The Body in the Garden festival
Last weekend, in a highly nervous state, I flew to Adelaide to speak at a writers festival for garden writers, and crime writers. This was my first writers festival as an author. I’ve attended many as a reader, so it was a thrill to be sitting up the front next to some of the most…
Book Review: What Was Left
What Was Left, Eleanor Limprecht (Sleepers, 2013) This novel is written by a dear friend of mine and I have read it several times, in various drafts. The author (American-born, Sydney-based) Eleanor Limprecht had a succinct vision for this novel from the start, and the narrative ambition did not alter much during the redrafting, it…
Book Review: Mr Wigg by Inga Simpson
Mr Wigg, Inga Simpson, Hachette Australia, $29.95 Mr Wigg is a novel that reminds the reader of simple, luxurious pleasures and there were several things I could not resist doing, in between reading this story. I opened a jar of home-made raspberry jam I bought from a fete and spread it on bread and enjoyed it with…
Book Review: Inheritance by Balli Kaur Jaswal
Earlier this year, in The Monthly, I read Peter Pierce’s excellent review of Inheritance and I promptly bought myself a copy. Balli Kaur Jaswal’s Inheritance is published by Sleepers, an independent publisher based in Melbourne, who favor writers who are unique. After writing part of my Creative Writing Masters exegesis on The Danger Game…