Voiceworks is an Australian journal publishing the work of writers under 25. Budget is the first issue under the editorial of Bel Monypenny does steer a less-showy ship, still understandably finding its path. The issue suits the theme design-wise - being lean, and mean (with a teeny-tiny font that didn't make my eyes too happy), but content-wise the issue is still wealthy. The … Continue reading Voiceworks: Budget
Reviews + Analyses
Books, poetry, journals and the occassional film…
Thoughts on 2009 Miles Franklin Literary Award winner Breath, by Tim Winton
Breath, Tim Winton, Penguin, 9780143009580 (Aus, US) Breath is my first Tim Winton. Yes, I know. He's just not someone I had gotten to yet. And yes, I will read Cloudstreet, eventually. Last week, Breath was awarded our nation's most prestigious literary prize - the Miles Franklin Literary Award, which is for books that in … Continue reading Thoughts on 2009 Miles Franklin Literary Award winner Breath, by Tim Winton
Trying out a fantasy series… Cassandra Clare's City of Bones, Mortal Instruments: Book One
City of Bones Mortal Instruments: Book One Cassandra Clare 9781406307627 Walker Books, 2007 (Books Two and Three also available - Aus, US) What drew me to Cassandra Clare's City of Bones - the first in the 'Mortal Instruments' series - was the potential of 'urban fantasy'. There are certain aesthetic things I like about the … Continue reading Trying out a fantasy series… Cassandra Clare's City of Bones, Mortal Instruments: Book One
Philipp Meyer's American Rust
A&U 2009, 9781741756838 (Aus, US/Kindle) The fundamental thread, through Philipp Meyer's brilliant American Rust, is mistakes and failures, and how they come about through choice, instinct or luck. In the novel, each of the characters comes up against choices large and small, and the reader is not only witness to the outcomes of their decisions, … Continue reading Philipp Meyer's American Rust
Promethea: Book 1 by Alan Moore, JH Williams III, Mick Gray
Written by Alan Moore, art by JH Williams III and Mick Gray (Aus, US) An enhanced version of modern-day New York (1999) is the main setting of Promethea Book 1, alongside an alternate realm where all the vivid imaginings that go on in the collective consciousness (and unconscious) live, the Immateria. Main character Sophie and … Continue reading Promethea: Book 1 by Alan Moore, JH Williams III, Mick Gray
Turner's Paintbox by Paul Morgan
Viking, 9780670071364, 2007 (Australia) Gerard Moyne is an extremely successful Sydney-based art consultant, art lover, and all round philosophical aesthete. He falls for the independent, earthy, and oft-scattered Julia. They're not exactly opposites, but nor do they complement each other entirely. Their relationship, and its undoing (it begins with this) are chronicled, alongside the narrative … Continue reading Turner's Paintbox by Paul Morgan
Brendan Gullifer’s Sold for ABC Radio National’s The Book Show
I reviewed Brendan Gullifer's wonderful real estate satire Sold (Sleepers Publishing - Aus, Kindle) for ABC Radio National's The Book Show. The podcast is available on the website, as is the transcript. Have a listen/gander here. The good thing about national radio is that your Nanna can listen in.
The Lifted Brow No. 4
9780980595406, 2009, Australia Several truly amazing, innovative and startlingly written stories are contained within the pages of The Lifted Brow No. 4. Unfortunately, there are so many stories in this issue that several ordinary, often pointless and quirk-for-the-sake-of-it ones have also snuck in, making it a bit of a treasure hunt read. The book also … Continue reading The Lifted Brow No. 4
Read and Seen: Watchmen
The second simultaneous book and film review by LiteraryMinded’s Angela Meyer and Celluloid Tongue’s Gerard Elson. Watchmen, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons (1986, DC Comics, 9781401222666 - Aus, US) Angela says... Reading a graphic novel is an experience already half-way between literature and film. The opening 'frames' of Watchmen are like a series of shots from moving … Continue reading Read and Seen: Watchmen
Everything Beautiful by Simmone Howell
Pan, 9780330424639 (Aus, US) Riley Rose hasn't cried since the death of her mother. This plus-sized, take-no-shit, gorgeous, rebellious character is sent to a Christian camp by her father and his dull girlfriend for acting out. But Riley's drug, sex and rock & roll 'tude isn't going to be tamed by a bunch of commandments and Jesus … Continue reading Everything Beautiful by Simmone Howell
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