An astonishing Australian novel/collection. A Constant Hum. I will not forget this book. Stories of the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria in 2009, when 100kmh winds + 48C days triggered an apocalyptic fire that killed 147 people and incinerated regions.
"the fires may have been burning at temperatures of 1,200 °C" as the eucalyptus exploded.
Alice Bishop writes so vividly of the smells, tastes and sounds of the bush. She notices things.
Thanks to the West Australian for naming T as one of the best books of 2022.
The new Westerly has hit the streets, containing a poem from me which is an ekphrasis about apples, trying to give up smoking, and a saint with a crotch boil. Also featured are the legendary John Kinsella, Marion Kickett, Rozanna Liley, Zoe Delulli, and many more. Launching tomorrow night at the Shakespeare Garden in UWA. I'll be doing a reading. Come down!
I wrote some flash fiction today! First time in years. The story idea was prompted by the #AustralianCrimeWritersAssociation Louie Award, which is open for entries until 31 December 2022. Open to Australian writers who are members, entries are $5 a pop. The theme for this year is ‘locked’ and must be referenced in your story. Stories can’t be any longer than 500 words, so it’s pretty tight. Have at it #AustralianCrimeWriters!
SBS Emerging Writers’ Competition 2022 Winner: Tessa Piper
"Sit with me here and press record. You and me: the silent observers, the future collaborators. When she’s ready – a long time from now – we’ll be here, pressing rewind and play for her a thousand times over."
A poem/prayer by my friend, the poet Will Small:
God,
Orient my life
in the direction of the Good
like a compass pointing north
May the magnetic forces within me
tune into the true and the beautiful
I often feel as though
there is no map for the paths I walk
(sometimes not even a path)
yet always there are guides,
and clues,
and the wisdom of things
And I know
feeling alone doesn’t mean I am
feeling lost doesn’t mean I am
and I choose to trust that
in the landscape of love
there’s no way that doesn’t eventually
lead back to home.
Book selfie at Morley Dymocks, just round the corner from me.
@auslit @bookstodon #novel #book #AustralianWriting #fiction
@auslit @bookstodon #poetry #AustralianWriting
Hey, one of WA's foremost avant garde poets, Scott-Patrick Mitchell, will be doing a live reading of their extraordinary collection Clean, at the Perth Library on the 25th. Not to be missed. I shall post the review of clean I did for Westerly in the coming days.
"Clean has been described as 'a book you will never forget' by John Kinsella and as a cross between Henry Lawson and William Burroughs by Mascara Literary Review. Clean has been in the Top 3 Bestsellers List at Rabble Books for 2022 and it’s a celebration of resilience, healing, identity and what it means to survive."
Poem - from Bec Bowman's recent zine, Midland Dog - a reflection on Midland, West Australia. Really like this ...
Don Stewart
Alan Fyfe
Lily Mulholland
Christine T
Hannah Macauley-Gierhart