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
First Nations Australia literature
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, doesn’t 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) 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)
Monday musings on Australian literature: First Nations Australian poets
2022 National NAIDOC logo Yesterday was the start of Lisa's (ANZLitLovers) 2022 First Nations Reading Week which coincides of course with NAIDOC Week. As has become my practice, I'm devoting this week's Monday Musings to the cause. NAIDOC Week's theme this year is Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! Its focus is encouraging First Nations people … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: First Nations Australian poets
Cindy Solonec, Debesa: The story of Frank and Katie Rodriguez (#BookReview)
Cindy Solonec's Debesa is one of those curious hybrid biography-memoirs that are appearing on the scene. Its subtitle describes it as The story of Frank and Katie Rodriguez, implying biography, but in fact, Frank and Katie are Solonec's parents and so the book also incorporates some of her own story as part of the family. … Continue reading Cindy Solonec, Debesa: The story of Frank and Katie Rodriguez (#BookReview)
Novel-in-stories, Tara June Winch’s Swallow the air
This is my third post inspired by Reading like an Australian writer, and it involves two First Nations writers, Ellen van Neerven on Tara June Winch's award-winning debut novel Swallow the air. I chose van Neerven's essay for my next post, because, coincidentally, I'd just read Winch's story "Cloud busting" in Flock, an anthology, edited … Continue reading Novel-in-stories, Tara June Winch’s Swallow the air
Alf Taylor, God, the devil and me (#BookReview)
It was a complete coincidence that, as I was writing last week's Monday Musings post on diversity and memoir, I was also reading a First Nations memoir, but such is the reading life, eh? The memoir, Alf Taylor's God, the devil and me, is, however, both very much a memoir but also its own thing, … Continue reading Alf Taylor, God, the devil and me (#BookReview)
Whispering Gums 