and, sometimes, grandparents. I'm not sure I've read a short story collection before that has been quite so tightly focused, but … Continue reading Deborah Sheldon, 300 degree days & other stories (Review)
Mary Grant Bruce, The early tales (Review)
Around a month ago I wrote a Monday Musings post on the Juvenilia Press, and said that I would read and post on some of its publications. Well, here is the first of those posts. While I discovered the press through its Jane Austen juvenilia, the books I ordered were those for juvenilia by Australian authors. … Continue reading Mary Grant Bruce, The early tales (Review)
Angela Meyer (ed), The great unknown (Review)
The great unknown is a mind-bending collection of short stories which explores, as editor Angela Meyer says, "the unknown, the mysterious, or even just the slightly off." I was, in fact, expecting more horror, thriller even, which are genres that don't really interest me, but this collection is not that. There are some truly scary scenes … Continue reading Angela Meyer (ed), The great unknown (Review)
Delicious descriptions: Jessica Anderson and urban life
I didn't quote much from Jessica Anderson's One of the wattle birds in my recent review, which is unusual for me - so I decided a Delicious Descriptions post was in order. I had trouble however choosing which excerpt to quote. My first thought was to share an example of the book's wonderful - and often very funny - dialogue, … Continue reading Delicious descriptions: Jessica Anderson and urban life
Jessica Anderson, One of the wattle birds (Review)
I have finally read Jessica Anderson's final novel, One of the wattle birds, which has been sitting in my beside cabinet since my parents gave it to me in 1998! Never let it be said that I don't read books given to me - though, on reflection, I'd prefer you didn't hold me to that! … Continue reading Jessica Anderson, One of the wattle birds (Review)
Barbara Baynton, Billy Skywonkie (Review)
Well, I must say that "Billy Skywonkie", my fifth* story from Barbara Baynton's Bush studies, fair near defeated me, so I was rather relieved to read in Susan Sheridan's introduction that "in this story and others, Baynton's use of dialect to represent the speech of these uneducated bush folk can also act as a barrier … Continue reading Barbara Baynton, Billy Skywonkie (Review)
Whispering Gums 