Category: Books
-
What we’re reading Down Under:
On the beach… I live at Coogee, close to the beach in a unit with my husband of 45 years. Coogee Beach is located on Sydney’s famous Coastal Walkway, which stretches from Bondi Beach to Maroubra Beach. The name Coogee is taken from a local Aboriginal word “koojah” which means “smelly place”. Mountains of seaweed…
-
Memories of Greek Cafés
A recently published book by two researchers into the role of Greek families in the cultural history of Australia, got me thinking back to my childhood in the Clarence Valley of the forties and fifties. Effie Alexakis and Leonard Janiszewski have been researching this topic for decades. They now work at the Macquarie University in…
-
The Rock by Maureen Mendelowitz
I really enjoyed this novella, published by Ginninderra Press, about an unrequited love relationship set in South Africa during apartheid. The voice is unique: poetic and full of beauty from the outset. Themes are universal: love, friendship, family issues, mystery, and psychological damage. The opening paragraphs are especially poetic: There is a rocky ledge that…
-
The Nib Awards 2017
Every year around this time, some lucky members of Waverley Library, and other interested parties, are invited to a special breakfast for The Nib Awards. The award, in its 16th year, recognises excellence in literary research, skill in creative writing, and relevance of literary works for the community. Being a member of the Friends of…
-
The Phoenix Years
THE NIB AWARD The Waverley Library Award for Literature, established in 2002, is entitled ‘the Nib’. Organised and financed by Waverley Council, it is managed by Waverley Library, with the support of a committee, and a number of community establishments, including Friends of Waverley Library, Gertrude & Alice Bookshop, and local RSL Clubs. The Nib…
-
We Are Not Alone
WE ARE indeed NOT ALONE on this earth that we call home! I joined WANA tribe, after having read a book entitled: Rise of the Machines: Human Authors in a Digital World by American writer and blogger, Kristen Lamb. I’d recommend it to anyone trying to understand the world of social media and blogging. It’s…
-
Irony and Fun in “Double Madness”
Double Madness by Caroline de Costa Published by Margaret River Press, 2015 If you like detective stories and a rollicking good read, with a nice dose of voyeurism thrown in, this first novel by Caroline de Costa, is definitely for you. “Double Madness” is a crime novel set in far North Queensland. Not surprisingly, place…
-
Memoirs I Read 2013
Lately I’ve been reading reading reading … especially memoirs, as I come closer to sending one of mine off to a competition at Finch Publishing. I’ve also been attending Beth Yahp’s Memoir Evenings at the Randwick Literary Institute on the last Tuesday of the month. One of the books I’ve enjoyed recently is Marzipan and Magnolias…
-
Best Australian Books 2012
It’s that time of the year again when people start talking about the best books read during the year. I recently attended the 2012 “Nib Prize” awarded by the Waverley Library at Bondi for the best book linked to research. There were six finalists, including one work of fiction, Kate Grenville’s Sarah Thornhill about white…
-
An ebook on Australian women writers
I’ve recently reviewed Women Authors by Linda McMahon and would like to share with you some of its content and my appraisal. Linda interviewed five Australian women writers (Wendy Harmer, Cate Kennedy, Jill Morris, Katherine Scholes and Rachael Treasure) about their craft, and how they managed to publish their books while married with kids. Harmer…