AustLit

'I have admired Christos Tsiolkas since his first book Loaded rammed into the Australian publishing scene in 1995. And although the ‘big P’ – to use the author’s designation –  political books that catapulted him to fame didn’t affect me to the same degree, 7 ½ rocked my world.

'It is wild and fearlessly, messily, human. I was so exhilarated, I couldn’t stop myself from emailing him a slew of questions. It was my way of continuing a thrilling reading process – one that took me back to the author’s early work. Jesus Man and Dead Europe came to mind as I powered through this audacious novel.

'Beyond that, there was the thrill of watching a writer turn novelistic expectations on their head by showing the reader what goes on in a writer’s mind as he corralls life’s wild horses and turns them to the services of art.' (Introduction)

'This series explores where writers write. Where is the space? What is its significance? And what writing habits does the writer follow?'

'Good things can spring from disappointment. Author and academic Kate Hall and I began talking about organising a queer writers’ festival after we were dropped from a Melbourne suburbs writers’ festival because, the programming director felt, there was no interest in a session about gothic queer writing. Kate was so enthused by the idea, she quickly brought in performance artist Timothy Ryan.

'I dropped out due to persistent ill health and overcommitment, and then watched in admiration as these two champions pulled together a program, seemingly out of thin air, in Melbourne and five regional centres. I caught up with them as they were building up to two major events in Geelong and Warrnambool.' (Introduction)

'Vrasidas Karalis’ The Glebe Point Road Blues (Brandl & Schlesinger, 2020) is a singularly haunting reading experience. A simple definition of its form might be elegy: its primary function is to pay respect to the memory of people who, though they were inhabitants of Glebe Point Road, remained profoundly homeless until death. Through its liturgical incantations, the book resurrects and redeems the deceased by providing a celestial resting place. It also reasserts these metaphysical nomads into the cultural histories from which they were tragically sundered in life.' (Introduction)