Magical Menagerie

It is a truth universally acknowledged that I love the writing of JK Rowling, especially the wizarding world of Harry Potter. However my last journey into this world was rather disappointing as I found Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2016), the play based on a story by Rowling, to be seriously lacking.

But then along came Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Rowling's screenplay of the latest film in the franchise. I saw the movie first, which I absolutely loved, and then quickly went on to read the screenplay.

Set in New York in the 1920s, British Magizoologist Newt Scamander arrives at Ellis Island with a case filled with his fantastic beasts. Some of his creatures escape from the case and Newt has to round them up before they wreak havoc and are seen by muggles (called 'no-maj' in America). Along the way Newt befriends no-maj baker Jacob, is taken to the Magical Congress by Tina, a witch trying to advance her career. There is also a temperance movement on the rise, attempting to quash any difference and encourage segregation. The story is entertaining but has a strong political backbone.

The movie was wonderful. Eddie Redmayne was delightful as Newt, Colin Farrell is mysterious as Auror Percival Graves, Ezra Miller plays Credence, a teenaged orphan wanting to fit in, and Katherine Waterston as the hotdog eating Tina. My favourites were Dan Fogler's Jacob and Allison Sudol as telepathic Queenie. The special effects were great and the set and costumes captured the period well. This is the first in a multi-film franchise so I look forward to seeing them all.

Reading the screenplay after seeing the film was interesting. I had expected there to be more in the screenplay - scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor or on the DVD extras. But it was more of a transcript of what happened on film, almost as if it was written after the fact. That was a bit disappointing as I thought I might learn more of Newt's world than was shown on screen.

I should also note what a beautiful book the hardcover screenplay is. Filled with illustrations and sketches, it is a gorgeous package. I would recommend the screenplay, but suggest you see the film first.

The Stella Prize 2017

The Stella Prize winner was announced this week with the award going to Tasmanian author Heather Rose for her novel The Museum of Modern Love.

Rose sets her novel in 2010 in New York at the Museum of Modern Art. MOMA is hosting an event in which artist Marina Abramovic sits opposite attendees and holds their gaze. She calls her piece The Artist is Present and for 75 days people come to sit with this artist. The novel focuses on the lives of those who attend the exhibition.

Lauded for its originality and the way in which real events are merged with fiction, the novel focuses on the lives of characters struggling with deep questions.

Heather Rose gave a wonderful acceptance speech upon receiving the prize and the transcript is well worth reading.

Another book to add to my ever-growing pile!

Update June 2017 - Now read, read review here.

Learning for success

I will be changing jobs in the next few weeks, so I have been keen to work my way through some of the books that I have purchased for my employer's library before I go. One recent acquisition is Dr Carol S Dweck's book Mindset (2006, revised 2017).

Dr Dweck is a world-renowned psychologist from Stanford University. She has spent much of her life researching success and failure, and the way our mindset is linked with our potential. She has found that there are essentially two mindsets - fixed or growth - and the mindset in which we approach our life can have a profound effect on how we progress.

A fixed mindset is one in which intelligence, talent and abilities are fixed - you either have it or you don't. This mindset leads one to view success and failure through a narrow lens. Challenges are avoided, effort is a waste of time, the success of others is a threat.

A growth mindset is one in which intelligence, talent and abilities can be developed. Learning is valued and the process is just as important as the outcome. Challenges are embraced, mistakes are learned from, effort leads to mastery and there is a sense of free will.

Dweck looks at mindset through exploring the stories of athletes, artists, students, parents, employers and others. She shows the limitations of a fixed mindset and the advantages of growth. Dweck shows that most of us have both mindsets - for example, we may believe that we can learn to do most things, except that artistic talent is something you either have or you don't.

Her main message is 'the view you adopt of yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life'. I found this book enlightening, as I am generally one with a growth mindset, but have had periods where I have become fixed. Not only does Dweck identify these mindsets but she provides a pathway for change.

This book made me think a lot about how I give and receive feedback, praise children for their achievements, communicate with those close to me. I would recommend Mindset to parents, managers, coaches, those wanting to develop themselves and anyone involved in developing others.

