Born Into This is a collection of short stories by an exciting new voice in Indigenous writing, Adam Thompson. Adam Thompson may be an emerging Pakana writer from Launceston, but there are powerful and promising things going on here. Some of his stories pack a serious punch, others creep in quietly under your skin. Either … Continue reading Born Into This | Adam Thompson #ShortStories
This is a post I first drafted seven years ago as our eldest was starting his senior school years. I was already six years removed from my own teaching days, but once a teacher, always a teacher! This time of the year will always brins to mind those anxious, exciting first days of a new … Continue reading First Day of School
Honeybee by Craig Silvey is my first book club read for 2021. It has taken Silvey over ten years to write this book, after the huge success of his second book, Jasper Jones back in 2009. “I put everything I have into writing Honeybee. It tore me up, but it filled me with joy. I’m enormously … Continue reading Honeybee | Craig Silvey
I spotted this book tag initially as one for books in translation. But after an amazing few months of reading mostly Australian books, I wanted to keep the green and gold momentum going. To join in though, simply change the country to one of your choosing. It could be your country of origin, where you … Continue reading Australian Literature Book Tag
My first illness was that one most common to the children of the poor...a bad education and, like the bite of a goanna, it was incurable and ran for years. Ethel Jane (Eve) Langley was born in Forbes on the 1st September 1904. After her father, Arthur died in 1915, her mother, Myra moved her … Continue reading The Pea-Pickers | Eve Langley #AWW
Writers on WritersIn the Writers on Writers series, leading authors reflect on an Australian writer who has inspired and influenced them. Provocative and crisp, these books start a fresh conversation between past and present, shed new light on the craft of writing, and introduce some intriguing and talented authors and their work.Published by Black Inc. … Continue reading Writers on Writers: Josephine Rowe on Beverley Farmer #AWW
I find reading Helen Garner a curious affair. There's a real push me/pull me effect, that intrigues me and wow's me, then repels me all in the same sentence. I'm intrigued and wowed by her writing, the turn of phrase that captures a moment brilliantly. There's a candour and earthiness that seems grounded in her … Continue reading The Spare Room | Helen Garner #AWW
It's time for another Classics Club Spin. The rules are easy: compile your list of 20 books by Sunday 22nd November. On that day a number will be randomly selected. That's the book you read. You have until the 30th January 2021 to finish your book and review it. Join in the … Continue reading Classics Club Spin #25
A few days ago, what I thought would be a very simple request to fulfil - to list a few Australian novellas to help those of you keen to combine two reading events with the one book - turned out to be anything but!I naively believed that all I had to do was google 'Australian … Continue reading Australian Novellas
The first draft of Gentlemen at Gyang Gyang was written in 1928 by Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin (1879 - 1954) upon her return to Australia to care for her ageing parents. However it wasn't published until after her death in 1956. You may have also noticed that the name on the book is not that of … Continue reading Gentlemen at Gyang Gyang | Miles Franklin #1956club
Lisa @ANZLitLover is hosting her annual Indigenous Literature Week. Normally this week is also NAIDOC week, but due to Covid it has been postponed until 8th -15th November. The 2020 theme is Always Was, Always Will Be. Always Was, Always Will Be. recognises that First Nations people have occupied and cared for this continent for over 65,000 … Continue reading Indigenous Picture Books
Writing regularly blog posts seems to be something quite beyond right now. But thanks to Karen @Booker Talk I've be revisiting some of my older posts to find fresh inspiration. This post about the rather silent author, Randolph Stow, was originally published on the 29th August 2015.I've been thinking about Gabrielle Carey a lot, over the … Continue reading Moving Among Strangers by Gabrielle Carey
