I'm fairly time-poor at the moment, but I wanted to at least make a small note about a couple of books I've read lately in preparation for the Sydney Writers' Festival next week! The Fine Colour of Rust, PA O'Reilly, Blue Door, 9780007434930, March 2012 (buy paperback, ebook) I'm a big fan of Paddy O'Reilly's … Continue reading Recently read: The Fine Colour of Rust by PA O’Reilly & What the Family Needed by Steven Amsterdam
Steven Amsterdam
Sydney Writers’ Festival 2012: tickets on sale
I've attended the Sydney Writers' Festival as 'media' before but this year I'll get to chat with some great authors on stage. I'm chairing three panels in one day, Thursday 17 May. If you see me that night, don't be surprised if I'm drunk or asleep in the corner of the hotel bar. Two of … Continue reading Sydney Writers’ Festival 2012: tickets on sale
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 -Â 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
Brethren is one of my favourite words (but that has nothing to do with Peril, my best books of 2009, Kafka's diary, or an Overland blog guest post)
* This week I went to the launch of Peril, edition 8: 'why are people so unkind'? It featured readings, and a fun, sexy performance by Ladies of Colour Agency that made me want to get up an shake it, baby. Maxine Clarke, who performed her poetry, gives a very warm of a rundown of … Continue reading Brethren is one of my favourite words (but that has nothing to do with Peril, my best books of 2009, Kafka's diary, or an Overland blog guest post)
It begins! Melbourne Writers Festival 2009 diary part one: champagne, the city, Mieville's guns, Amsterdam's awards and Schlink's guilt
Thursday 20/8 The elevator ride up to the Text Publishing par-tay on Thursday evening was devastatingly long (I'm a semi-claustrophobe, to add to my other semi-disorders). I met up with Kathy Charles beforehand (a Text author) to discuss my launching of her book, Hollywood Ending. The champagne flowed, the conversations were half-chewed like the piece … Continue reading It begins! Melbourne Writers Festival 2009 diary part one: champagne, the city, Mieville's guns, Amsterdam's awards and Schlink's guilt
Off to Newstead
Although I'm taking my laptop this weekend, I may not be online. If you would like to keep up to date on the Newstead Short Story Tattoo (or just my silly and possibly drunken adventures) follow my Twitter feed - I can update from my mobile phone (but not check any replies). If you are … Continue reading Off to Newstead
Steven Amsterdam – a 'responsive' interview
Read the LiteraryMinded review of Steven Amsterdam's Things We Didn't See Coming, Sleepers Publishing, 9781740667012, 2009 (Aus, US) Prompts - LiteraryMinded. Responses - Steven Amsterdam. Beginnings I was inspired by a few loose pieces in the news, from life, the partisan splay of the 2004 election in the US, and my nervous mind, so I … Continue reading Steven Amsterdam – a 'responsive' interview
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