Dr Dweck also gave an interesting Ted Talk on this subject which can be viewed below.

Pulitzer Prize 2017

The Pulitzer Prize Winners and Finalists were announced this week. The Pulitzer Prize recognises achievement in journalism and other written works.

The winner of the fiction prize is Coulson Whitehead for his book The Underground Railway (2016). This is the story of Cora, a slave in Georgia, who attempts to escape through the underground railroad to the North.

This novel has previously been awarded the National Book Award, made many top ten lists, and was chosen by Oprah Winfrey as a selection for her popular book club.  I have heard great things about this novel and look forward to reading it. Whitehead will be speaking at the Sydney Writers Festival next month, which I will miss this year due to my travels.

Finalists for the prize this year were Adam Haslet's Imagine Me Gone (2016) and C E Morgan for The Sport of Kings (2016).

The winner of the non-fiction award is Matthew Desmond for Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (2016). Desmond explores poverty in the poorest areas of Milwaukee, and the landlords that control the fate of their tenants. Eviction has become a regular occurrence for renters. Using personal stories and data, Desmond looks at poverty cycles and housing issues.

Finalists in this category were John Donvan and Caren Zuker for In a Different Key: The Story of Autism (2016) and Micki McElya for The Politics of Mourning: Death and Honor in Arlington National Cemetery (2016).

The Changeling

In 2013 I read Hannah Kent's debut novel Burial Rites, a fictional account of the true historical case of an Icelandic woman sentenced to death for her part in a murder. It was a gripping masterpiece, well researched and written.

Like many other Kent fans, I have been eagerly awaiting her next foray into fiction. In late 2016 she published her second novel, The Good People. Set in 1820s Ireland, the story centres on a  remote Killarney village where the locals are aware of the "Good People" - the mischievous fairies that reside near by. Initially, the idea of a novel based on folklore and fairies did not interest me, so I put it aside for a few months before deciding to crack the spine. However, once I entered Kent's world I was deeply engrossed by this compelling tale.

Nora Leahy has recently been widowed and in her grief she finds it even more challenging to care for her grandson Michael. The four year old boy is unable to walk or speak due to some mysterious malady that suddenly beset him at age two. Nora hires Mary, a teenaged girl from out of town, to assist with the care of the child. Nora also seeks support from the local doctor and the priest, both of whom offer prayers as the only option for the boy.

Nance Roche is an elderly woman who lives on the edge of the fairy forest. She knows the fairy ways and with local herbs and potions she can cure many ills. Many locals come to her for treatment of aches and pains, although the priest is convinced she does the devil's work and others view her with suspicion. Nora seeks out Nance's help to cure the boy as she becomes convinced he is a changeling, and that the fairies have her real Michael.

The inspiration for this book, as with Burial Rites, was a real life case. The author vividly creates a village of poor, uneducated, superstitious locals. The three women - Nance, Nora and Mary - are well crafted and you can feel their desperation to cure the boy. Kent's description of the environment, the flora and weather, transports the reader back in time.

I recommend this book highly to anyone wanting to lose themselves in another time and place. It would be a great read for book clubs as there are so many things to discuss.

Carrie On Leia

It would come as no surprise to anyone that I am more than a little obsessed with Star Wars. My brother and I grew up with the characters, would act out scenes verbatim, and spent many Halloweens dressed as Vader, Yoda, and the gang. Princess Leia Organa has always been my hero and I admired her qualities: she is smart, sassy, and driven. A Princess who didn't need to be rescued. A General who motivates and maintains the Resistance. A role model for girls and women everywhere.

When Carrie Fisher passed away suddenly in December 2016, I mourned her greatly.

Fortunately she has left behind her work. While she is most known as an actor, Fisher is also a writer. Her latest book, The Princess Diarist (2016), is based on the journals she kept while making the original film in London in 1976. Carrie Fisher was only nineteen at the time and one of few women on the set. She and (married-with-children) Harrison Ford had a brief affair which is documented in these diaries.

But "Carrison" is no tale of romance. This is a much older man, aloof, uncommunicative and disinterested, engaged in a relationship with a young, inexperienced, naive woman. She wants more from him, imagining a life they may have, while he knows it will only last as long as the three-month shoot does.

