Louise Erdrich’s Pulitzer Prizewinning The night watchman is historical fiction about a community fighting back against a government set on “terminating them”. Erdrich, whom I have reviewed before, is an enrolled citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota and it is the story of this community’s response to something called the … Continue reading Louise Erdrich, The night watchman (#BookReview)| Whispering Gums
In lieu of my usual Monday Musings post, I am reporting on the 2025 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards which were announced this evening, and which I attended via the live-stream from the Creative Australia website. I shared the short list several weeks ago, so I won’t repeat those here. The awards ceremony was a long … Continue reading Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2025, Winners| Whispering Gums
Creative Australia is the – how shall we say it – rebranded Australia Council for the Arts / Australia Council. Under whatever name it has, this is the body that serves as the major arts funding and advisory body for the Australian Government. You can read its history on Wikipedia if you are interested. The Australia Council … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Creative Australia Awards in Literature| Whispering Gums
Back in 2018, I wrote a post on local author Nigel Featherstone’s first theatrical work, an art-song piece titled The Weight of Light. Seven years later, his second work of theatre, The Story of the Oars, has just finished its short season at The Street Theatre. Having just got back from Japan on Friday afternoon, … Continue reading The Story of the Oars| Whispering Gums
Early in 2023, I created a Monday Musings subseries called Trove Treasures, in which I share stories or comments, serious or funny, that I come across during my Trove travels. Having posted on her two sisters the last two Mondays, I thought it might be fun to round off the series with two references made to … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Trove treasures (14), Louise Mack, the “colonial”| Whispering Gums
This is a quick post because I’m on the road in Japan, but I do like the Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Awards, and their shortlist has just been announced, so here is a quick post. Just to recap if you don’t recollect my previous posts on this award, it is not limited by … Continue reading 2025 Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award shortlist| Whispering Gums
Gertrude Mack is the third of the Mack literary sisters, and by far the least known, though at the time she was well-recognised, with her activities and thoughts frequently reported in the newspapers. Her “disappearance” from view is most likely because, unlike her sisters, all her writing was for newspapers and magazines. She did not … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Forgotten writers 14, Gertrude Mack| Whispering Gums
Last #SixDegrees I was driving to the Wurundjeri Wandoon people of the Greater Kulin Nation, that is in my part of Melbourne, but this month, I’m somewhere exotic – Japan. When this post is published, I expect to be on a train between Tokushima, in northern Shikoku, to Hikone, near Lake Biwa in Honshu. I … Continue reading Six degrees of separation, FROM Ghost cities TO …| Whispering Gums
In the first decades of the 20th century, a family of sisters made some splash on Australia’s literary scene. I have already written about the eldest of them – Louise Mack – but there were also Amy (this post’s subject) and Gertrude, all of whom appeared in newspapers of the time as writers of interest. … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Forgotten writers 13, Amy Mack| Whispering Gums
The Michael Crouch Award is part of the National Biography Award (NBA) suite of prizes. I have written about the NBA before, but have never specifically focused on the Michael Crouch Award. But first, a quick recap … the National Biography Award has been going since 1996, and celebrates excellence in life writing, that is, … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Michael Crouch Award| Whispering Gums
Michelle de Kretser’s latest novel, Theory & practice, is a perfect example of why I should follow my own reading advice, which is that as soon as I finish a book I should go back and rea…| Whispering Gums
5 posts published by Whispering Gums during September 2025| Whispering Gums
In the first decades of the 20th century, a family of sisters made some splash on Australia’s literary scene. I have already written about the eldest of them – Louise Mack – but t…| Whispering Gums
Around ten years ago, I wrote a post on National Arbor Day. It was inspired by a Library of America story. The thing is that then I didn’t, and I still don’t hear, about Arbor Day anymo…| Whispering Gums
The Canberra launch of Irma Gold’s latest book, her second novel Shift (my review), was a joyful affair that reminded me of other launches of books by Canberra writers, such as Karen Viggers&…| Whispering Gums
If Australian writer Irma Gold suffered from Second Book Syndrome while writing her second novel, it certainly doesn’t show. Her debut novel, The breaking (my review), is well-written and a g…| Whispering Gums
5 posts published by Whispering Gums during July 2025| Whispering Gums
Titles are intriguing things, and we don’t always pay them the attention they deserve, but the title of Australian writer Andrea Goldsmith’s ninth novel, The buried life, is worth think…| Whispering Gums
There’s something special about reading a good, engaging history – and this is how I’d describe debut author Michelle Scott Tucker’s biography Elizabeth Macarthur: A life at…| Whispering Gums
Well, let’s see how I go with this post on Percival Everett’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel James. I read all but 30 pages of this novel before my reading group’s meeting on 27 May…| Whispering Gums
