Thursday 31 October 2013

November is AusReading Month

Welcome to the inaugural AusReading Month.

A month long celebration of all things Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.

Join us as we read, review and blog about Australian books - classics, contemporary, children's, poetry, non-fiction, short stories, popular, literary, award-winning whatever.

The only stipulation is that it has to be written by an Australian based author or predominantly set in Australia.

This is the official MASTER POST for AusReading Month where you can link all of your posts & reviews. Comments will be available on each post that I publish over the month, but this is the only post that will have the linky below.

The rules are simple: read one, two or more Australian books throughout the month of November. Write a review on your own blog and link it back here.

Visit and comment on your fellow bloggers posts to build up a community of Aussiephiles.

Each of my posts will finish with an Aussie trivia question (that I will answer in my next post). If you want to answer please do so in the comments below :-)

There will also be an Aussie Saying challenge - will you be able to work the Aussie saying into one of your reviews?!

When leaving a link below please follow the same formula to make it easy for everyone to see what your post is about and who you are.
The formula is - NAME of BOOK/POST (name of blog/your name in brackets after it).
E.g.  'Introductory Post (Brona)'.

You can keep the AusReading Month love flowing by following and commenting on Instagram and Twitter using the #ausreadingmonth and #bronasbooks hashtags.

I've been delighted with the interest many of you have taken in AusReading month in the build up phase. I hope you can all come along for the ride.

This is my first time hosting an event.
I expect I am about to enter on a steep learning curve!
Please be gentle & patient with your hostess as I work out the best way to organise things.
I am happy to accept feedback and suggestions.

But for now - it's time to open a pack of Tim Tam's, make a vegemite sandwich or 2 and settle back with a beer and your (Aussie) book of choice - happy reading!

Trivia Question: How many ships were in the First Fleet? Can you name any of them?

Aussie Saying: All froth and no beer - refers to something or someone with no substance or a bit full of themselves.

And your Australian soundtrack for today is GANGajang's 1985 hit 'Sounds of Then (This is Australia)' .

Tuesday 29 October 2013

Fellow Bloggers Reading & Reviewing Australian books


It's almost AusReading Month - only 3 more sleeps to go!

Today's post highlights Australian blogs and bloggers that I enjoy visiting.

A Strong Belief in Wicker has stacks of Aussie books to check out as well as her own lists of favourites. We also share a love affair with all things Paris.

Bibliolathas also has an eclectic selection of Australian reviews and Australiana.

Girl Booker is a personal friend who writes quirky, funny, thought provoking reviews on all sorts of things.

For a great list of Aussie books with reviews check out Book'd Out.

A whole blog devoted to Australian and NZ literature? Try ANZ LitLovers LitBlog.

Fancy some accessible Australian history - go to Stumbling Through the Past.

Aussie author and foodie, Charlotte Wood writes an occasional blog full of recipes and Australiana called How to Shuck an Oyster. I love it.

If you plan to visit Sydney and want a run down on what restaurants and cafes to visit got to Scoff and Quaff for all your food porn needs!

And for a more general Aussie food blog visit Eat Aussie.

For some humorous social commentary a la Aussie-style visit The Hoopla.

Many of you will know Chantelle from her Instagram photo a day challenge, but she also runs a blog simply called Fat Mum Slim.

For your Aussie astrology with attitude visit Mystic Medusa.

And finally, in an attempt at blatant self-promotion, visit my other blog, Four Seasons, for a photographic excursion around my part of Sydney.

If that's not enough Australiana for you go to my right side panel of Australian sites as well as clicking on the Australian women's blog image.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!

Monday 28 October 2013

Booktopia Top 50 Australian Books

AusReading Month is on in November.

Read an Australian classic (or 2 or 3) of your choice, blog and share your reviews and comments here.


In the meantime, I've been posting up reviews & lists of award winning Australian books to get you started on your own Aussie reading wishlist.


Booktopia created a list of the 50 best Australian novels in 2011 as voted by twitter & facebook followers of Booktopia. You can click through to Booktopia to find out their voting criteria and to read more information about each of the books listed.


But for now, here is their list....

Books in red are ones that I've read. Reviewed books have their link attached.