The first part of the book is about Fisher gaining the role - auditioning, choosing the "Buns of Navarone" hairdo, her relationship with famous parents Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. Fisher is self-depreciating, witty and open.

The second part is an extract from the diaries. I was impressed by the poetry Fisher had written - aching, raw, humourous - about Ford, and surprised there was so much of it. I had expected more set anecdotes and insight into the filming, but clearly she was obsessed with Ford and could write of nothing else.

The last third of the book was a bit disappointing. She recounts various encounters with fans, and bemoans their love of Leia and unwillingness to see Carrie beneath. She begrudges the lack of money she earned from Star Wars (having signed away merchandising rights) and the humiliation of having to show up and sign autographs at fan festivals. She writes this section from the present, aged sixty, reflecting on her past and the character that has set the trajectory for her life.

I must admit that I read this book with twinges of sadness. There were moments where she talks of her legacy and what people will think after she is gone. I will remember her as Leia of course, but she is forever Carrie - a wonderfully complex, wise and witty woman, a talented writer and a tireless campaigner for mental health.

Vale Carrie Fisher. May the Force be with you.

The Fire Next Time

Do you ever get the feeling that you should enjoy a book more than you do? That you know that the book is important, a bestseller, widely regarded, critically acclaimed, but you just don't get it? Do you struggle along nonetheless confused as to why it just doesn't gel with you?

This happened to me while reading Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me (2015). I didn't enjoy it, but I was determined to finish, hoping that I would suddenly find myself engrossed. While this never happened for me, I do appreciate the beauty of Coates' writing and the passion with which he expresses himself.

This National Book Award Winner is essentially a series of essays written to Coates' teenaged son. In these essays he writes about race in America and how history has shaped the way in which African Americans are seen and how they see themselves. There are parallels to James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time (1962) and Baldwin's writings more broadly.

Coates' poetic letter to his son is timely. In the wake of countless shootings of black youth, uprisings across America in response to police violence, and the Black Lives Matter campaign, he presents a thoughtful critique. He shares what it was like to grow up on the streets of Baltimore, to attend Howard University, and to witness violence - particularly the murder, by police, of his friend Prince Jones.

I am not the target market for this book. It is not written to me or for me. But I am interested in issues of race, class and gender and I hoped that reading this book would provide insight into race in modern America and a way forward. Instead I found it rather pessimistic, as if America is on a path that cannot be changed.

The Stella Prize Shortlist 2017

The Stella Prize shortlist was announced on International Women's Day. The six titles vying for the prize are:

Georgia Blain - Between a Wolf and a Dog
This novel takes place over the course of one day in Sydney.  Esther is a family therapist who works to bring people together, while personally her own relationships are strained. The judges described the late Georgia Blain's final novel as "a triumph: finely structured, suspenseful and morally acute."  I am not familiar with Blain's work but by all accounts she was a fine writer.



Maxine Beneba Clarke - The Hate Race

The judges describe this memoir as "an important account of growing up in suburban Australia in the 1980s and 1990s." Maxine Beneba Clarke, an Australian of Afro-Carribean descent, faced discrimination and casual racism, and through this book she shows the complacency of white Australia and the reluctance to deal with issues of race. I have seen interviews with Clarke and have read some of her poetry, but have not yet read this book.



Catherine de Saint Phalle - Poum and Alexandre
I must admit, I have never heard of this book, nor its author. Catherine de Saint Phalle is a Melbourne based author and this is her first work of non-fiction. It is a memoir of her unmarried parents and their lives in Paris. The judges describe this as a "tender portrait of a lifelong partnership [that] deserves to be an instant classic of the biography genre."



Emily Maguire - An Isolated Incident

I read this book in 2016 and really enjoyed it. A page-turning psychological thriller set in rural Australia, Maguire switches perspectives between two different women as the mystery unfolds. I can see why this was nominated as it is a taut novel which addresses issues such as domestic violence, sexism and discrimination from a feminist perspective. My review of Maguire's book is available on this blog.




