It’s that time of year to wrap up the 2014 Australian Women Writers Challenge and I’m pleased to say I made a better effort this year than the measly three books I reviewed last year! And what a great year for reading it has been. Here’s the list of the 26 Australian female writers I reviewed:
Just_a_girl
by Kirsten Krauth
Letter to
George Clooney by Debra
Adelaide
Banana Girl by Michele Lee
Like A House On
Fire by Cate Kennedy
Beams Falling by P.M Newton
A Beautiful
Place to Die by Malla Nunn
The Women in
Black by Madeleine St
John
The Mistake by Wendy James
The Poet’s Wife by Mandy Sayer
All The Birds,
Singing by Evie Wyld
Tiddas by Anita Heiss
The Jade Widow by Deborah O’Brien
The Tea Chest by Josephine Moon
Girl Defective by Simmone Howell
Only the Animals by Ceridwen Dovey
Have You Seen
Simone? by Virginia
Peters
Wildlife by Fiona Wood
In Certain Circles by Elizabeth Harrower
Wild Things by Brigid Delaney
Game Day by Miriam Sved
Vertigo by Amanda Lohrey
This House of
Grief by Helen Garner
Return to
Coolami by Eleanor Dark
Whiskey Charlie
Foxtrot by Annabel
Smith
A Wrong Turn at
the Office of Unmade Lists by Jane Rawson
Hades by Candice Fox
Firstly,
all twenty six were a pleasure to read and a testimony to the talent in this
country. The breakdown of genres:
YA
– 3
Crime
Fiction – 3
True
Crime – 2
Memoir
– 2
Novella
– 1
Classic
– 3
Contemporary
Fiction / Thriller – 9
Short
Story - 3
I
chose these books spurned by a wide range of reasons thus proving I’m quite
haphazard in my book selection: some were from sight at the library or book
shop, some from prize winning, some from hearing them reviewed on podcasts,
many from reviews in the Sydney Morning Herald, some because the authors spoke
at my local library, and yes, some from being mentioned on Twitter (so social
media works!). I have to say, the few articles and blog posts last year where
people claimed to find it difficult to read a good selection of Australia
female writers were quite bizarre: I think there are far too many to choose
from and you could spend all year reading quality fiction and non-fiction from
the large pool of talented female authors. I’ll be returning to read more from
these authors as well, particularly the thriller and crime writers.
So
my most memorable five? Firstly, Letter
to George Clooney by Debra Adelaide, a wonderful collection of short
stories, all of them thought provoking and entertaining. Secondly, All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld which won the Miles Franklin Award over
the ‘favourite’ Flanagan. I had read both before the award was announced and
wasn’t surprised: I was quite affected by Wyld’s writing and found it to be an
assured debut novel. Simmone Howell’s YA novel Girl Defective was
charming; I thought it had beautifully drawn characters and a lovely narrative
voice. Helen Garner's This House of Grief was number four because she’s brilliant, always. And lastly,
Brigid Delaney’s Wild Things which had me thinking about the
characters for days afterwards.
Looking
forward to another great year of reading in the 2015 Challenge. Many thanks to those who tirelessly coordinate the website and run the social media - your work is appreciated.
*This is part of the Australian Womens Writers Challenge 2014
http://australianwomenwriters.com/
*This is part of the Australian Womens Writers Challenge 2014
http://australianwomenwriters.com/
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