1. Cloudstreet by Tim Winton

2. Picnic At Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
3. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
4. Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner
5. My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin
6. The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas
7. My Brother Jack by George Johnson
8. The Harp in the South by Ruth Park
10. The Man Who Loved Children by Christina Stead
11. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
12. For the Term of His Natural Life by Marcus Clarke
13. I Can Jump Puddles by Alan Marshall
14. Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
15. Power Without Glory by Frank Hardy
16. The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith by Thomas Keneally
17. The Spare Room by Helen Garner
18. The Getting of Wisdom by Handel Richardson
19. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
20. Eucalyptus by Murray Bail
21. True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
22. The Broken Shore by Peter Temple
23. We of the Never Never by Aeneas Gunn
24. The Bodysurfers by Robert Drewe
25. Tirra Lirra By the River by Jessica Anderson
26. Shiralee by DÁrcy Niland
27. The Boat by Nam Le
28. The Secret River by Kate Grenville
29. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
30. Ride on Stranger by Kylie Tennant
31. Ice Station by Matthew Reilly
32. Voss by Patric White
33. Maestro by Peter Goldsworthy
34. Gould's Book of Fish by Richard Flanagan
35. Praise by Andrew McGahan
36. Dog Boy by Eva Hornunug
37. The Watcher on the Cast Iron Balcony
38. After America by John Birmingham
39. Butterfly by Sonya Hartnett
40. A Fraction of a Whole by Steve Toltz
41. Things We Didn't See Coming by Steven Amsterdam
42. It's Raining in Mango by Thea Astley
43. White Gardenia by Belinda Alexandra
44. Ransom by David Malouf
45. The Timeless Land by Eleanor Dark
46. I Came to Say Goodbye by Caroline Overington
47. Diamond Dove by Adrian Hylands
48. Disco Boy by Dominic Knight
49. Cocaine Blues: A Phyrne Fisher Mystery by Kerry Greenwood
50. After the Fall by Kylie Ladd

I hope you can join us for AusReading Month....

Friday 25 October 2013

Picnic At Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay

I've enjoyed highlighting and remembering all the Australian classics I've read over the years in preparation for November's AusReading Month.

And Flashback Friday has been a great motivator to get me to do one a week at least - thanks Lisa.

This weeks FF needs no introduction...well not in Australia anyway.

Not only is Picnic At Hanging Rock a popular classic book from the 60's it is also an iconic Australian movie from the 70's.

In the 80's a resurgence of interest occurred when the 'secret' final chapter was published for the first time.

Lindsay created a story set at the turn of the previous century with a distinct true crime feel.

The day was Valentine's Day - a hot summer's day - and a group of school girls and their teachers went for a picnic to Hanging Rock in Victoria.
A number of the girls disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

The ending is deliberately ambiguous and has been highly debated over the years.


However in 1987, for those of us who had come of age with the book believing that it might have been based on real events, we were shocked to discover that there had been a chapter cut from the original book at the publishers request.

Lindsay had died in 1984, and the story went around that she refused to allow the final chapter to be published until after her death.

I personally was devastated to find out that the whole story was pure fiction from start to finish.

The final chapter revealed a time warp, supernatural ending that was far less satisfying than the ambiguity of old. The success of both book and movie hinged on the possibilities of truth, mystery & suspense.

The 1975 movie was directed by Peter Weir. It was beautifully shot, the tension and drama were exquisitely crafted and it starred a who's who of Australian tv and theatre at the time. The pan-pipe music is still haunting and evocative even if the acting looks & sounds a little dated.

It is now possible to view the movie each Valentine's Day in the picnic grounds at the base of Hanging Rock. Naturally, it is screened after twilight!



If you'd like see a few pics of the real Hanging Rock click here to go to my other blog, Four Seasons. We had a family holiday there in 2007.

Wednesday 23 October 2013

Geoffrey Dutton's Collection of Australia's Greatest Books

In The Australian Collection: Australia's Greatest Books, published in 1985, writer and editor Geoffrey Dutton selected and reviewed almost one hundred classic Australian books.

Dutton chose only one book from each author.


As Mr. Dutton notes in his book, the definition of 'classic' is relevant to both time and place. 

There are" he says, "many books in each country's literature that are cherished as classics in their homeland but little known elsewhere.

Then, too, Australia has only had just over two hundred years to accumulate a body of literature. 


Miles Franklin, an author included in Dutton's selection, wrote in a foreword to The Australian Novel, edited by Colin Roderick, 

People settling in new lands need novels and dramas closely concerned with their own time, place and community to support and lighten the great classics and world masterpieces in literature. Certain stories relate to our own soil, and when such works find universal acceptance, they still retain greater significance for the people of their own origin than for other readers by imparting a comforting glow which springs from the intimacy of home.

It goes without saying, that many of the writers listed here were not born in Australia. The early explorers, for example, came mostly from England. Nevertheless, for Australians, the themes covered in many of the following works impart that "warm glow" to which Ms Franklin alludes.


