Marion Halligan

Nadia Wheatley in conversation with Marion Halligan

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Nadia Wheatley is, I fear, not as well-known in Australia's literary firmament as she should be because her credentials are excellent. Not only is there My place (1987) - a wonderful multi-award-winning children's book about the history of place - but her biography of Charmian Clift, The life and myth of Charmian Clift, has been … Continue reading Nadia Wheatley in conversation with Marion Halligan

Canberra Writers Festival, Day 1: Two book launches

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Well folks, finally we have another writers festival here in Canberra. From 1983 to 2001, we had something called the Word Festival (though its name varied a little over the time). Since then, to the best of my knowledge, we've only had the one-off Canberra Readers' Festival (on which I posted) in 2012, so it … Continue reading Canberra Writers Festival, Day 1: Two book launches

Carmel Bird launches Marion Halligan’s latest at Paperchain

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Sometimes blogging brings you little thrills, and I had one a few days ago when Carmel Bird, one of Australia's literary luminaries, emailed me with the offer to post her launch speech for Marion Halligan's latest book. Was this out of order she asked? As if! So, I attended the delightful launch, and received the text from Carmel Bird's … Continue reading Carmel Bird launches Marion Halligan’s latest at Paperchain

Monday musings on Australian literature: Late bloomers

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I guess every country has them, the writers who aren't recognised until their middle age. Australia certainly does, and many of them seem to be women. I'm not sure whether this apparent gender imbalance is a fact or simply reflects my biased interest in the lives of women writers. I wouldn't be surprised if it … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Late bloomers

Marion Halligan on fact, fiction and character

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More on playing with that line between fact and fiction... One of my favourite writers - though I have nowhere near read all her works - is Marion Halligan, who also happens to be local to my town. Halligan has been shortlisted for and/or won several signifcant Australian literary awards but I'd be surprised if many readers overseas … Continue reading Marion Halligan on fact, fiction and character

Sarah Waters in conversation with Marion Halligan

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Sarah Waters, 2006 (Courtesy: Annie_C_2, via Wikipedia, under Creative Commons CC-BY-2.0) In a delightful coincidence, Sarah Waters was in town tonight for a literary event, just one night after my reading group discussed her novel The little stranger - and so, naturally, those of us who were free turned up to hear her converse with … Continue reading Sarah Waters in conversation with Marion Halligan