(Courtesy OCAL, via clker.com) Another post in my Monday Musings subseries called Trove Treasures, in which I share stories or comments, serious or funny, that I come across during my Trove travels. Today's story popped up during my research for a post on Beatrice Grimshaw for the Australian Women Writers blog. It stunned me, and … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Trove treasures (16), Garrulity and Gracelessness in AusLit
Ruth Park
Bill curates: Ruth Park
Bill curates is an occasional series where I delve into Sue’s vast archive, stretching back to May 2009, and choose a post for us to revisit. This is a most enjoyable project as I read every post and usually the comments too. Which is why I'm still only up to Oct. 2010. Today, because I can, I've … Continue reading Bill curates: Ruth Park
Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian literary dynasties
Some years ago I wrote a Monday Musings post on Australia's literary couples. However, it recently occurred to me that we also have some literary dynasties, which could be fun to explore. This post, like many of its ilk, is a bit of a fishing exercise. I will share a few that came to me, … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian literary dynasties
Ruth Park and D’Arcy Niland, The drums go bang! (#BookReview)
Volume 1 of Ruth Park's autobiography, A fence around the cuckoo, covers the period of her life up to when she lands in Australia to marry D'Arcy Niland. Not being sure, perhaps, that there'd be a sequel, Park concludes with: We lived together for twenty-five years less five weeks. We had many fiery disagreements but … Continue reading Ruth Park and D’Arcy Niland, The drums go bang! (#BookReview)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian literary couples
Are you fascinated, like I am, by literary couples? It seems so romantic to share one's calling with another ... even if the reality is not always as idyllic or as successful as it sounds. We've all heard of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath, Virginia and Leonard Woolf, to name … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian literary couples
Ruth Park, Missus
Missus was the last written in Ruth Park's Harp in the South trilogy, but is the first in terms of chronology. The first two novels, Harp in the South and Poor man's orange, were published in 1948 and 1949 respectively, while Missus was not published until 1985. These first novels, which met with some controversy on publication, … Continue reading Ruth Park, Missus
Ruth Park, Swords and crowns and rings
Note to self: never again "read" an audiobook over a long period, such as, say, 5 months! This is how I read Ruth Park's engrossing 1977 Miles Franklin award-winning novel, Swords and crowns and rings. It was not hard to keep up with the plot as it's pretty straightforward - and powerful. It is hard, … Continue reading Ruth Park, Swords and crowns and rings
Whispering Gums 