(From Project Gutenberg Australia)



Jessica ANDERSON, The Impersonators
Thea ASTLEY, The Slow Natives

Murray BAIL, Homesickness

E J BANFIELD, The Confessions of a Beachcomber
C E W BEAN, The Story of ANZAC
Louis BECKE, By Reef and Palm
Geoffrey BLAINEY, The Tyranny of Distance
Rolf BOLDREWOOD, Robbery Under Arms
Martin BOYD, Lucinda Brayford
Robin BOYD, The Australian Ugliness
Russell BRADDON, The Naked Island
Mary Grant BRUCE, A Little Bush Maid

CADDIE, Caddie: The Autobiography of a Sydney Barmaid
Raffaello CARBONI, The Eureka Stockade
Peter CAREY, Bliss
David CARNEGIE, Spinifex and Sand

D E CHARLWOOD, All the Green Year
Manning CLARK, A History of Australia, Vol. IV.
Marcus CLARKE, For the Term of his Natural Life
Tom COLLINS (Joseph FURPHY), Such is Life
Kenneth COOK, Wake in Fright
Nino CULOTTA, They're a Weird Mob
Dymphna CUSACK and Florence JAMES, Come in Spinner

Eleanor DARK, The Timeless Land
Frank Dalby DAVISON, Man-Shy
Mary DURACK, Kings in Grass Castles

M Barnard ELDERSHAW, A House is Built

Sumner Locke ELLIOTT, Careful, He Might Hear You
H V EVATT, Rum Rebellion
Edward John EYRE, Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia

A B FACEY, A Fortunate Life

George FARWELL, Squatter's Castle
David FOSTER, Moonlite
Miles FRANKLIN, My Brilliant Career

Nene GARE, The Fringe Dwellers
Helen GARNER, Monkey Grip
May GIBBS, The Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie
Ernest GILES, Australia Twice Traversed
Mrs Aeneas GUNN, We of the Never Never

Frank HARDY, Power Without Glory

William Gosse HAY, The Escape of the Notorious Sir William Heans
Shirley HAZZARD, The Transit of Venus
Rachel HENNING, The Letters of Rachel Henning
Xavier HERBERT, Capricornia
Donald HORNE, The Lucky Country
Tom HUNGERFORD, The Ridge and the River

Ion L IDRIESS, Flynn of the Inland

David IRELAND, The Unknown Industrial Prisoner

Colin JOHNSON, Wild Cat Falling

George JOHNSTON, My Brother Jack

Thomas KENEALLY, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith
Christopher KOCH, The Year of Living Dangerously

Eve LANGLEY, The Pea-pickers

Henry LAWSON, Joe Wilson and his Mates
Joan LINDSAY, Picnic at Hanging Rock
Norman LINDSAY, The Magic Pudding
Lennie LOWER, Here's Luck

David MALOUF, An Imaginary Life

Frederic MANNING, Her Privates We (The Middle Parts of Fortune)
Peter MATHERS, Trap
Douglas MAWSON, The Home of the Blizzard
Roger McDONALD, 1915
Jack McLAREN, My Crowded Solitude
Alan MOOREHEAD, Cooper's Creek
Frank MOORHOUSE, The Americans, Baby

D'Arcy NILAND, The Shiralee


Ruth PARK, The Harp in the South
Cyril PEARL, Wild Men of Sydney
Ethel PEDLEY, Dot and the Kangaroo
Brian PENTON, Landtakers
Hal PORTER, The Watcher on the Cast-Iron Balcony
Katharine Sussanah PRITCHARD, Coonardoo

Francis RATCLIFFE, Flying Fox and Drifting Sand

Henry Handel RICHARDSON, The Fortunes of Richard Mahony
Eric ROLLS, They All Ran Wild
Tom RONAN, Vision Splendid
Steele RUDD, On Our Selection
Olaf RUHEN, Naked Under Capricorn
Vincent SERVENTY, Dryandra

Ivan SOUTHALL, Ash Road
Christina STEAD, The Man Who Loved Children
Louis STONE, Johah
Randolph STOW, To the Islands
Hugh STRETTON, Ideas for Australian Cities
Charles STURT, Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia, 1828-31

Watkin TENCH, A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson/A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay
Kylie TENNANT, The Battlers
Colin THIELE, Storm Boy 
James TUCKER, Ralph Rashleigh 
Ethel TURNER, Seven Little Australians

Arthur W UPFIELD, Man of Two Tribes

S A WAKEFIELD, Bottersnikes and Gumbles

Russell WARD, The Australian Legend
Judah WATEN, Alien Son Myrtle 
Rose WHITE, No Roads Go By
Patrick WHITE, Voss
Patricia WRIGHTSON, The Nargun and the Stars



Titles marked in red are books that I've read, while those in blue are books that I've seen the movie or TV series only.

This post is part of my AusReading Month preparations for November.


I hope you can join us.

Happy reading mate!

Sunday 20 October 2013

Shaun Tan


Shaun Tan is an award winning Australian writer and illustrator (click on the link to visit his blog).

Tan was born & raised in Perth, WA.

