A few Australian children’s books to finish off AusReading Month 2022

Accidentally Kelly St illustrated by Briony Stewart with lyrics by Tim O’Connor from Frente! For people of a certain age, or perhaps people who had young children in 1992/93, you will remember the bubbly, joyful, effervescent pop group Frente! bouncing around our screens in colourful clothes, hair rollers and pearls. Accidentally Kelly Street was the … Continue reading A few Australian children’s books to finish off AusReading Month 2022

The Evening of the Holiday | Shirley Hazzard #AUSnovella

Epigraph: Questo di fu solenne: or da' trastulli prendi riposo. Giacomo Leopardi | La sera del dì di festa The Evening of the Holiday (1820) | Giacomo Leopardi (29 June 1798 – 14 June 1837) - full poem here. According to a variety of online poetry sites, Leopardi's idyll expresses his unhappiness thanks to an indifferent, distant woman plus a … Continue reading The Evening of the Holiday | Shirley Hazzard #AUSnovella

Friends & Rivals | Brenda Niall #AWWbiography

'All over the country, brooding on squatters' verandahs, or mooning in selectors' huts,' so A. G. Stephens wrote in the Bulletin in 1901, 'there are scattered here and there hundreds of lively, dreamy Australian girls whose queer uncomprehended ambitions are the despair of the household. They yearn, they aspire for they know not what...' I … Continue reading Friends & Rivals | Brenda Niall #AWWbiography

Cold Enough For Snow | Jessica Au #AWWnovella

When we left the hotel it was raining, a light, fine rain, as can sometimes happen in Tokyo in October. Cold Enough for Snow by Melbourne based author, Jessica Au, was the inaugural winner of The Novel Prize, a new biennial award established by Giramondo Publishing (Australia), Fitzcarraldo Editions (UK) and New Directions (USA). The novella … Continue reading Cold Enough For Snow | Jessica Au #AWWnovella

The Countess From Kirribilli | Joyce Morgan #AWWbiography

April 1939: The wisteria was heavy with blossoms; the roses scrambled around the windows of the old French farmhouse. Joyce Morgan's biography of Elizabeth von Armin, The Countess From Kirribilli, is an utter delight from start to finish. I could just leave that thought there and be done with this post. But, of course, I … Continue reading The Countess From Kirribilli | Joyce Morgan #AWWbiography

Scary Monsters | Michelle de Kretser #AWWfiction

Three scary monsters - racism, misogyny and ageism - roam through this mesmerising novel. Its reversible format enacts the disorientation that migrants experience when changing countries changes the story of their lives. With this suspenseful, funny and profound book, Michelle de Kretser has made something thrilling and new.Which comes first, the future or the past?Back … Continue reading Scary Monsters | Michelle de Kretser #AWWfiction

The Wild Oats Of Han | Katharine Susannah Prichard #AWWfiction

Last year, my friend at the Writer's Centre NSW, now called Writing NSW, was planning on hosting an Honouring event for Katharine Susannah Prichard. It's an annual event, of which I have managed to attend about half so far. I had just popped my name on the expressions of interest list early last year, when … Continue reading The Wild Oats Of Han | Katharine Susannah Prichard #AWWfiction