Whispering Gums

Books, reading and more … with an Australian focus … written on Ngunnawal Country

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Gum trees

On the literary road, in Gippsland

November 11, 2009July 29, 2011 / Whispering Gums / 6 Comments

The Gippsland area of Victoria is a particularly rich one in terms of Australia's literary history. It is also an area I've never visited before and so this week we decided to return home from Melbourne via the less common path, that is via Gippsland. Unfortunately our trip through the region was a quick one, … Continue reading On the literary road, in Gippsland

Snow gums

October 20, 2009October 20, 2009 / Whispering Gums / 2 Comments

Give me a home among the gum trees (from song by W. Johnson and B. Brown) Every Australian should have a gum in their yard somewhere! Pretty well every home I've lived in, and I've lived in a few, has had one in the yard or in the street just outside. My current home, in … Continue reading Snow gums

Time for another gum

September 20, 2009June 29, 2010 / Whispering Gums / 11 Comments

This is, I believe, a Sydney Blue Gum (Eucalyptus saligna) though I could also be wrong as I'm very much an amateur when it comes to tree identification. It does look like: they can be found up and down the east coast of New South Wales, of which the Hastings River is part, and they … Continue reading Time for another gum

Here come some gums

August 7, 2009October 19, 2009 / Whispering Gums / 6 Comments

Actually, the terms "gum tree" and "eucalypt" are more complex than many of us, I think, realise. The trees I have habitually called Gums or Eucalypts actually come from three genera: Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophera. I was quite shocked when I discovered a few years ago that in the 1990s there had been a reclassification … Continue reading Here come some gums

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Latest comments

  1. wadholloway's avatar
    wadholloway on Eve Langley, AI and meJune 1, 2026

    Thanks for the mention. Do you think we are Langley's biggest blogger fans? I hope there are others. You detail…

  2. Whispering Gums's avatar
    Whispering Gums on Becky Manawatu, Auē (#BookReview)June 1, 2026

    Ah thanks John. I have heard of the tūī. That makes good sense. The bone people is worth reading.

  3. fourtriplezed's avatar
    fourtriplezed on Becky Manawatu, Auē (#BookReview)June 1, 2026

    The bird represented on both covers is a tūī. I am going to guess that the tūī fits Auē's premise…

  4. Whispering Gums's avatar
    Whispering Gums on Becky Manawatu, Auē (#BookReview)May 31, 2026

    Oh yes, Bill, in that case you should! And I’d like to read more. I didn’t read or see Once…

  5. wadholloway's avatar
    wadholloway on Becky Manawatu, Auē (#BookReview)May 31, 2026

    For all the Indigenous writing I read, I haven't read any from NZ. The closest I've got is to see…

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Australian Literary Awards for (mostly) Fiction, 2026


The Age Book of the Year:
ALS Gold Medal:
Australian Book Industry Award (Literary Fiction):
Barbara Jefferis Award:
Indie Book Awards (Fiction):
Miles Franklin Award:
NSW Premier's Literary Award (Christina Stead Prize):
Patrick White Award:
Prime Minister's Literary Award:
Queensland Literary (Fiction) Award:
South Australian Literary Awards:
Stella Prize:
Victorian Premier's Literary (Fiction) Award: Omar Musa, Fierceland
Western Australian Premier's Book of the Year Award:

Acknowledgement of Country

I acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional custodians of the nation in which I live, of land that was never ceded. I honour and respect their cultural heritage, customs and beliefs, and am truly thankful for their ongoing care of this country.

Copyright on my content

This work by Whispering Gums is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 DEED Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareALike 4.0 International

Copyright on images used in this blog

I am careful about the images I use in this blog. Some of them are my own, some I've specifically obtained permission to use from an owner, and some book cover thumbnails are used under fair use provisions. However, I have used others under Creative Commons (and similar licences) when the owners have indicated on their sites/pages that they release their material under such licences. Where possible, I have tried to properly attribute the owners/creators of uploaded images. If you think I have breached your copyright in any way please let me know. Any photos not attributed to others or to public domain are mine. Unless otherwise specified, you are welcome to use them under the Creative Commons license described under Copyright on my content above.

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