In 2011 he won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) - the second Aussie to win since its inauguration in 2002. The judges comments stated that:

Shaun Tan is a masterly visual storyteller, pointing the way ahead to new possibilities for picture books. His pictorial worlds constitute a separate universe where nothing is self-evident and anything is possible. Memories of childhood and adolescence are fixed reference points, but the pictorial narrative is universal and touches everyone, regardless of age.
Behind a wealth of minutely detailed pictures, where civilization is criticized and history depicted through symbolism, there is a palpable warmth. People are always present, and Shaun Tan portrays both our searching and our alienation. He combines brilliant, magical narrative skill with deep humanism.
Over the years I've read a number of his books.
Each rereading shows me something new, reveals another layer and quite simply confounds me even more!

Tan's illustrations are dream-like, surreal and absurd yet somehow familiar. Every [age and every illustration is loaded with detail - they can be pored over for hours and still not reveal their all.

His stories & illustrations share the themes of loss, belonging and natural justice.

Below are the Shaun Tan books I've had an opportunity to read.
Tan's early works were usually collaborations, but his later books were written and illustrated by Tan alone.

The Viewer was published in 1997 - illustrated by Tan and written by Gary Crew.

Crew and Tan collaborated extensively during the creation of this book.
They share a love of horror, science fiction and humour.

The Viewer focuses on the topic of time, change and history. The illustrations are in the form of an old viewing box disc - you know the ones - you put the disc with tiny negatives into a viewer and you look through the lens and turn the disc to see the images. The cover of the book (above) gives you the idea anyway.


The Rabbits (1998) was written by John Marsden (another well-known, well-respected, award winning Australian author for children).
Marsden's story follows Tan's usual themes via the topic of Australian history.

The Rabbits is regularly used in primary schools.
Sometimes the bleakness and harshness of the message is hard to take - "who will save us from the rabbits? But I can see how teachers would thrive on the discussions this question raises - what can we do to save us? How can we change?

The Rabbits won the CBCA picture book award for 1999.


In 1999, Tan teamed up with Crew again to create Memorial - a poignant story with big themes - remembrance, war, the passing of time and "living memorials". But it is the quieter, everyday memories and conversations of the family involved that go to the heart of the story.

Memorial also has a strong environmental message.


The Lost Thing (2000) is another book regularly selected by primary school teachers to highlight the themes of belonging and identity. It is one of Tan's first books that he wrote and illustrated himself.

He also created an animated short film from this book in 2010 which won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short.


There is a hopefulness in The Lost Thing that can be hard to find in some of the other works.


The Red Tree (2001) is probably Tan's saddest book.

It's topic is depression, solitude and being alone.

The story and illustrations are drenched in despair and hopelessness, so much so, I often have trouble finishing it.

But each time I'm glad I did because the final page does offer hope and change and a way forward that is not so bleak.


The Arrival (2006) is a wordless picture book of extraordinary complexity.

This time the topics are refugees, emigration and culture. Tan highlights the differences, so that we see the similarities.

The sepia images act like a photo album, creating a sense of history that is both personal but removed in time.

The Arrival is still only available as a hardback book. It also won the CBCA picture book of the year award.


Tales From Outer Suburbia (2008) is a collection of unrelated stories.

This book has the most text of all of Tan's books - it reads like a short story chapter book with plenty of intriguing, absorbing illustrations, of course!

The most well-known story from this collection is Eric - the curious tale of an exchange student who leaves his host family with an intriguing farewell present.


The Bird King and Other Sketches (2011)  is a collection of Tan's scribbles & sketches that he did not originally intend for publication, from the past 12 years.

A brief introduction allows Tan to explain some of his ideas about drawing and creativity.

It's fascinating to see that the third picture in "untold stories" is one of the pages in his latest book The Rules of Summer.

The sketch book also has a number of "drawings from life" that are quite moving in their simplicity and rawness.


The Oopsatoreum: Inventions of Henry A Mintox (2012) was created with The Powerhouse Museum.

Mintox was considered the "Edison of Australia" - it's just that no-one has ever heard of him!

The Powerhouse has oodles of his inventions in their archives.
He invented a love trumpet, a handshake gauge, mouse slippers to help his wife overcome her fear of mice and the first fat suit! He also designed the first MSM/email prototype complete with a smiley face key (I kid you not!)

Mintox wrote postcards to himself as a way to remember and record his experiments and inventions.
Tan plays around with this idea through his illustrations - injecting humour and modern insight.

Each page also has a photograph supplied by the Powerhouse of the actual invention.



The Rules of Summer (2013) is Tan's latest book. It explores his usual themes but this time via sibling rivalry.

The illustrations in TROS are probably some of Tan's most colourful - a reflection of the summer colours particular to Australia.

