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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Ned was beside me, his messages running easily through him, with space between each one, coming through him like water. He was the go-between, going between the animal kingdom and this one. I watched the waves as they rolled and crashed towards us, one after another, never stopping, always changing. I knew what was making them come, I had been there and I would always know.
'Meet Jimmy Flick. He's not like other kids - he's both too fast and too slow. He sees too much, and too little. Jimmy's mother Paula is the only one who can manage him. She teaches him how to count sheep so that he can fall asleep. She holds him tight enough to stop his cells spinning. It is only Paula who can keep Jimmy out of his father's way. But when Jimmy's world falls apart, he has to navigate the unfathomable world on his own, and make things right.' (Publication summary)
Notes
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Dedication: For TL, in memory.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
- Dyslexic edition.
- Large print.
Works about this Work
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What I’m Reading
2020
single work
column
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2020; -
More Than ‘Rotten Apples’ : Australian Literature and the Possibility of Redemption for Men Who Abuse
2020
single work
criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 20 no. 1 2020;'Popular analyses of gendered violence focus on the need for an individually-focussed approach to the problem which calls for greater responsibility and accountability for individual men. Men who use violence are often viewed as bad apples; or as deviant to the moral codes which are necessary in a moral society. But contemporary Australian authors examine the socio-cultural, political and economic structures that promulgate inequality according to gender, class, age and culture. This inequality manifests in the gendered violence which Christos Tsiolkas, Richard Flanagan, Charlotte Wood, Zoe Morrison and Sofie Laguna portray as a product of neo-liberalism. The men within their fiction are affected by disconnection and individualism within our neo-liberal, patriarchal society. The male protagonists are subjects of, as well as producers of dominant practices of masculinity. Equally, their female characters are not merely passive victims of gendered power as they protest against and challenge the structures that support inequality. Through post-structural analyses which leaves room for contradiction and nuance within characters, these contemporary Australian authors are able to maintain hope for difference and redemption in the lives of men who use violence and abuse, and the women and children who are affected. They consciously avoid separating people in to categories of good or evil, or just and unjust, given that these dichotomies are central to the patriarchal and capitalistic systems of individuality and competition which they critique.' (Publication abstract)
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The Stella Interview : Sofie Laguna
2018
single work
interview
— Appears in: The Stella Interviews 2018;'The Stella Prize chats with Sofie Laguna, author of The Eye of the Sheep'.
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Picturing Childhood
2017
single work
interview
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 26 August 2017; (p. 24)'Miles Franklin winner Sofie Laguna fought off her fears to write the most disturbing novel of her life. She talks to Stephen Romei
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times … Charles Dickens may have a trademark on that line but other writers have artistic authority to borrow it now and then. When actress turned writer Sofie Laguna won the 2015 Miles Franklin Literary Award for The Eye of the Sheep, the night was marked not with Bollinger but with barf.' (Introduction)
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What You're Reading
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Good Reading , May 2016; (p. 72)
— Review of The Eye of the Sheep 2014 single work novel
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Mayhem and Mercy on the Margins
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 26-27 July 2014; (p. 19)
— Review of The Eye of the Sheep 2014 single work novel -
A Vivid View of Family Life through the Eyes of an Exceptonal Child
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 11-12 October 2014; (p. 32-33)
— Review of The Eye of the Sheep 2014 single work novel -
A Vivid View of the Joy That Can Lurk in Difference
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 11 October 2014; (p. 29)
— Review of The Eye of the Sheep 2014 single work novel -
Review of The Eye of the Sheep by Sophie Laguna
2014
single work
— Appears in: Transnational Literature , November vol. 7 no. 1 2014;
— Review of The Eye of the Sheep 2014 single work novel -
Well Read
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 15 November 2014; (p. 27)
— Review of The Eye of the Sheep 2014 single work novel ; To Name Those Lost 2014 single work novel -
Stella Prize 2015 Shortlist : Three Debut Fiction Authors Nominated
2015
single work
column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 12 March 2015; -
Stella Prize 2015: The Shortlisted Authors on the Stories behind Their Books
2015
single work
column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 17 April 2015; -
Author’s ‘Surreal’ Win
Novelist Gets Top Mileage Out of Drama
2015
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 24 June 2015; (p. 5) The Age , 24 June 2015; (p. 12) 'Sofie Laguna may look like a newcomer in the ranks of Australia’s top literary novelists, winning the 2015 Miles Franklin Literary Award on Tuesday with her second novel, The Eye of the Sheep.' -
Book Award Winners Enjoy Sales Boost
Awards Alchemy, or How to Turn Prose into Gold
2015
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 24 June 2015; (p. 20) The Age , 24 June 2015; (p. 12) -
Laguna’s Misfit Catches Eye of Miles Franklin Panel
2015
single work
column
— Appears in: The Australian , 24 June 2015; (p. 3)
Awards
- 2016 longlisted International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
- 2015 shortlisted Voss Literary Prize
- 2015 winner Miles Franklin Literary Award
- 2015 shortlisted The Stella Prize
- 2014 commended The Fellowship of Australian Writers Victoria Inc. National Literary Awards — FAW Christina Stead Award