Dog-ears

Pink Penguins to aid in breast care

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

Continue Reading

Female authors dominate 2013 Miles Franklin longlist

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

Continue Reading

Getting lyrical with Sappho

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

Continue Reading

Stella Prize shortlist

The Stella Prize has announced its first shortlist, including two authors among contenders for other grand prizes. Michelle de Kretser is also in the running for the ALS Gold Medal with Questions of Travel and Carrie Tiffany is in the long list for the Women’s Prize for Fiction with Mateship with Birds. Read more about six

Continue Reading

ALS Gold Medal shortlist

The shortlist for the 2013 ALS Gold Medal has been announced. The shortlisted titles are: Darkness on the Edge of Town Jessie Cole (Fourth Estate) Questions of Travel Michelle de Kretser (Allen & Unwin) Montebello Robert Drewe (Hamish Hamilton) Lost Voices Christopher Koch (Fourth Estate) The Fine Colour of Rust P. A. O’Reilly (HarperCollins) The ALS

Continue Reading

When life’s a circus the little things count

Take a close look: The pretty picture accompanying this post is of a circus tent made out of a book. This gorgeous treasure in its elegant simplicity provided a tiny beam of happiness in a crazy, mixed up week. Life’s a circus. Life’s a roller coaster. Life’s a see-saw. I’ve felt all of these things

Continue Reading

Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist announced

The 2013 Women’s Prize for Fiction (formerly known as the Orange prize) longlist includes Australians Carrie Tiffany and M. L. Stedman. The Women’s Prize for Fiction is the UK’s only annual book award for fiction written by a woman. Now in its 18th year, the prize celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in writing by women

Continue Reading

Deflowered nun’s story picked for the Carmel Bird Award

Canberra author Felicity Volk has won the Carmel Bird Award for her story “Go, You are Sent Forth”, which explores a retired nun’s wish to experience sexual intimacy. The award was judged by Amanda Lohrey (recent recipient of the Patrick White Literary Award) and presented by Marion Halligan (made a Member in the Order of

Continue Reading

Random retro … now that’s classic!

Random House recently announced its 20 bestselling Vintage Classics for 2012 but the two books I’ve most coveted from this retro series didn’t make the list. Both are books I’ve been meaning to read for ages. That is: Richard Yates’ Revolutionary Road and Raymond Carver’s What We Talk about When We Talk about Love. It won’t stay

Continue Reading

National Book Critics Circle Award winners announced

The (US) National Book Critics Circle has announced the recipients of its book awards for publishing year 2012. Winners include Robert A. Caro’s The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson (Alfred A. Knopf) and Ben Fountain’s debut novel, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (Ecco). The nonfiction winner was Andrew Solomon’s Far From the

Continue Reading