Interview with author Peter GoldsworthyAngela Meyer talks to Peter Goldsworthy about his new book Gravel — a collection of amusing and moving short stories — and how to maintain a “perfect balance” in life for crafting good writing.
Literature
The story behind Spot the Dog
An audio slideshow of Eric Hill, the creator of beloved children’s book series Spot, and his drawing. The author explains how and why he created the popular puppy and Spot will ever actually grow up (he’s now 91, in dog years).
When children’s books go gay
It’s been 20 years since Heather Has Two Mommies was first published. Expert on children’s literature, Ellen Handler Spitz looks at how the genre of gay kids’ books has progressed (or not) over the past two decades.
Why don’t Jews write fantasy novels?
In no other field of modern literature have Jews contributed so little than to the genre of fantasy, says Michael Weingrad. So why is there no Jewish Narnia?
The best book reviewers on Twitter
Apparently Twitter is the place for the literatti to share news and views on the latest in literature. Galleycat has compiled a list of the best book reviewers in the Twitterverse.
The poetry of war: Iraq soldiers turned authors
War literature isn’t anything new, but for US soldiers coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan, the stories they are penning aren’t focused on the horror but the honour of war. From blogs to books, NY Times examines the writings from the wars.
The death of the “Great Australian Novel”?
Can a novel still truly capture the idea of an single Australian national consciousness or culture? asks Jessica Au. Perhaps it’s time we stopped trying to anoint a “Great Australian Novel” to which all authors and publishers should aspire?
The 2009 Bad Sex in Fiction awards
Jonathan Littell’s award-winning novel The Kindly Ones has taken out the dubious honour of the Literary Review’s 2009 Bad Sex in Fiction award: “I came suddenly, a jolt that emptied my head like a spoon scraping the inside of a soft-boiled egg…” Ew.
Top authors explain: how to write a great novel
Some of the literary world’s brightest stars, including Junot Diaz, Hilary Mantel, Anne Rice and Kazuo Ishiguro, explain their novel methods for writing great works of fiiction — from retreating to the bathroom to color-coded plot charts.
Macquarie Anthology to have a global reach
The Macquarie PEN Anthology will have a considerable effect on the burgeoning study of Australian literature abroad, writes Nicholas Birns. Yes, some bits are very literary, and some authors miss out, but finally Australian literature might get its deserved world recognition.
More drama over the PEN anthology
After nearly 40 years of public support for our literature, dramatic literature is still the poor relation, writes Katherine Brisbane. Are plays really that difficult to enjoy?
Guy Rundle: Rundle’s Friday Book Review: The Land of Green Plums
Big Les Murray has been dudded again after the Nobel Prize for Literature went to Romanian-born German language poet Herta Mueller, writes Guy Rundle.
The Booker Prize gets it gloriously, marvellously right
Author Hilary Mantel has been awarded the Booker Prize for her novel Wolf Hall, and rarely has the award gone to someone more deserving, says Neel Mukherjee. It is the most gripping book you’ll ever read.
Philip Pullman: Dan Brown’s new novel is “flat, stunted and ugly”
Author Philip Pullman has laid into fellow writer Dan Brown’s new novel, The Lost Symbol, labelling the characters “flat and two-dimensional” and the prose “stunted and ugly”. Ouch.
Which famous author would you go boozing with?
Literary figures are long time lovers of drinking and alcoholism. Would you have been more likely to share a tipple with Oscar Wilde or a rum with Ernest Hemingway? Take the quiz!
A hornet’s nest in the garden at Lit Land
Simon Hughes defends Peter Craven’s controversial critique of The Macquarie Pen Anthology of Australian Literature.
The black and white of the Australian literary canon
Peter Craven’s highly theatrical review of the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature in the September issue of Australian Book Review is worth picking a fight over, says Sophie Cunningham.
Fashion in fiction: jacket-less books
This season, the trendiest books will be baring it all with new “in” thing in book design: forgoing the jacket and printing the art straight on to a hard-back cover. Less is more.
Heathrow Airport’s writer in residence
Author Alain de Botton is writing a new book — from the middle of London’s Heathrow Airport. His book, masterminded by the airport’s PR department, will document his experiences living in the airport for a week, chatting to travellers, baggage handlers, airline executives and others.
Are all sci-fi writers insane?
The idea that sci-fi and fantasy writers are a few bottles short of a six pack is one that has probably around for as long as the genres have existed, says Renai LeMay. But the grown adults who dream about dragons and space ships all day may just be some of the sanest people around.
Behind Brideshead: the scandalous story that’s no fiction
Fast cars, faster women and sexual experimentation: the real world inhabited by Brideshead Revisited author Evelyn Waugh was stranger and more scandalous than any fiction.
Booker Prize finalists revealed
The longlist for the prestigious Man Booker Prize has been announced, with old hands like JM Coetzee and William Trevor sitting alongside newcomers like James Lever, the much-hyped first-time author of Me Cheeta.
Doubleplusgood: Nineteen Eighty-Four turns 60
It’s been 60 years since George Orwell penned his dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four and while it hasn’t quite come true (yet), much reads a little too lose for comfort.
Oprah lets indie books into her club
Books from independent publishers are rarely anointed by the big O’s seal of approval, but in a recent list of recommended reading, Oprah gave the thumbs-up to titles like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and The Peep Diaries: How We’re Learning to Love Watching Ourselves and Our Neighbors.
