Last November, I announced the creation of the new 20/40 Publishing Prize by independent, non-profit publisher, Finlay Lloyd. And then, early this month, I announced the shortlist for the inaugural prize. Today, I announce the Winners. First though, I'll remind you that 20/40 is a manuscript award, with the prize being publication. It is not … Continue reading Winners announced for the inaugural 20/40 Prize
Novellas
Monday musings on Australian literature: Shortlist for the inaugural 20/40 Prize
Last November, I announced the creation of the new 20/40 Publishing Prize by the wonderful (and local-ish to me), independent, non-profit publisher, Finlay Lloyd. Now, eleven months later, the awarding of the inaugural prize is imminent, with the shortlist being announced last Friday and the winners to be announced on 28 October. But, just to … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Shortlist for the inaugural 20/40 Prize
Monday musings on Australian literature: Trove treasures (10), On short novels
As I've said before in this series, not all the "treasures" I find, particularly those from the 19th and early 20th centuries, are specifically Australian, but I justify them because in those colonial and early post-colonial times English content tended to reign supreme. This post was inspired by my serendipitously coming across an article praising … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Trove treasures (10), On short novels
Gwendolyn Brooks, Maud Martha (#BookReview)
I came across Gwendolyn Brooks' 1953-published novella, Maud Martha, on JacquiWine's blog last year, and was confident it was a book for me - so I bought the e-Book version and read it slowly on my phone and iPad whenever I was out and about. This sort of reading doesn't work for all books, but … Continue reading Gwendolyn Brooks, Maud Martha (#BookReview)
Jessica Au, Cold enough for snow (#BookReview)
What did I say about mothers and daughters recently? Just when I thought I'd done with them for the year, along came another, Jessica Au's gorgeous novella, Cold enough for snow. However, before I get to that, let me describe the award it won, The Novel Prize. Cold enough for snow was the inaugural winner … Continue reading Jessica Au, Cold enough for snow (#BookReview)
Monday musings on Australian literature: on 20/40, a new publishing prize
We all like to see a new literary or publishing prize. That is, most of us do, because I do appreciate that prizes in the arts are problematic, and that some do not, for perfectly valid reasons, like them. However, for most, the positives outweigh the negatives. These positives include - in different combinations - … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: on 20/40, a new publishing prize
Elisa Shua Dusapin, Winter in Sokcho (#BookReview)
French Korean writer Elisa Shua Dusapin's award-winning debut novella, Winter in Sokcho, was published when she was just 22 years old. As the title conveys, it is set in Sokcho, a tourist town in the Republic of Korea near the border between the two Koreas. In fact, when the Korean peninsula was divided into two … Continue reading Elisa Shua Dusapin, Winter in Sokcho (#BookReview)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Classic Australian novellas
I have written on and reviewed novellas almost since this blog started, because I love the form. Last year, for Novellas in November (run by Cathy of 746 Books and Rebecca of Bookish Beck), I wrote a Monday Musings on Supporting Novellas (here in Australia). This year, I thought I'd address the meme's first week's … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Classic Australian novellas
Nella Larsen, Passing (#BookReview)
For last year's Novellas in November, Arti (of Ripple Effects) posted on a book and author I'd never heard of, Nella Larsen's Passing. She also discussed its 2021 film adaptation. Quite coincidentally, that same month, my Californian friend Carolyn wrote positively about the film in a letter to me. It sounded right up my alley, … Continue reading Nella Larsen, Passing (#BookReview)
Ida Vitale, Byobu (#BookReview)
Uruguayan writer Ida Vitale's Byobu was my reading group's second book of the year. Originally published in Spanish in 2018, with the English translation released in 2021, Byobu is Vitale's first book of prose to be translated into English. Few, if any of us, had heard of her - and yet, this now 98-year-old woman … Continue reading Ida Vitale, Byobu (#BookReview)
