Noah Lukeman, literary agent and author of The Plot Thickens and TheFirst Five Pages talks about his books, the differences between writing and agenting, the chief function of books and films, trends for literary heroes, the state of the publishing industry, self-publishing, his next…
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A Review of The Plot Thickens by Noah Lukeman
The book is so well written–so tight and polished–that it provides a perfect example of its own principles. Lukeman’s prose is so lucid that it manages to render even complex concepts like “transcendency” clear, and provides practical ways of incorporating…
A Review of Goodbye Tsugumi by Banana Yoshimoto
While the novel is sweet and charming, it lacks the power and edge, and even the quirky oddness that makes Yoshimoto’s earlier work so intriguing. The ending too is a bit forced, leaving the reader unsatisfied. Despite the lack of…
How to Write Damn Good Fiction by James Frey
How to Write Damn Good Fiction is not a writing book for beginners. It doesn’t cover the basics of characterisation, plotting, dialogue, grammar or novel construction. What it does cover is the difference between writing that is mediocre and writing that…
A Review of Interior Despots edited by Sue Moss and Karen Knight
Faults notwithstanding, this is certainly an ambitious project, and where it works, it works powerfully. Naturally this kind of “assignment” will produce a large amount of subjective work, and the range of different voices and genres – the way in…
A Review of Platypus by Ann Moyal
Moyal writes clearly and arranges difficult material with crisp authority. This is a perspicacious book. Moyal cares about her subject and has used it to express more than a simple chapter of zoology. She sees the platypus within a very…
Interview with Dorothy Porter
The author of Wild Surmise talks about her love of astronomy, the writing of a verse novel and her own particular style, her characters, the state of modern writing in general, and poetry in particular, the film made of her earlier verse novel The Monkey’s Mask, her new opera, The Eternity Man and lots more.
A Review of Wild Surmise by Dorothy Porter
The power and beauty of Porter’s poetry takes the reader instantly deeper into the character than a more traditional narrative prose would. It skips the conjunction, the “dialogue” and the external world, and goes straight for the emotional response, revealing the story in the personal pain and longings of the characters inner voices.
A Review of Moorilla Mosaic, Edited by Robyn Mathison and Lyn Reeves
All of the authors in this collection are widely published, and many have become part of the Tasmanian literary canon. This book is indicative of the variety and detail of what modern Tasmanian authors have to offer the world, with…
A Review of Summerland by Michael Chabon
Chabon has fashioned from initially unpromising material and after a wobbly beginning a book that should appeal to every reader. How well it will thrive as a book labeled for young readers is another matter. It is unfortunate that it…