However this doesn't stop Tan from heading off into dark territory!

Most of Tan's books have a page or a section that cause me to experience a strong emotional reaction.

TROS is no different - the 3 pages detailing the waiting for an apology bring me undone each time I read it through.

Shaun Tan's work is not for everyone.
Some I know find it too bizarre and too bleak.

I'm not normally someone who embraces the surreal, but Tan's works have crept under my skin over the years.

I think I connect with his sense of aloneness, his search for belonging and meaning and his determination to find hope nonetheless.

Are you a Fan of the Tan?


Friday 18 October 2013

Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner

Seven Little Australians was published in 1894 but first came to my attention in the mid 1970's thanks to a wonderful 10 part tv series on the ABC. I was only about 8 or 9 at the time but I was blown away by the story. After the tear-jerker tenth episode ending, I sat down for my first reading of the book.

I have now reread Seven Little Australians a handful of times. Each time it makes me cry.
Correction - every single time I have to put down the book so I can sob out loud!

But enough about me.

Seven Little Australians is one of the few Australian books that has never been out of print. And the only Australian book to have been in continuous print for over 100 years.

It is set in suburban Sydney in an area called Lindfield. In the 1890's this area was completely rural. Now it is in the middle of the northern suburbs area of Woodlands, Killara.

The story follows Judy and her 6 siblings and step-siblings.
They're an unruly bunch, allowed to run wild by a too distant father and a too young step-mother. They play pranks, argue and tell tales on each other. They go to Luna Park for an outing and have picnics. They sneak into your heart and take up life long residence there!

The young actress who played Judy in the ABC series is Jennifer Cluff.
Years later I moved to Mudgee to take up a teaching position and learnt that Jennifer was a Mudgee girl herself. I was delighted to learn that one of my best friends had gone to school with her and her sisters and that I had been teaching a number of her nieces and nephews. It gave Judy's story another lease of life to me.

And now, thanks to writing this review for Flashback Friday (the one and only & original FF hosted by Lisa) I've discovered that there is now a Seven Little Australians park in Killara.

But the old Turner home is another matter.
Instead of becoming a national cultural & heritage centre celebrating the life and times of the author and the book it has been allowed to wallow in uncertainty awaiting a philanthropic miracle.

To say that I can feel a visit to both park and house coming on is an understatement!

Below is the youtube link to the first episode of Seven Little Australians from 1973. It's lovely to see a young Ruth Cracknell and Leonard Teale at work.

Tuesday 15 October 2013

More Australian Book Awards


November is AusReading Month.

A month long love-in for all things Aussie, true-blue and fair dinkum!

In the lead up to November I am posting oodles of info about local literary prizes, top 50 Australian reading lists and random Australiana facts.

You can join in the by linking to the master post above or on twitter & instagram using #ausreadingmonth #bronasbooks @brona68


Today's post is focusing on some of the lesser known book awards for Australian books & authors.


The Stella Prize "is a major literary award celebrating Australian women’s writing.

The prize is named after one of Australia’s iconic female authors, Stella Maria ‘Miles’ Franklin, and was awarded for the first time in 2013. Both non-fiction and fiction books by Australian women are eligible for entry."

The 2013 winner was Carrie Tiffany for Mateship With Birds.

The Indie Book awards are awarded by the Independent Booksellers of Australia. There are over 200 Independent bookshops within Australia (and I'm proud to say that I work in one of them.)


Each year there are 16 shortlisted books across 4 areas - Fiction, Non-Fiction, Debut Fiction & Children's. The books are judged and voted on by Independent booksellers and their reading public. The 4 winners then vie for the Book of the Year award.

Previous Book of the year winners were Breath by Tim Winton (2008 inaugural winner), Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey (2009), The Happiest Refugee by Ahn Do (2011) and All That I Am by Anna Funder (2012). Goodreads has a list of previous winners with their reviews here.

The 2013 book of the year award went to M. L. Stedman for The Light Between Oceans.

The Aurealis Awards started in 1995. They're awarded by the publishers of Aurealis magazine to
"recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror writers.

The Aurealis Awards are intended to complement the Annual Australian National Science Fiction Convention’s Ditmar Awards and the Australian Children’s Book Council Awards."

The award has four separate categories - science fiction, fantasy, horror and young adult. A fifth category, children's fiction, was added in 2001.

The 2012 winners were Daniel O'Malley for The Rook, Margo Lanagan for Sea Hearts, Kirstyn McDermott for Perfections and joint winners for the YA section - Margo Lanagan for Sea Hearts and Kaz Delaney for Dead, Actually. The children's winners were John Flanagan for Brotherband: The Hunters & Graeme Base for Little Elephants.

Previous winners can be found here.

