AustLit
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Among the delights at the end of winter are the return of afternoons and the arrival of ABR’s fiction-laden August issue. This month we publish the three shortlisted stories for the ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize alongside reviews of a fresh harvest of fiction by Edwina Preston, Robert Drewe, Eleanor Limprecht, and Scott McCulloch. Julieanne Lamond and Brigid Magner look at new studies of Gail Jones and Joseph Furphy, respectively, while Gary Pearce writes on the Joyce centenary. In politics, Mark Kenny analyses the Albanese government’s first chapter as Paul Strangio forecasts the challenges awaiting Daniel Andrews at the ballot box and Patrick Mullins examines Aaron Patrick’s autopsy of the post-Turnbull Liberal party. Catharine Lumby reflects on the life of Frank Moorhouse, while Ian Dickson reviews the letters of poet Thom Gunn. There’s an interview with Michael Winkler, new poetry by Jennifer Harrison and Vidyan Ravinthiran, and much, much more!' (Publication summary)
Contents
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Vale Frank Moorhouse,
single work
obituary
(p. 1, 7)
'We tend not to panegyrise local writers and artists in this land, but the death of Frank Moorhouse on 26 June proved rather different, eliciting the sort of coverage normally reserved for sporting personalities and plutocrats.' (Introduction)
- Mandelbrot Seti"~ dots of colour points on a complex", single work poetry (p. 14)
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Dreams of Communing : The Challenge of Gail Jones’s Fiction,
single work
review
— Review of Inner and Outer Worlds : Gail Jones' Fiction 2022 anthology criticism ;(p. 19-20)'The novels of Gail Jones present a challenge to would-be critics. Jones being a formidable scholar in her own right, her eight novels to date pose sophisticated philosophical questions within their elegantly structured narratives. Her novels canvass aspects of human experience that are murky and complex: these are often forms of familial or romantic relationship shaped by loss, both personal and historical. The challenge for critics is that the novels are themselves thinking about the potential of fiction to do this kind of philosophical or ethical work. In this sense, Jones might seem to be one step ahead of the scholar who takes her work as their subject. Inner and Outer Worlds, a collection of essays edited by Anthony Uhlmann, steps up to this challenge.' (Introduction)
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‘Ah Well, I Suppose’ : The Editorial Challenge of Such Is Life,
single work
review
— Review of The Life of Such is Life : A Cultural History of an Australian Classic 2022 multi chapter work criticism ;(p. 20-21)'‘Such is life’ is a common phrase in Australian popular culture – it has even been tattooed on bodies – but Joseph Furphy’s novel of the same name, published in 1903, is often forgotten. Ned Kelly mythology suggests that he uttered this phrase just before being hanged in 1880, though some historians argue that what he actually said was, ‘Ah well, I suppose’. Long before Furphy (1843–1912) wrote his magnum opus, the stoic phrase was perhaps wrongly associated with a cult hero’s execution.' (Introduction) -
Brooms and Cupboards : A Familial Portrait of the Melbourne Art World,
single work
review
— Review of Bad Art Mother 2022 single work novel ;(p. 24)'In 1961, Gwen Harwood submitted a sonnet to the Bulletin under the name of Walter Lehmann. Her poem, ‘Abelard to Eloisa’, held a shocking acrostic secret that many people considered very bad art. Nobody discovered the secret until after it was published. But despite her transgression, as Wikipedia puts it, ‘she found much greater acceptance’ – to the point that she is today considered one of Australia’s greatest poets.'(Introduction)
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Reckless as a Rule : Robert Drewe’s Ambivalence Towards History,
single work
review
— Review of Nimblefoot 2022 single work novel ;(p. 25-26)'The National Portrait Gallery owns a minuscule sepia studio photograph titled ‘Master Johnny Day, Australian Champion Pedestrian’. From this curious gumnut, Robert Drewe has created a sprawling multi-limbed eucalypt.'(Introduction)
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Getting Sad or Getting Mad : Three New Novels Exploring Women’s Suffering,
single work
review
— Review of Blue Hour 2022 single work novel ; Bone Memories 2022 single work novel ; Sunbathing : A Novel 2022 single work novel ; (p. 26-27) - Dog Park, single work short story (p. 28-30)
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Nowhere Places : Welcome Contributions to Queer Fiction,
single work
review
— Review of Marlo 2022 single work novel ; My Heart is a Little Wild Thing 2022 single work novel ;(p. 30-31)'At first glance, neither Marlo nor My Heart Is a Little Wild Thing seemed particularly appealing. Both focus on queer men pining for love in a homophobic world. Both appeared to recycle what Jay Carmichael (Marlo’s author) calls ‘the tradition of tragedy in queer literature’. Digging deeper, we find that the novels offer nuanced and even uplifting perspectives on gay male experience over the decades. There are moments of adversity, but it’s the resilience and emotional strength of the protagonists – their ability to find pleasure in even dire situations – that make both books so compelling.' (Introduction)
