Category: Literary Fiction Reviews

Masterchef Julie Goodwin on 20/20 Meals

Masterchef and author of 20/20 Meals Julie Goodwin talks about her new cookbook, about her journey from being a keen home cook to becoming a Masterchef and of making a business out of cooking, about the way in which food is…

A review of On Leave By Daniel Anselme

Anselme’s approach is to dig deep into the attitudes and motivations of three soldiers who are home on leave, let loose in Paris for a week or two.  He shows us the distance between civilians safely ensconced at home and combatants who are fighting an unpopular war – a situation we have since come to know only too well.  For sure, there is no sanctuary: these three guys may as well be ghosts, they’re on their own.  Adrift from lovers, friends and family.

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Jeri Kroll on Workshopping the Heart

The author of Vanishing Point, and Workshopping the Heart reads from and talks about her latest books of poetry, about the transition from poetry to drama, the relationship between poetry and theatre, about her protagonist Diana, on writing about anorexia, about family…

A review of Vanishing Point by Jeri Kroll

Kroll_VanishingPointFront COVER copy At no point does the book lose its dramatic momentum. In fact, so compelling is the plot at times that it takes some effort to slow down and read the poems fully as poetry should be read, rather than racing on to see what happens. Vanishing Point is quick and easy to read, but the poems repay second and third readings where the complexity of the work begin to unfold. Diana’s self-awareness grows viscerally and sensually as she comes to accept the sensations of her adult body through the final section.

A review of No One is here Except All of Us by Ramona Ausubel

No One is here Except All of Us is an exquisite, circular tale that takes us back to where we started – where we all start – at birth, where we create the world afresh. It’s full of wonder even in the midst of the most dire tragedies. Beautifully written, full of pain and poetry, this is a book that opens histories most intense and painful moments and shows what survives: love and DNA.

Brooke Davis on Lost and Found

Australian Book Industy Award Winner Brooke Davis reads from and talks about her novel Lost & Found, about her lovely, quirky characters, about writing a novel as PhD project and its impact on her work, about the intersection of grief and art,…

A review of The Handkerchief Map by Kiri English-Hawke

Written by Kiri English-Hawke when she was a schoolgirl, this short, insightful narrative affirms that the current generation of young people are still affected and troubled by the Holocaust of WW2 when ordinary citizens’ lives were scarred by an horrific and hideous conflict that made no sense. It is a remarkable achievement as it offers a very positive picture on the resilience of the human spirit in the landscape of war.