Foal's Bread, Gillian Mears, Allen & Unwin, 9781742376295 (paperback, ebook) A slow read – but think ‘slow’ as in that positive movement of slow food, slow travel – picked up each morning over breakfast. Set in Northern NSW, quite near where I grew up (and author Gillian Mears grew up) in the interwar and WWII … Continue reading Recently read: Foal’s Bread, White Noise + The Swimming-Pool Library
Reviews + Analyses
Books, poetry, journals and the occassional film…
New ejournal: Review of Australian Fiction
I've just sampled the first issue of a new ejournal called Review of Australian Fiction, which will publish a short story by one established and one emerging author each issue (fortnightly). You can subscribe to all six issues in Volume One for $12.99, or buy them individually. There will be four volumes each year. Info … Continue reading New ejournal: Review of Australian Fiction
The best books I read in 2011, as told to the Australian
This first appeared in the Australian over the weekend of 24 & 25 December, 2011. Thanks to Stephen Romei for seeking my contribution. In 2011 I caught up on some classics: I enjoyed being isolated with aging actor/director Charles Arrowby in Iris Murdoch’s The Sea, The Sea. I took to sea with Gulliver on his … Continue reading The best books I read in 2011, as told to the Australian
Recently read: non-reviews of The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary, Flying with Paper Wings, The Cook
This is cross-posted from Southerly, where I am blogging in December. The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary by Andrew Westoll, UQP (Aus), 9780702238468, July 2011 (paperback) This book has been near the top of my pile since July and I finally picked it up to start reading on a flight to Sydney recently. I am an … Continue reading Recently read: non-reviews of The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary, Flying with Paper Wings, The Cook
An Emotional Landscape: Laurie Steed reviews The World Swimmers by Patrick West
ICLL, August 2011 available at selected bookstores & through the author ($25, postage free, email: patrick.west@deakin.edu.au) review by Laurie Steed Australia’s literary landscape seems scarred by an increasingly commercial approach to what constitutes quality literature. Yes, publishers need to make a profit, but in chasing said profit, publishers close the door on any number of quality … Continue reading An Emotional Landscape: Laurie Steed reviews The World Swimmers by Patrick West
Review of Daniel Stein, Interpreter by Ludmila Ulitskaya in the Australian
I have a review in the Weekend Australian of the novel Daniel Stein, Interpreter by Russian author Ludmila Ulitskaya (translated into English by Arch Tait). The book is published in Australia by Scribe (paperback). The review begins: 'Oswald Rufeisen, known as Brother Daniel, was a Polish Jew who converted to Catholicism while hiding in a monastery during … Continue reading Review of Daniel Stein, Interpreter by Ludmila Ulitskaya in the Australian
Review of Animal People by Charlotte Wood in the Age today
I reviewed Charlotte Wood's new novel Animal People for the Age and it looks like it has already found its way online, on the SMH website (not sure if it was in their print version as well). It is definitely one of the best Australian books I've read this year, and I do encourage you to … Continue reading Review of Animal People by Charlotte Wood in the Age today
Extrapolations: stories re-imagined from the tangible, a guest post by Kent MacCarter
By Kent MacCarter In the preface on page six of Dupain’s Sydney, an art book featuring photographic plates of cityscapes, city dwellers and urban whatnot by acclaimed photographer Max Dupain, there is a photograph of the artist fussing with the aperture on his 4x5 large-format camera perched on a fully extended tripod. You can detect … Continue reading Extrapolations: stories re-imagined from the tangible, a guest post by Kent MacCarter
Guest review: Rachel Edwards on Bearings by Leah Swann
Affirm Press, 9780980790429 (Aus) Reviewed by Rachel Edwards Australia has seen an increase in the publishing, and the recognition of, short stories and their authors over the last few years. Cate Kennedy and Nam Le set the bar high, and Affirm Press are presenting reading audiences with some refined new voices through their innovative publishing of the … Continue reading Guest review: Rachel Edwards on Bearings by Leah Swann
Review of :etchings 9 – Love & Something on Cordite
I recently reviewed issue nine of the journal :etchings for Cordite Poetry Review. The focus of the review is the issue's poetry, as that is Cordite's focus, but I mention the fiction and nonfiction also. It begins: 'Love & Something is the sub-header of :etchings 9, and the something seems to stand for the multitudinous meanings the … Continue reading Review of :etchings 9 – Love & Something on Cordite
LiteraryMinded 