Interview with Pip Harry Inside the CBCA Shortlist The Little Wave (UQP) is a verse novel for older children that draws the reader in through its realistic characters and spare but warm language. Thank you for speaking to Paperbark blog, Pip. Thanks for having me! Why have you written a book for children after three […]
Read More Pip Harry and The Little WaveGreen Shadows is the title poem and pervading spirit behind Gerald Murnane’s collection of poetic reflections and learnings in Green Shadows and Other Poems (Giramondo Publishing). Who is Gerald Murnane, recently described by the New York Times as “the greatest living English-language writer most people have never heard of” who could win the next Nobel […]
Read More Green Shadows and Other Poems by Gerald MurnaneInside the CBCA Shortlist Noni the Pony Rescues a Joey (Allen & Unwin) is set in the Australian bush and is aimed at toddlers and children in pre-school and junior primary. It is told in simple rhyming text and its major themes are helping others and Australian native animals. Noni the Pony lives near the […]
Read More Noni the Pony Rescues a Joey by Alison LesterInside the CBCA Shortlist The Peacock Detectives (Text Publishing) is shortlisted in the CBCA Younger Readers category. It is best for readers in upper primary. It is a deceptive story, unveiling depths in themes and characters. It is ostensibly about Cassie who is looking for the missing peacocks, William Shakespeare and Virginia, usually with her […]
Read More The Peacock Detectives by Carly NugentI am very interested in the work of Elizabeth Stead, niece of Christina Stead who wrote the Australian classic The Man Who Loved Children. I relished Elizabeth’s 2007 novel, The Gospel of Gods and Crocodiles, set on an island that reminded me of somewhere in Papua New Guinea, although the place was unidentified. Elizabeth Stead […]
Read More The Aunts’ House by Elizabeth SteadInside the CBCA Shortlist Girl on Wire (Penguin Random House) is a highly metaphorical picture book, for older children, where a wire resembles a tightrope. It is a stunning work painted in oils, and the book cover resembles a painting canvas. In the story an unnamed girl seems to be in a difficult or even […]
Read More Girl on Wire by Lucy Estela & Elise HurstRed Room Poetry collaborated with the Art Gallery of NSW to produce Punch Lines: Poets Play Duchamp for the Sydney Writers Festival this week. The six poets did a superb job of writing and reading or performing their poems in response to the works of Marcel Duchamp displayed in the gallery. Poets featured were Pascalle […]
Read More Punch Lines: Poets Play DuchampThe NSW Premier’s Literary Awards celebrated 40 years in grand style in the beautiful Mitchell Library Reading Room at the State Library of NSW last night. It was a great celebration of quality, diverse books. Michael Mohammed Ahmed, winner of the Multicultural Award for The Lebs (Hachette) opened with a prayer for the victims of […]
Read More NSW Premier’s Literary Awards Celebrating 40 yearsInside the CBCA Shortlist I have read all of Karen Foxlee’s books as they’ve been published, beginning with her novels for adults and young adults, The Anatomy of Wings and the stunning The Midnight Dress, a tale of a teenage girl’s murder where tension simmers exquisitely. It is an alluring, mesmeric mystery with a finely […]
Read More Lenny’s Book of Everything by Karen FoxleeInside the CBCA Shortlist Steven Herrick has a stunning list of verse novels, poetry and prose for children and young adults. His books have been shortlisted for the Children’s Book Council of Australia awards multiple times and my favourite of his works, The Spangled Drongo, won the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards for children’s literature. I […]
Read More The Bogan Mondrian by Steven Herrick
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