Bagging Canberra - often used synonymously for the Federal Government - is almost a national sport, but in recent years anthologies have appeared to counter this with more complex stories about this place. The first two I've read - The invisible thread, edited by Irma Gold (my review) and Meanjin's The Canberra issue (my review) … Continue reading Nancy Jin and Rosalind Moran, These strange outcrops (#BookReview)
Canberra
Delicious descriptions: Sara Dowse on Canberra
In my recent post on Sara Dowse's West Block, I ran out of time to share some quotes and thoughts on her depiction of Canberra and the heritage building, West Block. Soon after, I wrote a Delicious Descriptions on West Block, promising another one on Canberra - because, well, I can, and Canberra is my city. … Continue reading Delicious descriptions: Sara Dowse on Canberra
Delicious descriptions: Sara Dowse on West Block
In my recent post on Sara Dowse's West Block, I ran out of time to share some quotes and thoughts on her depiction of Canberra and the heritage building, West Block, in which the novel is set. I am remedying that now. But, I'll start by saying that, like most readers, I love reading because … Continue reading Delicious descriptions: Sara Dowse on West Block
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
Monday musings on Australian literature: Novels set in Canberra
The time will come, I'm sure, when I start repeating myself in my Monday Musings posts. This week's post comes perilously close. I've written before about Canberra's centenary publications (The invisible thread and the Meanjin Canberra issue), and I've written about Capital women and men poets, and women and men novelists*, but I haven't specifically written about … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Novels set in Canberra
Monday musings on Australian literature: Let’s get physical – Canberra
Today's post is the first in a little sub-series of occasional posts containing physical descriptions of places in Australia. This series is not going to be analytical or comprehensive but is intended simply to share descriptions that I like, that make me laugh, or that I think are interesting. My plan is to keep commentary … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Let’s get physical – Canberra
Irma Gold (ed), The invisible thread (Review)
I even get nervous when I open a book, you know, for the first time. It's the same thing, isn't it. You never know what you'll find, do you? Each person, each book, is like a new world ... (from Mark Henshaw's Out of the line of fire, in The invisible thread) At last, you … Continue reading Irma Gold (ed), The invisible thread (Review)
Meanjin’s The Canberra Issue (Review)
Zora Sanders writes in her Editorial for Meanjin's Canberra Issue that Canberra has (or, is it had) a reputation for being The National Capital of Boredom. This is just one of the many less-than-flattering epithets regularly applied to Canberra: A Cemetery with Lights, Fat Cat City, and the pervasive, A City without a Soul. For me … Continue reading Meanjin’s The Canberra Issue (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: What’s in a street name?
Street names may be an unusual topic for a post on literature, but I think it could be argued that names of things are part of our wider literary culture. It can certainly be argued so for my city because street names here are serious business. None of your 5th Avenues and 61st Streets for … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: What’s in a street name?
Whispering Gums 