What makes two people in a long-term loving relationship decide to let others in? For every couple, the reasons will be entirely different. For my ex-partner and myself, who explored the option of non-monogamy towards the end of our relationship, the reasons were varied. What I’m fascinated by is the amount of people I know … Continue reading All the love
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Review of :etchings 9 – Love & Something on Cordite
I recently reviewed issue nine of the journal :etchings for Cordite Poetry Review. The focus of the review is the issue's poetry, as that is Cordite's focus, but I mention the fiction and nonfiction also. It begins: 'Love & Something is the sub-header of :etchings 9, and the something seems to stand for the multitudinous meanings the … Continue reading Review of :etchings 9 – Love & Something on Cordite
Whole-hearted lovers and layers of history: an interview with Mardi McConnochie, author of The Voyagers
Viking, May 2011 9780670075966 (Aus, ebook) Stead, a sailor, arrives in Sydney Harbour in 1943. He hasn't seen Marina for five years, and yet he can't forget the three days they spent together prior to the war. Some undeniable connection had been forged. He finds out she failed to enrol in the music school she was … Continue reading Whole-hearted lovers and layers of history: an interview with Mardi McConnochie, author of The Voyagers
Johanna Adorján’s An Exclusive Love
Translated from the German by Anthea Bell (Aus, US, UK) Text Publishing, September 2010 9781921656569 Johanna Adorján’s grandparents took their own lives in October 1991. In this reserved and moving book Adorján pieces together the last day of their lives, interspersing this narrative with details of her grandparents' pasts, pieces of her own story, and musings on various related … Continue reading Johanna Adorján’s An Exclusive Love
Moon dust will cover you: the story of David Bowie and me
After James Bradley’s 'Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)'. David Bowie was really the first artist I found on my own as a young adult. Bowie came to me in a humorous, intertextual way, through watching Zoolander at the age of about 16 at Birch, Carroll & Coyle Cinemas, Coffs Harbour. I worked there so movies … Continue reading Moon dust will cover you: the story of David Bowie and me
Vladimir Nabokov’s Mary
Mary Vladimir Nabokov (translated from the Russian by Michael Glenny, in collaboration with Nabokov) Penguin Great Loves series (Aus, US) 9780141032900 (First published under pen name V Sirin in 1926.) Love is part attraction, part emotion and much imagination. In Mary, Vladimir Nabokov's first novel, a Russian man in Berlin, Ganin, recounts his one passionate love affair, … Continue reading Vladimir Nabokov’s Mary
Guest review: Raili Simojoki on Benjamin Law’s The Family Law
The Family Law Benjamin Law Black Inc. 9781863954785 June 2010 (Aus, US) Reviewed by Raili Simojoki. Benjamin Law’s first book, The Family Law, is a collection of themed essays about his eccentric yet endearing family. His shorter pieces offer quirky insights into eclectic topics such as green burial, sleep deprivation, homosexuality healing workshops, and 90s … Continue reading Guest review: Raili Simojoki on Benjamin Law’s The Family Law
Joel Magarey’s Exposure: A Journey
Exposure: A Journey Joel Magarey Wakefield Press (Australia) 9781862548237 2009 I write this review just moments after finishing the book, and really, I’m aching from it. Joel Magarey has just taken me on an adventure - around the world, through illness and through love. The narrative flows back and forth between periods in the '80s and '90s … Continue reading Joel Magarey’s Exposure: A Journey
Turbulence
A conversation with the self: ‘Here we go.' 'Of course.' 'It’s normal, don’t worry’. 'But this swoop in my chest!' ‘It’s just anxiety, you’re dizzy, it’s nothing. It’s just a bit windy out.’ ‘But what of this pressure. I have no control. I can’t feel my face. Oh God.’ ‘When you think about it, it … Continue reading Turbulence
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
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