Penguin New Zealand 2008 9780143008934 The Year of the Shanghai Sharkcharts a series of encounters, tales and incidents in one year of a boy’s life in Dalian, China. His immediate existence is determined by his Uncle, who possesses many big books and conducts dubious business, his best friends Po Fan and Xiao Wang, plus basketball, fast food … Continue reading Mo Zhi Hong's The Year of the Shanghai Shark
Now
Inviting the self out. Stuck inside. Curled up in cultures. Taken away and taken back by what I don't know. And then what I know. What I can't grasp because of stuckness. Knowing about Mohezin Tejani's experience of Pink Floyd in 1973. But never having seen Uganda, India, Nepal, Thailand... Having seen the Grand Canyon but … Continue reading Now
Guest review: Tom Conyers on Readings and Writings: Forty Years in Books
Jason Cotter and Michael Williams (eds) 2009 9781740668217 With Readings and Writings: Forty Years in Books, there doesn’t appear to have been an overriding theme or subject limitation placed on the contributors. Instead, the writers involved, who have all had supportive associations with Readings Books & Music (Melbourne) over the years, are given free reign. … Continue reading Guest review: Tom Conyers on Readings and Writings: Forty Years in Books
Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol goes well with cheap wine, corn chips and reading into the morning
The most blockbustery blockbuster of the year found its way into my lap and with curiosity piqued (and a break needed from festival preparations) I indulged in one solid reading session – cover to cover – and was mainly intrigued, despite a few small snags. In The Lost Symbol, Harvard Professor Robert Langdon is called … Continue reading Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol goes well with cheap wine, corn chips and reading into the morning
A 'responsive' interview with Kirsten Reed, author of The Ice Age
The Ice Age Kirsten Reed Text, 2009 9781921520747 (Aus, US/Kindle) Prompts: LiteraryMinded Responses: Kirsten Reed One of your own ‘on the road’ experiences… I was seventeen, hitching a short distance (about forty miles; this was a leg of my journey for which there was no connecting bus). The sun was about to set, and I … Continue reading A 'responsive' interview with Kirsten Reed, author of The Ice Age
Hello busy lady, what have you been up to? Festivals!
Madness, and much excitement. In October I am off to the National Young Writers Festival and the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, back to back - seven panels. And the past month has been one of changes and revelations - but more on those in time. Now, I would like to tell you what I … Continue reading Hello busy lady, what have you been up to? Festivals!
Guest review: Rhys Tate on Mary Richardson's Truckers
Truckers Mary Richardson Mark Batty Publisher June 2009 (USA) (Also available in Aus) 9780979966682 Reviewed by Rhys Tate. A few months ago, as an ex-truckie and sometime poet, I was invited to submit some lines to Sydney outfit Red Room and their collection of trucker poetry, a pairing even I find incongruous. My poem was … Continue reading Guest review: Rhys Tate on Mary Richardson's Truckers
Longing and the Aftermath of Something
Recorded during the event 'See What I'm Talking About', Overload Poetry Festival 2009. Response to Andrew Watson's photograph (in background). Video by my lovely sister Sonja Meyer. Here's a review of the whole event by Simonne Michelle Wells on the Overland blog.
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned: Christopher Currie interviews Wells Tower, part the second
Part the first of Christopher Currie's interview with Wells Tower can be found here. Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned Wells Tower Granta, 2009 9781847080486 (Aus, US/Kindle) In other interviews, you’ve talked about your stories having a 'moral pendulum' swinging between characters, and the importance of putting the reader slightly off-balance at the end of a … Continue reading Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned: Christopher Currie interviews Wells Tower, part the second
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned: Christopher Currie interviews Wells Tower, part the first
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned Wells Tower Granta, 2009 9781847080486 (Aus, US/Kindle) Words: Christopher Currie and Wells Tower Image: Chris Somerville Back in March, during one of my reverential trawls through my RSS feeds, I began hearing about an American writer, Wells Tower, whose short story collection Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned was beginning to garner some … Continue reading Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned: Christopher Currie interviews Wells Tower, part the first
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