Review by Robert Goodman You might have to track Railsea down in the Young Adult section of the bookshop – do not be fooled. It just means someone is being …
Wit and Challenge and Play: Suniti Namjoshi’s The Fabulous Feminist
Review by Robyn Cadwallader A blue donkey, a lesbian cow, a saint who meets Grendel and his mother, a one-eyed monkey, an oyster child — they all tell their arresting …
Poems Coming in Fast: Jill Jones’ Ash is Here, So are Stars
Review by Lucy Alexander Jill Jones once confessed that there was a time when she wanted to be a rock-star[1], and there is something of this in the flavor of …
Getting Caught in the Fundamentalist Machine: Timothy Mo’s Pure
Review by Robert Goodman Timothy Mo had a brilliant early career: three books in a row shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1982, 1986 and 1991 showed a prodigious range. …
Just a Little Bit Brilliant: Anthony Macris’ Great Western Highway – a love story
By Tristan Foster One thing is clear: we live in strange times. The influence of the market has seeped into every facet – every wrinkle – of our existence, leaving …
An Incredible Sense of Trust: Nathan Curnow and Kevin Brophy's Radar
Review by Lucy Alexander Imagine you’re browsing the bookshop and you pick up the slim volume of Radar, with its cover the colour of vellum and the concentric circle pattern …
Navigating the Mean Streets of post-war Melbourne: Geoffrey McGeachin’s Blackwattle Creek and Peter Twhoig’s The Cartographer
Review by Robert Goodman The crime genre is often used as an accessible vehicle for exploring the past. Two relatively recent Australian novels use the genre in very different ways …
Peaks from Start to Finish: Blemish Books' Triptych Poets Issue Three
Review by Mark William Jackson A year ago I was sitting here telling you about Triptych Poets Issue 2 from the good people at Blemish Books. I told you about …
Deftly Anchored in Experience: Susan Austin’s Undertow
Review by Lucy Alexander Walleah Press is mining the rich seam of poetry that runs through Tasmania and out onto the mainland. In 2012 they will have produced 10 volumes …
Refusing Comfortable Resolutions: Sefi Atta's A Bit of Difference
Review by Robyn Cadwallader Sefi Atta’s third novel, A Bit of Difference, begins with a deceptively simple scene: a woman arrives at Atlanta airport, Georgia, USA, and notices a huge …