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
Australian writers
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
Irma Gold, Two steps forward
Irma Gold's* Two steps forward is, apparently, the last release in Affirm Press's Long Story Short series. I have reviewed two others previously - Gretchen Shirm's Having cried wolf and Leah Swann's Bearings - but, before talking about this book, I must say how much I love the books themselves. I am starting to read eBooks. I … Continue reading Irma Gold, Two steps forward
Hazel Rowley, Franklin and Eleanor: An extraordinary marriage
I wonder what would make an Australian biographer decide to write about an American couple? And I wonder, having now read Hazel Rowley's Franklin and Eleanor: An extraordinary marriage, what she would have made of, say, Joseph and Enid Lyons, Australia's own political power couple. Unfortunately we'll never know as Rowley died just around the … Continue reading Hazel Rowley, Franklin and Eleanor: An extraordinary marriage
Monday musings on Australian literature: Writers from Victoria
Over the course of these Monday musings have been occasional posts on writers from specific geographic locations in Australia - but I have not done our two most populous regions, the states of Victoria and New South Wales. The time has come to confront there two - and so, today, I present you Victoria. Now … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Writers from Victoria
Leslie Cannold, The book of Rachael
For someone who doesn't seek out historical fiction, I seem to have read a lot of it lately. Leslie Cannold's The book of Rachael is the third historical novel I've read in succession - and it's the third with an author's afterword/postscript, which suggests to me some uncertainty in the writers about historical fiction. Tansley quoted Doris Lessing's statement … Continue reading Leslie Cannold, The book of Rachael
Geraldine Brooks, Caleb’s crossing
In the Afterword to her latest novel, Caleb's crossing, which was inspired by the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College, Geraldine Brooks describes the reactions of members of the Wampanoag Tribe: Individual tribal members have been encouraging and generous in sharing information and insights and in reading early drafts. Others have been frank … Continue reading Geraldine Brooks, Caleb’s crossing
Ginny Jackson, The still deceived
Brother Gums and his partner, who live in our southernmost state, Tasmania, often give me books by local writers, many of whom I may not easily come across on "the mainland". Their offering last Christmas was one of these, The still deceived, a collection of poems by Ginny Jackson. It was published by one of Australia's … Continue reading Ginny Jackson, The still deceived
Monday musings on Australian literature: Reading about Australian women writers
In the 1980s my interest in Australian literature, which had been initially kindled by my parents and school, was renewed. In the 1980s, too, women writers started to flourish again. Consequently, this second wave interest of mine was drawn particularly to these women. I read their books of course (I'm thinking particularly of Elizabeth Jolley, … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Reading about Australian women writers
