Dog-ears

What a great week to be a book blogger …

Next Tuesday, May 20, I’m pleased to be taking part in the inaugural Penguin Random House National Book Bloggers Forum at the Random House Australia offices in North Sydney. It’s an interesting and informative program and I’m particularly looking forward to meeting the winner of the 2013 Best Australian Blog Competition blogger and author Sneh Roy.

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Strong field in longlist for second Stella Prize

The Stella Prize, a major literary award celebrating Australian women’s writing, this week announced the 2014 Stella Prize longlist: Letter to George Clooney by Debra Adelaide Moving Among Strangers by Gabrielle Carey Burial Rites by Hannah Kent Night Games by Anna Krien Mullumbimby by Melissa Lucashenko The Night Guest by Fiona McFarlane Boy, Lost by

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Smith’s tight train tale takes 2013 joanne burns Award

Mark Smith has won the joanne burns Award for “10.42 to Sydenham”, a short-short story, told from the perspective of an African migrant, about a girl being bullied on a train. The joanne burns Award is a micro-fiction and prose poem competition for works of up to 800 words. joanne burns is one of Australia’s

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My story ‘Walk Beside Me’ shortlisted for 2013 Overland Prize

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

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Turn to The Turning this long weekend …

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

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‘Shooting Star’ released today

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

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A Bigger Brighter World reviews significantly more female than male authors

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

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‘Danny Boy’ eSingle on sale … Mine to come

“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

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It’s a bigger blogging world!

So you’ve read every review and interview on A Bigger Brighter World, you’ve gone on to read some of the recommendations and wonder what else is out there in literary blogworld … but you shudder in trepidation at the blogjam that awaits. There are a great many book blogs out there. Here are some, mostly

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Don’t forget there’s also A Bigger Brighter World on Facebook

In those rare moments I’m not reading or writing stories, poems, reviews and interviews, I attempt to entertain my followers and fans with all manner of bookish propaganda over on Facebook. Recent posts include links to news and videos about Hannah Kent on ABC TV’s Australian Story, National Bookshop Day, a record breaking book domino

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