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Sean Manning

Ida Vitale, Byobu (#BookReview)

March 2, 2022March 3, 2022 / Whispering Gums / 15 Comments

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)

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    Whispering Gums on Miles Franklin Award 2026 shortlistJune 27, 2026

    Oh I certainly don’t Pam. When I saw Ouston’s name associated with the publisher my interest was piqued. I just…

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    TravellinPenguin on Miles Franklin Award 2026 shortlistJune 27, 2026

    Don't under estimate Muller. Adam Ousten through Fullers set up a publishing firm, forget its name at the moment, and…

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    TravellinPenguin on Claire Keegan, Antarctica (#BookReview)June 27, 2026

    I think that first story should have been placed further on in the book. Our book group read this and…

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    Whispering Gums on Miles Franklin Award 2026 shortlistJune 27, 2026

    Thanks very much John, I did love Paul's when I was young. You were Paul's or Peter's and I was…

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    I am cutting and pasting from a conversation I had on Goodreads. From a reddit conversation, I read that it…

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  • Miles Franklin Award 2026 shortlist
  • Claire Keegan, Antarctica (#BookReview)
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Australian Literary Awards for (mostly) Fiction, 2026


The Age Book of the Year: Moreno Giovannoni, The immigrants
ALS Gold Medal:
Australian Book Industry Award (Literary Fiction): Charlotte McConaghy, Wild dark shore
Barbara Jefferis Award:
Indie Book Awards (Fiction): Charlotte McConaghy, Wild dark shore
Miles Franklin Award:
NSW Premier's Literary Award (Christina Stead Prize): Moreno Giovannoni, The immigrants
Patrick White Award:
Prime Minister's Literary Award:
Queensland Literary (Fiction) Award:
South Australian Literary Awards:
Stella Prize: Lee Lai, Cannon
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.

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

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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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