As has become tradition, I'm devoting my last Monday Musings of the year to the Australian Women Writers Challenge* - but, this year it coincides with New Year's Eve. When this post goes live, who knows what revelry I'll be up to! Hmm ... I can but hope! Seriously, though, I wish all you wonderful Whispering Gums … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian Women Writers Challenge 2018
AWW Challenge 2018
Maria Tumarkin, Axiomatic (Guest post by Amanda) (#BookReview)
I am thrilled to host this post by Amanda who responded to my call on the Australian Women Writers Challenge for a review of Maria Tumarkin's Axiomatic, which won the Best Writing Award in this year's Melbourne Prize for Literature awards. However, Amanda does not have a place to post reviews on-line, so we agreed … Continue reading Maria Tumarkin, Axiomatic (Guest post by Amanda) (#BookReview)
Clare Wright, You daughters of freedom (#BookReview)
Well, that was a tome and a half! And in saying this I'm referring less to the length of Clare Wright's new history, You daughters of freedom: The Australians who won the vote and inspired the world, than to its depth and richness. There are, in fact, two main stories going on here - the story of … Continue reading Clare Wright, You daughters of freedom (#BookReview)
Katharine Susannah Prichard, Christmas tree (#Review)
Commenting on my recent post on Katharine Susannah Prichard's short story "The bridge", Prichard biographer Nathan Hobby, pointed us to an online version in Trove of her short story, "Christmas Tree", which he describes as the best of her early work. It's about farmers, droughts and banks. Seemed very appropriate (to us in Australia right … Continue reading Katharine Susannah Prichard, Christmas tree (#Review)
Katharine Susannah Prichard, The bridge (#Review)
Time for another post on a short story available online, but not, this time, from the Library of America. Indeed, it's not even American, but one of our own - Katharine Susannah Prichard's (KSP) "The bridge". As far as I can tell it has been published at least three times: in 1917 in the Weekly … Continue reading Katharine Susannah Prichard, The bridge (#Review)
Emily O’Grady, The yellow house (#BookReview)
Although Emily O'Grady's debut novel The yellow house won this year's prestigious The Australian/Vogel's Literary Award for unpublished manuscripts by authors under 35, I wasn't sure at first that I was going to like it. I think this was because I was feeling I'd read a surfeit of books this year about young people living challenging lives … Continue reading Emily O’Grady, The yellow house (#BookReview)
Margaret Merrilees, Big rough stones (#BookReview)
In her latest novel Big rough stones, Margaret Merrilees seems to have done for Australian lesbians what Armistead Maupin did for the American gay community in his Tales of the city series. It is the story, spanning roughly three decades from around 1970s on, of a character named Ro and her lesbian sisterhood in Adelaide. … Continue reading Margaret Merrilees, Big rough stones (#BookReview)
Amanda Duthie (ed.), Margaret & David: 5 stars (#BookReview)
Margaret and David, the subjects of this delightful, eponymously named collection of reminiscences and essays, do not need last names here in Australia. They are just "margaretanddavid". But, since we have an international readership here, I should formally introduce them. Margaret and David are Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton, Australia's best-known and best-loved film critics … Continue reading Amanda Duthie (ed.), Margaret & David: 5 stars (#BookReview)
Nadia Wheatley, Her mother’s daughter: A memoir (#BookReview)
In Her mother's daughter: A memoir, Australian writer Nadia Wheatley has written the sort of hybrid biography-memoir that I've reviewed a few times in this blog. All of them, as I mentioned in my recent Meet the Author post, have been mother-daughter stories, Susan Varga’s Heddy and me, Anna Rosner Blay’s Sister, sister, and Halina Rubin’s … Continue reading Nadia Wheatley, Her mother’s daughter: A memoir (#BookReview)
Sue Williams, Live and let fry (#BookReview)
Well, 2018 is clearly "the year of the Mallee" here at Whispering Gums, with Sue Williams' Rusty Bore Mystery, Live and let fry, being my third Mallee-set book so far this year. The others are Jenny Ackland's Little gods (my review) and Charlie Archbold's Mallee boys (my review). By the time I visit the Mallee … Continue reading Sue Williams, Live and let fry (#BookReview)
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