This review first appeared in the August issue of Bookseller+Publisher, and is cross-posted over at Bookseller+Publisher's Fancy Goods blog. Bereft Chris Womersley Scribe, September 2010 (Australia) 9781921640605 Chris Womersley’s Bereft, his second novel after 2008’s award-winning The Low Road, is a rich, gripping tale of love, loss, conflict and salvation. The prologue states that in 1912, during a … Continue reading Chris Womersley’s Bereft
Australian literature
Guest review: Sam Cooney on Clinton Caward’s Love Machine
Love Machine Clinton Caward Hamish Hamilton (Penguin) February 2010, Australia 9781926428024 Reviewed by Sam Cooney. I first encountered Clinton Caward’s writing last year in the lit journal Cutwater; his two short stories punched me in the gut with their corrosive and compelling strength, and the accompanying author interview struck some chords. (Indeed, I said so … Continue reading Guest review: Sam Cooney on Clinton Caward’s Love Machine
Peter Goldsworthy on Gravel
Gravel Peter Goldsworthy Hamish Hamilton March 2010 (Australia) 9781926428192 Gravel is Peter Goldsworthy's new collection of short stories - amusing and moving - covering a range of predominantly white middle-class characters in conflict with their own egos. But there are also stories exploring erotic awakening (something Goldsworthy did well in Everything I Knew) and others where … Continue reading Peter Goldsworthy on Gravel
Go west! Perth Writers Fest 2010 program released
I've never been to Western Australia. Isn't that nuts? I've been to Europe, I've been to the USA and I've been to Asia, but never the other side of my own country. Lucky for me, the lovely organisers of Perth Writers Festival have invited me along this year. Besides my sessions, I am expecting to catch … Continue reading Go west! Perth Writers Fest 2010 program released
Meeting Alex Miller part four: on re-reading, storytelling, and writing as a woman
See also – part one: on the origins of a contemporary story; part two: on wisdom and imagination and part three: on cross-eyed novels, the time we have, and liberties of language. My feature interview with Alex Miller on his new novel, Lovesong (Aus, US), was published in Readings Monthly. You can find it here. … Continue reading Meeting Alex Miller part four: on re-reading, storytelling, and writing as a woman
Meeting Alex Miller part three: on cross-eyed novels, the time we have, and liberties of language
See also – part one: on the origins of a contemporary story and part two: on wisdom and imagination. My feature interview with Alex Miller on his new novel, Lovesong (Aus, US), was published in Readings Monthly. You can find it here. When asked what his favourite is of all his novels, Miller smiled and … Continue reading Meeting Alex Miller part three: on cross-eyed novels, the time we have, and liberties of language
Cate Kennedy’s The World Beneath
Scribe September 2009 9781921372964 (Aus, Grove US) There’s no doubt Cate Kennedy is one of Australia’s most perceptive writers. Her short stories, which can be found in various journals and the collection Dark Roots, are rich in character and often contemplate moments of connection, all the misfires and failed connections, and their consequences. In The World Beneath, Rich wants to … Continue reading Cate Kennedy’s The World Beneath
Meeting Alex Miller part two: on wisdom and imagination
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
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
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
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