It’s spring in Berlin but the cement “coffins” at the Holocaust memorial still cast chilling shadows. In the Berliner Dom crypt, the sarcophagi are larger and more opulent but the gloom and mustiness mean I can’t avoid reality: these silent tombs speak loudly of doom and death. Otto Quangel, a key character in Alone in
So many prizes; so many wonderful books! Among recent announcements is the Griffin Poetry Prize 2013 International and Canadian Short Lists, with Liquid Nitrogen by Jennifer Maiden (Giramondo) in the mix. The winners, to be announced at the Griffin Poetry Prize Awards evening on Thursday, June 13, will each be awarded $65,000. The Commonwealth Book
There’s no mystery as to why this delightfully easy-to-read novel is gaining plaudits. In Mateship with Birds Carrie Tiffany writes effortlessly and intriguingly about the natural world, rural life and desire. It’s a winning combination. Set in the 1950s, on the outskirts of the Victorian country town Cohuna, this quirky novel serves up a scraggly
Cate Kennedy’s luminous short story collection, Like a House on Fire, was recently shortlisted for the Stella Prize. In this Q&A, Kennedy casts light on what fuels her imagination and guides her creative instinct as she writes. A number of the stories in Like a House on Fire are about children relating to parents and
Four authors identified as Australian have been included in the 75-strong longlist for the prestigious Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize. They are Andy Kissane, The Swarm (Puncher and Wattmann), Susan Midalia, An Unknown Sky and Other Stories (The University of Western Australia Publishing), Jennifer Mills, The Rest Is Weight (University of Queensland Press) and
What do Madame Bovary, A Room of One’s Own, Pride and Prejudice, Love in a Cold Climate, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Wuthering Heights have in common? They’re all Pink Penguins and if you buy one of these titles (among others) you can help place Breast Care Nurses in communities across Australia. Penguin has teamed up
Released today, Yvette Walker’s debut novel Letters to the End of Love explores three stories of love and loss — one from Cork in 1969, one from the west coast of Australia in 2011 and one from Bournemouth in 1948. In this Q &A, Walker reveals the breathtaking scope of her research for the novel
The 2013 longlist for the Miles Franklin Literary Award sees the largest number of female authors selected since the longlist was first introduced in 2005. From an original list of 73 novels, half of which were written by female authors, the judges selected ten novels for the longlist. It includes eight female authors, five first
At Sappho on this summery Sunday reading is it. Students, lecturers, travellers, shoppers, Goths and glam girls eyeball newspapers, books and screens. A middle-aged guy with John Lennon glasses and a soft linen shirt sips red wine and cracks open the creamy pages of a biography from the stack of books he’s just purchased. I’m
Don’t expect easy allegory here with the odd boy at the centre of this novel equating directly with Jesus. This is not what happens. There are, however, intriguing parallels. For example the boy, David, writes of himself — Yo soy la verdad, I am the truth. Yet David might equally be a precocious fantasist whose
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