Released today, Yvette Walker’s debut novel Letters to the End of Love explores three stories of love and loss — one from Cork in 1969, one from the west coast of Australia in 2011 and one from Bournemouth in 1948. In this Q &A, Walker reveals the breathtaking scope of her research for the novel
The 2013 longlist for the Miles Franklin Literary Award sees the largest number of female authors selected since the longlist was first introduced in 2005. From an original list of 73 novels, half of which were written by female authors, the judges selected ten novels for the longlist. It includes eight female authors, five first
At Sappho on this summery Sunday reading is it. Students, lecturers, travellers, shoppers, Goths and glam girls eyeball newspapers, books and screens. A middle-aged guy with John Lennon glasses and a soft linen shirt sips red wine and cracks open the creamy pages of a biography from the stack of books he’s just purchased. I’m
Don’t expect easy allegory here with the odd boy at the centre of this novel equating directly with Jesus. This is not what happens. There are, however, intriguing parallels. For example the boy, David, writes of himself — Yo soy la verdad, I am the truth. Yet David might equally be a precocious fantasist whose
The Stella Prize has announced its first shortlist, including two authors among contenders for other grand prizes. Michelle de Kretser is also in the running for the ALS Gold Medal with Questions of Travel and Carrie Tiffany is in the long list for the Women’s Prize for Fiction with Mateship with Birds. Read more about six
The shortlist for the 2013 ALS Gold Medal has been announced. The shortlisted titles are: Darkness on the Edge of Town Jessie Cole (Fourth Estate) Questions of Travel Michelle de Kretser (Allen & Unwin) Montebello Robert Drewe (Hamish Hamilton) Lost Voices Christopher Koch (Fourth Estate) The Fine Colour of Rust P. A. O’Reilly (HarperCollins) The ALS
Take a close look: The pretty picture accompanying this post is of a circus tent made out of a book. This gorgeous treasure in its elegant simplicity provided a tiny beam of happiness in a crazy, mixed up week. Life’s a circus. Life’s a roller coaster. Life’s a see-saw. I’ve felt all of these things
The 2013 Women’s Prize for Fiction (formerly known as the Orange prize) longlist includes Australians Carrie Tiffany and M. L. Stedman. The Women’s Prize for Fiction is the UK’s only annual book award for fiction written by a woman. Now in its 18th year, the prize celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in writing by women
Canberra author Felicity Volk has won the Carmel Bird Award for her story “Go, You are Sent Forth”, which explores a retired nun’s wish to experience sexual intimacy. The award was judged by Amanda Lohrey (recent recipient of the Patrick White Literary Award) and presented by Marion Halligan (made a Member in the Order of
If you’ve ever longed to be a fly on the wall with some of the world’s greatest poets of the last 50 years or so as they crafted their poetry, listen up: You must read Poetry in Person. I’ve scattered some of its diamonds here in this two-part post but if you love poetry and
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