I arrived home from Adelaide to find Lord Mayor of Melbourne had been quoted as saying Adelaide should be 'shut down'. The feeling of oddness was still with me from traipsing up and down Hindley Street all weekend - sex shops and tittie bars (and cyber sex cafes - the point?); R&B-type slick and shiny … Continue reading Adelaide Should Not Be Shut Down
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
Off to Adelaide
As many of you know, I'm off to participate in the Academy of DIY as part of the Format Festival in Adelaide this weekend. I'm flying off after work today, and I may not get a chance to blog (not back until Sunday night and I don't have a laptop, how old-school!). Also, my phone … Continue reading Off to Adelaide
The Sinkings by Amanda Curtin
UWAP, 9781921401114 (Aus, US) Amanda Curtin's atmospheric novel begins with a bizarre and horrific murder at the Sinkings, in Western Australia, 1882. Flash forward to the present and reclusive, aging writer/editor Willa is reflecting upon the daughter that has gone away from her. Tying these two narratives together are the hermaphroditism of both 'Little Jock' - … Continue reading The Sinkings by Amanda Curtin
Eva Hornung on Dog Boy, writing and activism
In October 2006, I was sitting at the airport in Bali after the Ubud Writers' and Readers' Festival, and Eva Hornung (then Sallis) and her gorgeous little boy came and sat next to me. I had seen her speak during the festival, and read her book Fire, Fire, which I found quite confronting. We … Continue reading Eva Hornung on Dog Boy, writing and activism
Numbers, Solitude, Cinnamon Cookies + New Voices
According to my dashboard, this is my 200th post since I started this blog in May 2007. And you know what? In the past couple of years through this blog, my novel manuscripts, my short stories and thesis, and my work, I'm quite sure I have written over a million words. I mean, I probably … Continue reading Numbers, Solitude, Cinnamon Cookies + New Voices
Things We Didn’t See Coming by Steven Amsterdam
Sleepers Publishing, 9781740667012, 2009 (Aus, US) Things We Didn't See Coming is a series of vignettes, from different stages of the unnamed protagonist's life in a dystopian alterno-present/future. It is a post-apocalyptic story, but told in a hard-boiled, yet highly resonant literary style. The sentences are sharp, the character is hard and the environment is … Continue reading Things We Didn’t See Coming by Steven Amsterdam
Revealed!
Chris Currie has pulled back the curtain and revealed our names alongside our stories after his 'Sneaky Celebrity Writers Month' on Furious Horses in February. Krissy Kneen was the one who guessed the most correctly and won a grand Obama-themed prize. Lucky thing! Here is my story 'Velocity'. Also - Krissy is herself having guest writer contributors on … Continue reading Revealed!
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron
Scribe, 2007, 9781921372148 (Aus, US) James is eighteen, works at his mother's gallery in New York, and is trying to worm his way out of going to Brown in the fall. Why? He prefers the idea of buying a nice old house out in a ‘quiet' state, and not being around other people his own … Continue reading Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron
Let's Have a Conversation
Good-weekend lit-lovelies, Check out the crowd in the reading room! You can view some more pictures from The Death Mook launch here. This was absolutely the highlight of my week. I had to have a few wines before reading to deal with the nerves, damn them, and because there was such a big crowd! Dion and Lisa … Continue reading Let's Have a Conversation
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