See also – 'part one: on the origins of a contemporary story'. My feature interview with Alex Miller on his new novel, Lovesong (Aus, US), was published in Readings Monthly. You can find it here. Miller spoke proudly about his 18-year-old daughter, who told him, when he said he was writing a ‘simple love story’, … Continue reading Meeting Alex Miller part two: on wisdom and imagination
Australian authors
Meeting Alex Miller part one: on the origins of a contemporary story
Recently I interviewed Alex Miller about his new novel Lovesong (Aus, US) for Readings Monthly. As many of you know, Miller is not only one of Australia’s finest authors, but he's one of my personal favourites, so I took this wonderful opportunity to extend my conversation with him to his other works, as well as writing and life … Continue reading Meeting Alex Miller part one: on the origins of a contemporary story
In the end we all fade to black: a ‘responsive’ interview with Kathy Charles, author of Hollywood Ending
Kathy Charles' debut novel Hollywood Ending was recently released in Australia by Text Publishing (John Belushi Is Dead, MTV Books, US). In my review for the October issue of Australian Book Review I said: 'Kathy Charles creates a world both familiar and strange ... Despite being highly, if darkly, entertaining, the book hints at deeper issues, such … Continue reading In the end we all fade to black: a ‘responsive’ interview with Kathy Charles, author of Hollywood Ending
This cumulative kind of effect when you stop: an interview with Emily Maguire on Smoke in the Room, part two
Part One of this interview can be found here. Pictured: Emily Maguire and I before the Sleepers Salon in October. I ask Maguire about the setting. Is it pertinent for this story to be set in Sydney? She says it probably could have been a few cities, but ‘western Sydney is – the cliché is … Continue reading This cumulative kind of effect when you stop: an interview with Emily Maguire on Smoke in the Room, part two
This cumulative kind of effect when you stop: an interview with Emily Maguire on Smoke in the Room, part one
In Smoke in the Room (Aus), three characters end up in a share house in Sydney. Katie works on instinct and is weighted by an overwhelming empathy. Adam, an American, is grieving and needs to save money to get home. Graeme, an aid worker, has rid himself of possessions and simplified his existence. In this … Continue reading This cumulative kind of effect when you stop: an interview with Emily Maguire on Smoke in the Room, part one
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
Julia Leigh's Disquiet
9780143009573 Penguin (Aus, US/Kindle) In an active, atmospheric introduction, a woman and her two children arrive at the gate, and then the house, of the woman’s childhood. The woman, Olivia, explains to her mother she ‘had to come home’ and is accepted. Soon arrives Olivia’s grief-stricken brother and wife, with their baby’s body (who has … Continue reading Julia Leigh's Disquiet
The real possibility of joy: an interview with Josephine Emery
Josephine Emery's The Real Possibility of Joy: A Personal Journey from Man to Woman is released in September from Pier 9. It's a compelling, poignant, fascinating, honest memoir. And as a writer, screenwriter and former director of the literature board at the Australia Council for the Arts, Josephine Emery really knows how to write. I … Continue reading The real possibility of joy: an interview with Josephine Emery
Melbourne launch of the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature
The Red Rotunda at the Cowen Gallery at the State Library of Victoria is filled with silver-haired literary giants, and a young woman enters, sweaty and carrying two bags (she has walked from work). She sees a couple of familiar faces but is too intimidated to talk to them. She clasps a glass of champagne and … Continue reading Melbourne launch of the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature
The Danger Game by Kalinda Ashton
Sleepers Publishing August 2009, Australia 9781740668132 Three children - one insular, one bold, and one stubborn and growing - dare each other to undertake dangerous or humiliating tasks in the 'danger game'. Their lives are daring enough, with an unstable father and a mother on-edge, and mature secrets inside each of their little heads. Only two of … Continue reading The Danger Game by Kalinda Ashton
LiteraryMinded 