Having completed the book, I tried to get it published, but everyone to whom I offered it refused even to look at the manuscript on the ground that no Colonial could write anything worth reading. They gave no reason for this extraordinary opinion, but it was sufficient for them, and they laughed to scorn the … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: On the making of a classic
Australian writers
Fergus W. Hume, The mystery of a hansom cab (Review)
Sometimes you just have to break your reading "rules" don't you? Two of mine are that I'm not much into detective fiction (despite having reviewed Peter Temple's Truth here) and I don't read self-published books - but then along came Fergus Hume's The mystery of a hansom cab. It's a classic Australian crime novel - … Continue reading Fergus W. Hume, The mystery of a hansom cab (Review)
Delicious Descriptions from Down Under: Francesca Rendle-Short on writing
In my recent review of Francesca Rendle-Short's fiction-cum-memoir, Bite your tongue, I concluded on the suggestion that for Rendle-Short the act of writing, as well as of reading, "changes things". Today I thought I'd share two excerpts from her novel that confirm this, one from her fictional persona of Glory, and the other from her … Continue reading Delicious Descriptions from Down Under: Francesca Rendle-Short on writing
Francesca Rendle-Short, Bite your tongue (Review)
How much do you think about the first sentence of your review? Like me, you probably try to find some anchor or point of interest to lead off from, but my problem with novelist-journalist Francesca Rendle-Short's fiction-cum-memoir, Bite your tongue, is that I have too many angles to choose from. Which one do I use? Do … Continue reading Francesca Rendle-Short, Bite your tongue (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Guest post from Kim of Reading Matters
This week's Monday musings brings you my fourth guest post, this time from Kim of Reading Matters. Like Guy, Kim started commenting on my blog in its infancy and I soon discovered that this blogger from England was actually an Australian. Naturally we developed a rapport. I have appreciated Kim's support of my blog - … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Guest post from Kim of Reading Matters
Monday musings on Australian literature: Guest Post from Guy of His Futile Preoccupations
Monday Musings' Guest Post no. 3 comes from Guy Savage of His Futile Preoccupations. Guy started commenting on my blog very early on and endeared himself to me by giving me the nickname of Gummie. That is a very Aussie thing to do - or is it English? Guy, you see, is an expat Brit … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Guest Post from Guy of His Futile Preoccupations
Monday musings on Australian literature: Women of letters
Letter-writing has a long literary tradition - both fictional and non-fictional. Epistolary novels, according to Wikipedia, go back to the 1400s, and I'm sure if you're a reader you've read at least a few. My favourite Australian example is a gut-wrenching young adult novel Letters from the inside by John Marsden. But these are not my … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Women of letters
Alice Pung, Her father’s daughter
Her father's daughter (2011) is Alice Pung's second memoir - if you can quite call this book a memoir. Unpolished gem (2006), her first, established Pung in the eyes of both critics and readers as a writer to watch. I agreed with them, but with some minor reservations. She certainly demonstrated the ability to write and … Continue reading Alice Pung, Her father’s daughter
Nigel Featherstone, Fall on me
Fall on me bookcover (Courtesy: Blemish Books) Nigel Featherstone is nearly a local writer for me - he lives in the country town an hour down the road - but I haven't read him before, even though he has published a goodly number of short stories and short fiction. How does this happen? Anyhow, Fall on me is … Continue reading Nigel Featherstone, Fall on me
Nora Krouk, Warming the core of things
life wrapped in bundles of painful joy (from "Skies will be luminous") The reason I like to read poetry is the obvious one - the way poets can capture a feeling or idea in just a few carefully chosen words that are presented through a controlled rhythm. Nora Krouk fills this bill nicely! I hadn't … Continue reading Nora Krouk, Warming the core of things
Whispering Gums 