Review by Richard Tutin As I was reading this offering by Graham Seal, I was reminded of the old Disneyland television programme. During the introduction to the various lands, Frontierland was mentioned with the line about featuring “tall tales and true from the legendary past”. Great Australian Mysteries certainly gives us the tall tales and
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve In this novel, rich in the language employed by one of the U.S.’s finest writers, two words are key. One is ‘haunting’ and the other is ‘sentence’. Characters are haunted by place, the now infamous city of Minneapolis where injustice often determines outcomes for all non-white people, and the police are
Reviewed by E. B. Heath The Fatal Dance engages with a range of subjects subtly woven into a funny and poignant family drama. Although the descriptions of place and people are vivid and detailed, much is implied, allowing the text to move at a fast pace as each member illustrates different aspects of modern life:
Reviewed by Ian Lipke When I contemplate Ken Follett’s massive novel, I wonder how any writer of extended texts can hope to maintain the interest of today’s readers. Yet my own involvement grew as I made my way through the multilayered issues Follett addresses. Sub-plots can be as simple as the story of the young
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Nora Roberts prefers to tell a tale these days in trilogy form. We observed this in The Chronicles of the One (Year One, Of Blood and Bone and The Rise of Magicks), a series that traced the developing life of a young girl into a warrior of considerable skill. To achieve
Three thought-provoking panel discussions explore power, representation and diversity in publishing in Australia and the UK, hosted by the Wheeler Centre, Spread the Word and the Melbourne City of Literature Office Like television, film and other media, the publishing industry is a window into our society at any given time. The choice of books published inform us about our world and, collectively, shape our cultural environment. So, who gets published? What forces and
Reviewed by Ian Lipke David Hunt, author of Girt, True Girt, and now Girt Nation, has been flying beneath the flag of public notice for far too long. First of his books in this series to appear was the very funny, 2013 award-winning Girt which was shortlisted for the 2014 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA), the
Review by Richard Tutin There are some Australians who are better known overseas than they are here in their own country. The budgerigar suffered from this fate for many years. As Penny Olsen explains in Flight of the Budgerigar, this small gregarious bird was, for many years, sought after by people outside of Australia but
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve To celebrate the 200th birthday of the Sydney Botanic Gardens, Wakefield Press has produced a book that is a delight on many levels. It is a detailed tribute to Margaret Flockton’s work, her life, and her position in Australia’s art scene – and her courageous journey from England to forge her
Reviewed by Antonella Townsend I laughed, I cried laughing … I cried! I could leave it there, but for the sake of this not being the shortest review in the history of reviews, I will give a brief explanation. I laughed to the point of tears because Michael McIntyre is clearly one of the funniest
Photo credit: John Tsiavis WINNER — Melbourne Prize for Literature 2021 CHRISTOS TSIOLKAS The Prize is for a Victorian published author whose body of published work has made an outstanding contribution to Australian literature and to cultural and intellectual life. Christos Tsiolkas is the author of seven novels, with his work being adapted for
Reviewed by Gerard Healy What a fascinating, controversial and notable memoir/political manifesto by John Marsden, the well-known Australian author of the Tomorrow When the War Began series. In this book he looks back over his own schooling, his long teaching and writing careers and his establishment of two independent schools in country Victoria. Quite a
Reviewed by Rod McLary Donald M Murray – an American journalist and professor of English – once wrote that ‘all writing is autobiography’ believing that writers draw on their own well of experience whatever they may write – including fiction. JJ Bola seems to have done that in his second novel – his first, evocatively
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Michael Connelly’s latest book, The Dark Hours, is a masterpiece. He has the distinction of creating new characters that are tough and hard-bitten but, nevertheless, relevant to the constantly changing environment that is the twenty-first century. At the same time, his known characters are not neglected but grow in dimensionality. The
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke In her latest publication, Tea Cooper has managed to create an interesting story from two different times in history. Her stories always have a basis in fact and tell of secrets and memories and mysteries as well as values and attitudes of the times. I read somewhere that in November 2021