The Australian Book Industry Awards are run by the Australian Publishers Association (whose "role is to protect and promote the interests of Australian publishers").

The ABIA's recognise best debut novel, best general fiction, best general non-fiction, biography of the year best younger readers fiction, best older readers fiction & best illustrated book. Awards are also given to Publisher of the Year and Bookseller of the Year.

The 2013 winners were M.L Stedman for Light Between Oceans, Kate Morton for The Secret Keeper, Richard de Crespigny for QF32, Jim Stynes for My Journey, Nick Bland for The Very Itchy Bear, Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton for 26-Storey Treehouse and Best Illustrated was shared by The Lost Diggers by Ross Coulthart and Lake Eyre by Paul Lockyer.

Previous winners can be found here (by scrolling down to the bottom of the webpage).

The Ned Kelly Awards began in 1995.

I think the title of the award pretty tells you all you need to know!

The winners for 2013 were Geoffrey McGeachin for Blackwattle Creek (best crime fiction), Jane Lovitt for The Midnight Promise (best first crime fiction) and Robin de Crespigny for The People Smuggler (best true crime).

Tasmanian Literary Prizes have been around in one form or another since 2001.

"The prizes celebrate the richness of the Tasmanian literary sector and acknowledge the particular influence that Tasmania has on written work."
The 2013 winners were:

The Tasmania Book Prize – for best book with Tasmanian content in any genre
1835: The Founding of Melbourne and the Conquest of Australia by James Boyce
The Margaret Scott Prize – for best book by a Tasmanian writer
The Roving Party by Rohan Wilson 
The University of Tasmania Prize – For the best new unpublished literary work by an emerging Tasmanian writer
Kubla, Katherine Johnson

The shortlist for the Reading & Enjoying Australian Literature (REAL) Awards, acts as a shortlist for children’s choice book awards in the Australian Capital Territory (COOL Awards), New South Wales (KOALAs), the Northern Territory (KROC Awards) and Victoria (YABBAs).

Children in the Victoria, NSW, ACT, and NT vote for their favourite books in each category in October. The winners of the YABBA, KOALA, COOL, & KROC awards are then announced in November.

Young Australian's Best Book Awards (YABBA) is a part of the Victorian books awards. It's a children's choice award that has been around since 1986.

The 2012 winners were The Phoenix Files: Arrival by Chris Morphew (fiction years 7-9), The 13-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton (older readers), Alice-Miranda At School by Jacqueline Harvey (younger readers) & Fearless in Love by Colin Thompson & Sarah Davis (picture book).

Previous winners can be found here.

NSW also has their own literary award as judged by younger readers called The Koala Awards. They have been awarded since 2006.

The 2012 winners were The Phoenix Files: Arrival by Chris Morphew (fiction years 7-9), The 13-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton (older readers), Tashi and the Golem by Anna Fienberg & Kim Gamble (younger readers) & Fearless in Love by Colin Thompson & Sarah Davis (picture book).

The COOL Awards (Canberra's Own Outstanding List) have been awarded since 1991.

The 2012 winners were The Phoenix Files: Arrival by Chris Morphew (fiction years 7-9), The 13-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton (older readers), Tashi and the Golem by Anna Fienberg & Kim Gamble (younger readers) & The Terrible Plop by Ursula Dubosarsky & Andrew Joyner (picture book).

The KROC Awards have been around since 1991 although I was unable to find any reference to previous winners.

The 2012 winners were Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett (fiction years 7 -9), The 13-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton (older readers), Billie B Brown: The Birthday Mixup by Sally Rippin (younger readers) & Very Cranky Bear by Nick Bland (picture book).

Monday 14 October 2013

Miles Franklin Literary Award

In preparation for AusReading Month in November I will be posting lists of Australian classics and literary awards to help you get started with your love and appreciation of Australian literature.

I'm looking forward to reading your reviews and views.

The Miles Franklin Literary Award is named after Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin who was born on the 14th October 1879 on Talbingo station. Talbingo is a tiny township in southern NSW sitting on the north-western edge of the Snowy Mountains. The original village was moved in the 1960's to accommodate the Snowy Mountain Hydro Electric Scheme.

Franklin's family moved a little to the east to Brindabella Station when she was a child. She was the eldest daughter of two Australian born parents (which is noteworthy for the time as most of the population were new immigrants). In fact, one of Franklin's great-great grandfathers was a convict on the First Fleet.

Franklin's most famous novel, My Brilliant Career, is a coming of age story about a feisty, rural, feminist Sybylla. Franklin wrote this during her teenage years and was it loosely based on her own life. It was published in 1901. A movie was also made in 1979 which rekindled interest in the story and Miles Franklin all over again.

Franklin died in 1954. Her will set up an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases".

