Macmillan, September 2007, 9780330423489 (Young Adult) (Review first published in Viewpoint, vol. 15, no. 4, Summer 2007) The Zing family have a secret. Every Friday night they meet in the garden shed to discuss it. Listen Taylor’s Dad has just moved in with Marbie Zing. Listen wonders if it might be the secret of happy … Continue reading The Spell Book of Listen Taylor – Jaclyn Moriarty
Australian literature
The Children by Charlotte Wood
9781741753356, Allen & Unwin, 2007 The perfect book for me is one that is about the extraordinariness of everyday life - the things that human beings acknowledge, and the things they deny; the amazement, comfort and simultaneous hurt in personal relationships; the wealth beneath the surface, but also the necessity of surfaces. Charlotte Wood looks … Continue reading The Children by Charlotte Wood
The Trout Opera by Matthew Condon
Random House Vintage, 9781740510325, November 2007, $32.95 (TPB) (UK pb). First published in the October 2007 issue of BOOKSELLER + PUBLISHER magazine (c) 2007 Thorpe-Bowker (a division of RR Bowker LLC) http://www.bookseller+publisher.com.au/ Wilfred Lampe has experienced a whole century in the Snowy River town of Dalgety. He’s a part of the landscape, its consistencies and … Continue reading The Trout Opera by Matthew Condon
Matthew Condon – Interview
First published in the October 2007 issue of BOOKSELLER + PUBLISHER magazine (c) 2007 Thorpe-Bowker (a division of RR Bowker LLC) http://www.bookseller+publisher.com.au/ The Trout Opera sprang from an encounter with a Dalgety local, stories of the place, and much research. What were you most inspired by when you first visited the place? I hadn't been … Continue reading Matthew Condon – Interview
Patriot Act by James Phelan
9780733620980, Hachette Australia, 2007 (link). Lachlan Fox is an investigative journalist for GSR (Global Syndicate of Reporters). He’s an ex-Aussie Navy operative now in New York City. He is attempting to uncover just who may be trying to access the powerful information database ‘Echelon’, and to what purpose. The information could enable any smaller power … Continue reading Patriot Act by James Phelan
Poets on Wheels
Poets on Wheels last night came to Coffs Harbour. Pam Brown, Philip Hammial and Rebecca May shared some of their poems with a small (predominantly old) audience at the Coffs Harbour Library. Philip Hammial and Pam Brown are heavyweights, skilled and confident in form and subject. Rebecca May is raw and promising and a wonderful … Continue reading Poets on Wheels
Dead Women
My short story Dead Women has been published in the latest Hecate (Vol. 33, No. 1). Here is an extract: Lily woke up one morning to find Virginia Woolf sitting on the end of her bed. She instantly recognised the thin, protuberant cheekbones and phosphorescent eyes. She liked the way the dark morbid floral pattern … Continue reading Dead Women
Dark Roots – an interview with Cate Kennedy
This interview is now to be published in Southerly Vol. 68, No. 3. I am temporarily removing it from the blog as I highly encourage you to purchase a copy of this respected literary journal (Australia's oldest), and support small press and Australian literature. This issue will be celebrating the short fiction genre. It'll be … Continue reading Dark Roots – an interview with Cate Kennedy
The Asking Game – Rose Michael
9780975022863, Transit Lounge, 2007 (Amazon) It is near-future Australia. Eve is hired on a new job, taking the code name ‘Alice’. Alice suffers from dreams that feel more like memories, yet are disconnected from her own experience. The job itself is deeply connected with Alice’s questions of self. All that she has pushed to the … Continue reading The Asking Game – Rose Michael
Dead Birds – Trevor Shearston
9780733320903, ABC Books, September 2007First published in the August 2007 issue of BOOKSELLER + PUBLISHER magazine (c) 2007 Thorpe-Bowker (a division of RR Bowker LLC) http://www.bookseller+publisher.com.au/ A New Guinean tribesman is killed by a spirit with lightning (a white man with a gun). His head is preserved in a jar and it’s from this point … Continue reading Dead Birds – Trevor Shearston
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