My story “Walk Beside Me” has been shortlisted for the 2013 Overland Victoria University Short Story Prize for New and Emerging Writers. The four judges from Victoria University and Overland magazine — Enza Gandalfo, Jennifer Mills, Jeff Sparrow and Jacinda Woodhead — “read blind” and chose from 830 entries what they believed to be “12
Who owns the land? — Those who till it or those who hold the title deeds? How permeable should a community’s boundaries be? — Welcoming of all or divided into “insiders” and “interlopers”? These pithy questions lie at the heart of Harvest by Jim Crace; the novel tipped by many as the Man Booker Prize
Friends are urging me to see the movie The Turning this October long weekend and, if my time-poor dips into popular Australian Tim Winton’s book (on which the film is based) are anything to go by, it should be both challenging and fun. Even without the cinematic drawcards of Cate Blanchett, Richard Roxburgh, Hugo Weaving
Today Spineless Wonders released “Shooting Star” by Marjorie Lewis-Jones, the fifth in its series of twelve women’s long eStories selected by Amanda Lohrey. “Marjorie Lewis-Jones’ insightful characterisation of Orley as well as her earthy narrative, connects the reader to a uniquely personal experience with a most recognisable and universal theme.” Take a look at the
The book review and author interview blog A Bigger Brighter World bucks the national literary trend by reviewing far more female authors than male authors. The Stella Count, this week released by the Stella Prize with industry magazine Books+Publishing, found that last year in Australia more books written by men were reviewed than books written
This one of the scariest books I’ve read this year and perhaps ever. It’s also one of the cleverest I’ve encountered in recent times at evoking how the American dream can easily turn sour. Paul Krovik is a property developer who subdivides some acreage, builds his family a model home and gets into debt due
The Son is a breathtaking epic equal in scope and intensity to Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian but I think it’s a more consistently engaging read. The story spans 160-odd years of Texan history from the mid-1800s and details the violent land grabbing, slaughter and empire building that lie at its heart. This blood- and oil-soaked
“He reached behind and undid the sports bra” is a pivotal line in Marian Matta’s prize-winning story, “Danny Boy”. It’s the line I asked the author about on Thursday August 22 in an online Spineless Wonders Book Club meeting via Facebook. As the book club’s lively discussion highlighted, it’s a very intriguing story. Marian Matta
Samos Island was bliss. I swam in the Aegean, danced Zumba in the town square and drank Ouzo. I also read some great books! So today’s post contains reviews of Tenth of December, Shooting the Fox and The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot. The first two are for short story enthusiasts and the third
All the Birds, Singing gathers pace as it steams towards its well-executed denouement. Hints are dropped like scat through the first half of the novel about why Jake Whyte is such a cagey, jittery character and carries such horrific scars on her back. The last half takes us more fully into the early experiences that
Recent Comments