For lists of the longlisted and shortlisted books for the Miles Franklin click here.

2013 Questions of Travel – Michelle De Kretser


2012 All That I Am – Anna Funder


2011 That Deadman Dance – Kim Scott


2010 Truth – Peter Temple


2009 Breath – Tim Winton


2008 The Time We Have Taken – Steven Carroll


2007 Carpentaria – Alexis Wright


2006 The Ballad of Desmond Kale – Roger McDonald


2005 The White Earth – Andrew McGahan


2004 The Great Fire – Shirley Hazzard


2003 Journey to the Stone Country – Alex Miller


2002 Dirt Music – Tim Winton


2001 The Dark Palace – Frank Moorhouse


2000 Drylands – Thea Astley & Benang – Kim Scott


1999 Eucalyptus – Murray Bail


1998 Jack Maggs – Peter Carey


1997 The Glade within the Grovw – David Foster


1996 Highways to a War – Christopher Koch


1995 The Hand that Signed the Paper – Helen Demidenko


1994 The Grisly Wife – Rodney Hall


1993 The Ancestor Game – Alex Miller


1992 Cloudstreet – Tim Winton


1991 The Great World – David Malouf


1990 Oceana Fine – Tom Flood


1989 Oscar and Lucinda – Peter Carey


1988 The year of the Award was changed to the year granted rather than the year published.


1987 Dancing on Coral – Glenda Adams


1986 The Well – Elizabeth Jolley


1985 The Doubleman – Christopher Koch


1984 Shallows – Tim Winton


1983 No award


1982 Just Relations – Rodney Hall


1981 Bliss – Peter Carey


1980 The Impersonators – Jessica Anderson


1979 A Woman of the Future – David Ireland


1978 Tirra Lirra by the River – Jessica Anderson


1977 Swords and Crowns and Rings – Ruth Park


1976 The Glass Canoe – David Ireland


1975 Poor Fellow My Country – Xavier Herbert


1974 The Mango Tree – Ronald McKie


1973 No award


1972 The Acolyte – Thea Astley


1971 The Unknown Industrial Prisoner – David Ireland


1970 A Horse of Air – Dal Stivens


1969 Clean Straw For Nothing – George Johnston


1968 Three Cheers For the Paraclete – Thomas Keneally


1967 Bring Larks and Heroes – Thomas Keneally


1966 Trap – Peter Mathers


1965 The Slow Natives – Thea Astley


1964 My Brother Jack – George Johnston


1963 Careful He Might Hear You – Summer Locke Elliott


1962 The Well Dressed Explorer – Thea Astley & The Cupboard Under The Stairs – George Turner


1961 Riders in the Chariot – Patrick White


1960 The Irishman – Elizabeth O’Connor


1959 The Big Fellow – Vance Palmer


1958 To The Islands - Randolph Stow


1957 Voss - Patrick White

Happy Birthday Stella!

Sunday 13 October 2013

A Tale For the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

A Tale For the Time being is the book that has kicked off my Booker shortlist campaign for this year. And it nearly stopped me in my tracks.

It's not that I didn't enjoy it.
I did.

That is, I really enjoyed the middle section when I finally got going on it last weekend.

The first 10 chapters or so, I had been reading at night, before bed when I was tired and I was struggling to engage with it completely. I wanted to like it; I felt that I probably would like it; I just needed a good run at it. Nao's teenage voice started off a little annoying and Ruth, the author as narrator seemed a little too convenient.

But last weekend was the trick.

I found myself engaging with the characters and I let myself get carried away by the story.

I loved the references to Japanese culture that I knew next to nothing about. I adored all the fascinating ideas & philosophising about the nature of time. Oliver's scientific explorations were equally intriguing (I learnt about gyres, the Great Western Garbage Patch & quantum physics!) There was also Zen Buddhism, Proust, manga and cyber-bullying. What more could you want in a book?

The switching of POV between each chapter developed a nice rhythm as the book went along as well. One chapter was Nao's diary written in Japan a decade before while the alternate chapters belonged to Ruth, a Japanese/Canadian author who discovered the diary and other artefacts washed up on the shores of her Canadian island home.

This gave Ozeki lots of room to play with ideas about authorship, the nature of writing, reading and the power of words.

We were going along swimmingly - until last night!

I can only describe the last (small) section of the book as some kind of writers flight of fancy. Quantum physics merged with dreams, mythology and computer science in a way I found rather unsatisfactory. Perhaps it was an attempt at magic realism? Or simply an authors attempt to tie up all the loose ends?

Since writing the above I have visited The Guardians 2013 Booker Hustings link to this book.



