First Nations people are advised that this post contains the names of deceased people. It has been my reading group's tradition for some years now to read a book by a First Nations writer in July, the month in whichĀ NAIDOC WeekĀ occurs. Coincidentally, NAIDOC Weekās 2023 theme was āFor our eldersā, which worked beautifully with our … Continue reading Debra Dank, We come with this place (#BookReview)
First Nations Australia literature
Monday musings on Australian literature: Reconciliation Day musings
Since 2018 in the Australian Capital Territory, the first Monday after (or on) 27 May (the anniversary of the 1967 referendum) is a public holiday called Reconciliation Day. It is part of Reconciliation Week which, says Wikipedia, aims "to celebrateĀ Indigenous history and culture in AustraliaĀ and fosterĀ reconciliationĀ discussion and activities". Because Mr Gums and I have reached … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Reconciliation Day musings
Claire G. Coleman, Night bird (#Review)
Wirlomin-Noongar woman Claire G. Coleman's short story "Night bird" is the second First Nations Australia story in Ellen van Neerven and Rafeif Ismail's anthology Unlimited futures: Speculative, visionary Blak+Black fiction, the book I chose for Bill's (The Australian Legend) Australian Women Writers Gen 5 Week. The week finished officially a week ago, but I'm hoping … Continue reading Claire G. Coleman, Night bird (#Review)
Ambelin Kwaymullina, Fifteen days on Mars (#Review)
In 2014, Ambelin Kwaymullina, whose people are the Palyku of the Pilbara region of Western Australia, described herself in a Kill Your Darlings essay as writing "speculative fiction for young adults". Three years later, in the 2017 Twelfth Planet Press anthology, Mother of invention, she said that she was "a Palyku author of Indigenous Futurisms", … Continue reading Ambelin Kwaymullina, Fifteen days on Mars (#Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: First Nations Australia speculative fiction
This post is my first contribution to Bill's (The Australian Legend) Australian Women Writers Gen 5 Week 15-22 January. Gen 5 encompasses women who have been writing from the 1990s to now. Bill argues that two major trends characterise this era: "the rise and rise of Indigenous Lit" and "writing which in earlier days would … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: First Nations Australia speculative fiction
Monday musings on Australian literature: First Nations Classics
Over the years I have written several posts on publishers who have made a commitment to publishing Australian classics, such as Text, Allen and Unwin and the Sydney University Press, to name a few. I was thrilled last week to come across another one, this time from UQP, the University of Queensland Press, which has … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: First Nations Classics
Anita Heiss, Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray (#BookReview)
Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray/River of dreams is Anita Heiss' second work of historical fiction, her first being Barbed wire and cherry blossoms about the 1944 Cowra breakout in which she imagines a relationship between a Japanese escapee and a young First Nations Australian woman. I have not read that novel, but I have read, over the last … Continue reading Anita Heiss, Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray (#BookReview)
Larissa Behrendt, After story (#BookReview)
Larissa Behrendt's latest novel After story has been on my wishlist since it came out last year, so I was thrilled when my reading group chose it as our 2022 NAIDOC-Week read. What self-respecting reader, after all, doesnāt like a literary tour? After story, for those who haven't caught up with it yet, is framed … Continue reading Larissa Behrendt, After story (#BookReview)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Magabala Books
2022 National NAIDOC logo Lisa's (ANZLitLovers)Ā 2022 First Nations Reading Week and this year's NAIDOC Week officially ended yesterday. However, as I've done before, I'm bookending those events with Monday Musings posts - with this week's topic being the pioneering publisher, Magabala Books. Magabala Books have been operating for over 40 years - as they share … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Magabala Books
Evelyn Araluen, Dropbear (#BookReview)
The final line of "Gather", the opening poem in Evelyn Araluen's collection Dropbear, announces her intention - "got something for you to swallow". Well, I can tell you now, if you haven't already read the book, she sure has. Dropbear, self-described by Araluen as a "strange little book", won this year's Stella Prize, the first … Continue reading Evelyn Araluen, Dropbear (#BookReview)
Whispering Gums 