Reviewed by Ian Lipke The title of Ann-Marie Priest’s biography of the gifted Australian poet Gwen Harwood is a fine metonymic description. This poet is renowned for the brilliance, the intellectual toughness of her verse, while being as well known for her sense of the ridiculous and her capacity for hard physical labour. By the
Reviewed by Ian Lipke A biography of the Australian novelist, short story writer, and poet Katharine Susannah Prichard has been written by Nathan Hobby and released by Melbourne University Press. Long regarded as a notorious woman on the fringes marked by her literary powers and her left-wing politics, Prichard’s tortuous life has not been untangled
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Dr Nikki Stamp has written a memoir, a non-fiction form of writing that is like a biography but differs markedly from it. A memoir may be described as a record composed from personal observation and experience. Closely related to, and often confused with, autobiography, a memoir usually differs chiefly in the
Reviewed by Gail McDonald This biographical novel by Antony Jeffrey centres mainly on the story of his mother who is described as a brave and sensitive woman who never stopped caring for the people she loved. It is a story of love, loss and family and is the first novel written by Antony. He previously
Reviewed by Richard Tutin Those who survived the Holocaust of World War II have, over the years, slowly told their stories. For some, the trauma they suffered has been such that there has been a reluctance to say anything about it because of the pain they have suffered and are still suffering. Tony Bernard’s father
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Margaret Cameron is new to sharing her work, but a brief conversation with a friend, who remarked that she’d seen it all and she could write a book, changed everything. As the author recalls, the assertion arrived like a wind-blown leaf in an overgrown conversational garden. I decided to write that
Reviewed by Richard Tutin Anyone who was interred in the Auschwitz prison camp during World War II was, more often than not, destined never to be released. Auschwitz has gone down in history as one of, if not the most, despicable places of death and torture created by human beings. It was a place where
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders How would you feel if you were happily working overseas, then arrested without trial and deported to another country and held indefinitely in custody by armed guards? All through no fault of your own. Such was the fate of Miyakatsu Koike, a Japanese national, working in Indonesia for a Japanese bank.
Reviewed by Clare Brook The general public has a fascination with sensational details surrounding murder. There have been many documentaries made to satisfy that curiosity, usually detailing the immediate evidence surrounding the physicality of the crime. I Am a Killer is based on the successful Netflix series of the same name. The aim of this
Reviewed by Gerard Healy A very interesting look inside the world of 1960s and 70s TV shows and later Hollywood movies, by brothers Ron Howard and Clint Howard. Ron is the better known of the two with his childhood appearances in The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days and his later successful directing career. He
Reviewed by Richard Tutin Sport has a special place in the hearts and minds of many Australians. While some just enjoy watching their favourite sports heroes in action, others, like Adam Zwar, take it to a different level. Zwar recounts memorable moments from his life while tying them to the cricket season that played out
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Bain Attwood is an experienced historian who currently occupies a Chair of History at Monash University. The professor knows what he is writing about. In 2010, his book Possession: Batman’s Treaty and the Matter of History won the Ernest Scott Prize for the most distinguished contribution to the history of Australia
Reviewed by Ian Lipke This novel by Robert Cox introduces its readers to a man called Tom Birch, one of those almost forgotten identities who lived in a fertile part of middle and eastern Tasmania. As always in attempts to resurrect a person, long dead, there must be considerable research combined with a lot of
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve It is no wonder that this latest book by Ann Patchett has inspired unanimous praise and enthusiastic responses from those who have read this as a ‘hugely enjoyable conversation with a particularly brilliant friend.’ She is one of the current 250 members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and
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