I'll finish with a quote that I thought many of you in blogger land would appreciate as much as I did,
"This agitation was familiar, 
a paradoxical feeling that built up inside when she was spending too much time online, 
as though some force was at once goading her and holding her back. 
How to describe it? 
A temporal stuttering, an urgent lassitude, 
a feeling of simultaneous rushing and lagging behind."

Friday 11 October 2013

Thing by Robin Klein

This weeks Friday Flashback is for younger readers. It is still a favourite of many Australian teacher's and features on State premier's reading lists.


It won the CBCA award for junior readers back in 1983.

Thing written by Robin Klein & illustrated by Alison Lester is a sweet tale about a girl called Emily who dreams of having a pet. But Emily lives in an apartment and the landlord doesn't allow animals on the premises.

Everything changes when Emily discovers a vegemite coloured 'rock' in the park.

Thing works so beautifully because Klein treats the drama of having a pet stegosaurus so normally. Thing likes to watch TV, it can disguise itself as pieces of furniture or shrubbery and loves to play hide n seek.

Emily & Thing's story became so popular that Klein & Lester teamed up 2 years later to produce Thingnapped when we see how well (or not) Emily and Thing cope with being separated from each other.

Belonging & friendship are the underlying themes that link most of Klein's books.

She went on the publish a spate of Thing books in the mid 1990's called Thing Finds A Job, Thing's Concert, Thing's Birthday and Thingitis. As well as enjoying success with her series for older readers starring Penny Pollard and Alison Ashley throughout the 80's and 90's.

Sadly Klein suffered from an aneurysm about a decade ago and has been unable to write since.

Monday 7 October 2013

Australian Classics in Print


Finding Australian classics that are still in print can be a bit of a challenge...even for those of us living in Australia!

Until now.

Several publishing houses have started to bring back out of print books for new audiences to enjoy.

Below is a list (with links) for a few of these classic series.

A couple of years ago Text Publishing began to republish out of print Australian classics.

"The Text Classics series is designed to unearth some of the lost marvels of our literature, and to allow readers to rediscover wonderful books they have never forgotten. These books are milestones in the Australian experience. We have chosen them in the conviction that they still have much to say to us, undiminished in their power to delight, challenge and surprise us."

They currently have 66 titles on their list, most of them award winning books and authors, at a great price.

You can view (and shop) their webpage here.

So far, in this series, I've read Women in Black by Madeleine St John.

Previously I have read (in older editions) Wish by Peter Goldsworthy, Hills End & Ash Road by Ivan Southall, The Getting of Wisdom by Henry Handel Richardson, Strine by Afferbeck Lauder, My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin and Eat Me by Linda Jaivin.

If time permits I will try to do a few Friday Flashback reviews for some of these books.

A & R Australian Classics (through Harper Collins) have also started publishing out of print Australian classics this year.

This list of books is a little more esoteric. There are now 20 titles on offer, but I've only ever read My Brilliant Career and My Career Goes Bung by Miles Franklin out of the whole pack!

If children's picture books are more your thing, then check out Walker Books Australia. They have a selection of re-published  books under the Walker Classics banner celebrating those "certain books that leave a lasting impression on you after they have been read - the sort of books that you press onto others, that you read time and again and that form the basis of your collection."

The collection includes such gems as My Place by Nadia Wheatley, The Great Bear by Libby Gleeson, Louise Builds A Boat by Louise Pfanner, Hist by C.J. Dennis, Going Home by Margaret Wild, Come By Chance by Madeleine Winch, One Dragon's Dream by Peter Pavey, Millicent by Jeannie Baker, The Paddock by Lilith Norman, Luke's Way of Looking by Nadia Wheatley, Brodie by Joy Cowley, Let the Celebrations Begin by Margaret Wild, Dragonquest by Allan Baillie & The Legend of Moondyne Joe by Mark Greenwood to name a few.

If you prefer an audio book, try Bolinda Audio. They have a huge range of Australian classics available for your listening pleasure.

Penguin Books Australia recently began republishing a number of Australian Children's Classics in lovely hardcover editions.

So far you can get Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner, I Can Jump Puddles by Alan Marshall, Taronga by Victor Kelleher, A Fortunate Life A.B. Facey, Hating Alison Ashley by Robin Klein, Picnic At Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay, Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park & The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay.

This list reminds me of something else you should know about Australia.

We tend to appropriate authors (singers and actors too) from other countries as our own!

Hence Bryce Courtenay's story about racial issues in South Africa turning up on an Aussie classics list!
He and his wife actually emigrated to Australia in 1956 and he published The Power of One in 1989. (Incidentally, the sequel, Tandia, is one of the few books on this planet that has made me cry.)

We have also adopted J.M. Coetzee whole-heartedly. He has lived in Australia since 2002 & has been a citizen since 2006.

And don't get me started on the New Zealand Aussies!

Join in AusReading Month by clicking on the link to the master post here.