- Natural Wonder, single work short story (p. 32-33)
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The Face of the Deep : A Pilgrimage to the Border of Oblivion,
single work
review
— Review of Basin 2022 single work novel ;(p. 34)'On the surface, Scott McCulloch’s début novel, Basin, takes place in a brutal and degenerated landscape; the edge of a former empire in a state of violent flux. Rebels, separatists, terrorists, paramilitary groups, and the remnants of imperial forces clash over borders and interzones in the wake of the ‘Collapse’, an undefined geopolitical and ecological disaster. Print and broadcast media warn of inter-ethnic conflict and Rebel advances. Bazaars, brothels, and a chain of Poseidon Hotels all operate amid industrial waste and military checkpoints, servicing the region’s fishermen, soldiers, smugglers, and drifters. There is a multiplicity of language and religion (Abrahamic denominations mingle with archaic, pagan beliefs). Alcohol consumption and illicit drug use are rife. The climate is oppressively humid.'(Introduction)
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Raising the Hat : Alice Nelson’s Third Novel,
single work
review
— Review of Faithless 2022 single work novel ;(p. 35)'Faithless is the third novel by West Australian writer Alice Nelson. Her first, The Lost Sky (2008), saw her named Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist, and her second, The Children’s House (2018), attracted widespread critical acclaim. All three explore themes of trauma, displacement, memory, and love. Nelson, many of whose family migrated here from Europe, once pondered in a 2019 interview with Brenda Walker at the Centre for Stories whether writers write to ‘heal some kind of loss’ and whether for her ‘it began with that sense of loss of homeland, loss of culture and country that ran through my family’.'(Introduction)
- Whale Fall, single work short story (p. 36-38)
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Loneliness in the Lazaret : Fiction That Is a Shade Too Careful,
single work
review
— Review of The Coast 2022 single work novel ;(p. 39)'A child of nine is taken to Sydney for the first time to visit her mother, a patient at the Coast Hospital lazaret. Upon arrival, she learns that she, like her mother, has leprosy. Her fate is fixed from that day; she will live the remainder of her life in the lazaret. She takes the new name of ‘Alice’ to hide her former self, and the world closes in upon her. There will be no more school, no playing with her younger brothers and sisters, no friends of her own age, no prospect of romance, no hope of freedom.'(Introduction)
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A Tribute to Frank Moorhouse,
single work
obituary
(p. 42-43)
'Frank Moorhouse, one of Australia’s most prolific and loved authors, essayists, and public intellectuals, died aged eighty-three on 26 June. Moorhouse left a legacy of eighteen fiction and non-fiction books, a series of screenplays, and countless essays. He was also a tireless activist on a range of fronts, including opposing censorship and promoting copyright law reform.'(Introduction)
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Justice and Identity : Jon Faine’s Compassionate Approach to Biography,
single work
review
— Review of Apollo and Thelma 2022 single work biography ; (p. 44) - Ghosts, Ghosts Everywhere, single work essay (p. 45-48)
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‘Might Be Long Long Time’ : A Mixed Anthology of Trans-Tasman Poetry,
single work
review
— Review of The Language in My Tongue : An Anthology of Australian and New Zealand Poetry 2022 anthology poetry ;(p. 51-52)'There’s an old Irish saying: ‘If you want praise, die. If you want blame, marry.’ I could add from personal experience, ‘If you really want blame, edit a poetry anthology.’ While poetry is relatively popular, it often seems that more people write it than read it. As a result, poets can be desperate for affirmation and recognition, managing their careers more jealously than investment bankers. What too often gets lost in all the log-rolling and back-scratching is the poetry. We turn to anthologies for help, hoping to find in small, palatable doses good poets we can choose to read in depth. We find anthologies representing nations or geographical regions, literary periods, ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations, forms, categories like postmodernism, post-colonialism, eco-poetry, and themes like love or madness.' (Publication summary) -
Heels on the Throat of Song : Exploring the Limits of Poetry’s Expressivity,
single work
review
— Review of Languish 2022 selected work poetry ; And to Ecstasy 2022 selected work poetry ; (p. 52-53) -
Itchy Feet : New Poetry from Alison Flett and Hazel Smith,
single work
review
— Review of Where We Are 2022 selected work poetry ; Ecliptical 2022 selected work poetry prose ;(p. 54-55)'Hazel Smith’s ecliptical features an image of a Sieglinde Karl-Spence work of art, ‘Becoming’, a pair of ‘winged feet woven with allocasuarina needles’. It is a striking image, evocative of Mercury, with one foot resting on the other, as if the right foot’s instep is itchy. The idea of ‘itchy feet’ is something that ties ecliptical to Alison Flett’s Where We Are. Flett and Smith are both migrants to Australia; their poetry is sensitive to its site of writing, and to international and interpersonal connections.' (Introduction)
