AustLit
Latest Issues
Notes
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Contents indexed selectively.
Contents
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Dreaming 'Worldshaker',
single work
column
— Review of Worldshaker 2009 single work novel ;Richard Harland reflects on writing Worldshaker, a 'very long story' based on ideas that came from 'a couple of dreams' (2). He describes three phases of writing the novel in terms of 'world building', 'growing of characters' and 'thematics' (2) and says one of its aims is to convey how 'childhood is far more precarious that we like to remember' (3). In this sense, Harland attempts to present 'growing up out of childhood [as] a time of strangeness, half facts and uncertainties' (3) through the genre of fantasy, which he says, has a tendency to 'bypass adult censorship and unlock forgotten memories' (3).
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Glitter Vandals and Toadstools of Love : Doug Macleod,
single work
column
Shaunagh O'Conner discusses Doug MacLeod's career as a children's author and a TV comedy writer and says that 'despite his enthusiasm for TV projects, MacLeod admits that writing books is generally more satisfying than the demands of TV' (3). His latest novel, My Extraordinary Life and Death, is based upon a series of blogs that MacLeod wrote for the State Library of Victoria's Center for Youth Literature and 'is a fictional autobiography that matches life episodes to charming antique woodcut prints' (3).
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'Eon' Reborn,
single work
review
— Review of The Two Pearls of Wisdom 2008 single work novel ;Alison Goodman's The Two Pearls of Wisdom has been re-released as a young adult novel under the title Eon. The novel has been published under a number of titles; The Two Pearls of Wisdom, Eon: Dragoneye Reborn and Eon: Rise of the Dragoneye in order to represent how the book is marketed across countries. The novel is part of a 'duology' that explores issues of 'gender, power and identity' (5) through the protagonist Eon/Eona, a girl with a disablitity who masquerades as a boy. The final book, Eona: Necklace of the Gods, is to be likely to be released mid to late 2010 in Australia -
Writing 'Liar',
single work
column
Discussing her writing methods, Larbalestier says she wrote Liar 'out of order and in small chunks' so that 'in some, ways, it was more like writing poetry than a novel' (6). She talks about the impact of 'being an Australian living, on and off, in New York City" (6) as shaping the novel, however she also briefly refers to a number of significant events in her own life and the geographical landscapes that influence and inform the narrative. These include attending an alternative high school in Sydney (6), the death of a close friend (7) and the 'hyper urbanized' environment of New York City where 'Nature and wilderness and city co-exist' (7).
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[Review] Liar,
single work
review
— Review of Liar 2009 single work novel ; (p. 7) -
How I Made My Son Enjoy Reading : John Flanagan,
single work
column
John Flanagan's career as a writer of childrens fiction began when, after having many manuscripts trargeted to adults rejected, he redrafted one of the short stories he had written years earlier for his son Mike. Random House accepted and published Ranger's Apprentice - The Ruins of Gorlan and the medival fantasy series is up to its seventh book (8). Flanagan now enjoys national and international success as a writer of children's books, however, as Leigh van den Broeke points out, 'it has taken him a long time to become a full-time novelist and the memories of being an unpublished author are never far from his mind' (9). Flanagan says he very nearly gave up (8) and credits his family with giving him the confidence to continue' (9). His advice to budding writers: "If you believe in your writing, you never know what might happen with it" (9).
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Writing and Recessions,
single work
column
Discussing the effect of having to 'tighten belts' on writers, editors, publishers and agents, Matt Zurbo says the (current) economic recession is a bad time for 'writers, creativity and the Australian public, for imagination and kids' as 'books and music are two of the first things to go from the shopping list'. He says that 'Each time there is a squeeze..we, as a culture, lose something more. A little more of the range that stretches and challenges makes a society whole'. He goes on to state that it is from these edges, 'the fringes', that 'the voices of our country and culture grow'.
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Australian Dystopia : Interview with Kirsty Murray,
Paula Oude-Vrielink
(interviewer),
Mickie Tanna
(interviewer),
Nicola Nemaric
(interviewer),
single work
interview
Paula Oude-Vrielink, Mickie Tanna and Nicola Nemaric are year nine and ten students at Genazzano FCJ (Melbourne). They interviewed Kirsty Murray, who shared stories of the travels that inspired her latest novel Vulture's Gate (11). They were 'excited at the prospect of interviewing a professional writer about one of her books, an interview that would better halp us understand the writing process" (11) and Murray answered questions in relation to the dystopic elements of the novel, the centrality of bird flu to the narrative and the writing process in general.
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[Review] Vulture's Gate,
single work
review
— Review of Vulture's Gate 2009 single work novel ; (p. 12) -
[Review] Swerve,
single work
review
— Review of Swerve 2009 single work novel ; (p. 16) -
Review : Grace,
single work
review
— Review of Grace 2009 single work children's fiction ; (p. 17) -
[Review] Fill Out This Application and Wait Over There,
single work
review
— Review of Fill Out This Application and Wait Over There 2009 single work novel ; (p. 18) -
[Review] Stolen,
single work
review
— Review of Stolen : A Letter to My Captor 2009 single work novel ; (p. 19) -
[Review] The Window Seat and Other Stories,
single work
review
— Review of The Window Seat and Other Stories 2009 selected work short story ; (p. 22) -
[Untitled],
single work
review
— Review of The Children's Writer 2009 single work novel ; (p. 24) -
[Review] Hostage,
single work
review
— Review of Hostage 2009 single work novel ; (p. 25) -
[Review] Omega Park,
single work
review
— Review of Omega Park 2009 single work novel ; (p. 26) -
[Review] The Silence,
single work
review
— Review of The Silence 2009 single work graphic novel ; (p. 27) -
[Review] After,
single work
review
— Review of After 2009 single work novel ; (p. 29) -
[Review] Hopscotch,
single work
review
— Review of Hopscotch : Medusa Stone 2009 single work children's fiction ; (p. 31)