Heather Rose - The Museum of Modern Love
This is the seventh novel of Tasmanian author Heather Rose. The judges describe this as "an ambitious novel that demonstrates the value of art as a catalyst for love, connection, and an apprehension of mystery." The novel ponders deep questions through characters attending a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Sounds interesting, and I totally I love the cover of this book. Update June 2017: Read review.

Cory Taylor - Dying: A Memoir
Taylor wrote this book while she was dying from cancer. A life-affirming memoir about dying, novelist Taylor details why she wanted to choose the circumstances of her death. While I have no doubt this book is well written, I don't feel like I want to read this book. Having recently read Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking (2005), I know that books about death can be inspiring and uplifting, but I think I will pass on this at this time.


The winner revealed on 18 April 2017. The only one I have read is An Isolated Incident and I reckon it is pretty good. But I am keen to read some the others as well.

Celebrating Women Writers

International Women's Day is an opportunity to celebrate women writers. Most of my favourite writers are women, including Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro, Helen Garner, Edith Wharton, JK Rowling, Anna Funder, Elizabeth Gaskell, Maya Angelou, Daphne Du Maurier, Patricia Highsmith, Anne Tyler, Joan London, LM Montgomery, Jeanette Winterson, Jane Austen and George Eliot.

On International Women's Day 2017, the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction announced the longlist for their 2017 award. It is a fascinating list and many authors I have not heard of.

Here's the list:

Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo
Set against the backdrop of social and political upheaval in 1980s Nigeria, Stay With Me is the story of a couple struggling with infertility. The story shifts perspectives from husband and wife and whether their fragile marriage will survive. By all accounts this is a beautifully crafted, though heartbreaking novel. Adebayo has published numerous short stories. This is her first novel.

The Power by Naomi Alderman
British author Naomi Alderman has crafted a dystopian world in which women are the ones with power, literally. Teenaged girls suddenly develop the power to conduct electricity through their hands, and with this the ability to control those around them. Written from multiple points of view, Alderman's thriller shows how power corrupts, as she turns gender politics on its heads. I am keen to read this book.

Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood
Frequent readers of this blog will know how much I love my fellow Canadian Margaret Atwood. This book is part of the Hogarth Shakespeare series in which Shakespeare plays are rewritten as modern novels by authors like Jeannette Winterson, Anne Tyler and Atwood. I have not ready any of these, but I would likely start with Atwood.

Little Deaths by Emma Flint
This novel is inspired by the story of Alice Crimmins. Set in Queens, New York, in 1965. Ruth, a single mother, discovers her two young children have gone missing and are soon found dead.  As the police investigate they centre their attention on Ruth. Did she murder her own children?

The Mare by Mary Gaitskill
This coming of age tale is about a disadvantaged girl and her horse. Eleven year old Velvet Vargas participates in a program to give disadvantaged kids an opportunity to spend time in the country.  The story traces her relationship with her host family over several years.

The Dark Circle by Linda Grant
After the Second World War two teenage siblings are sent away to a tuberculosis sanatorium in Kent. Here they meet other residents - ex servicemen, a university graduate, and various others with the affliction.

The Lesser Bohemians by Eimear McBride
Eimear McBride won the Bailey's Prize for A Girl is a Half-formed Thing in 2014. In her latest novel, an 18 year old Irish girl arrives in London to study drama and dreams of becoming an actress. She meets an older man, an established actor, and begins a relationship with him.

Midwinter by Fiona Melrose
Father and son farmers in Suffolk are enduring a particularly hard winter on the land their family has worked for generations. They are haunted by the death of their wife and mother. This is a novel about guilt, loss and love.

The Sport of Kings by C.E. Morgan
The Forges are an old Kentucky family descended from the first settlers. They are now horse breeders wishing to breed the next Secretariat. This is a novel of ambition, race, and reckoning.

The Woman Next Door by Yewande Omotoso
Set in 1950s South Africa, this is the story of two elderly neighbours, one white/one black, who are sworn enemies. The women were both successful business women, now retired and widowed, giving them more time to put towards their bitter feud.

The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O’Neill
Rose and Pierrot are orphans raised in a Montreal orphanage by nuns. Both are prodigies - he as a gifted pianist, she as a dancer and comedienne.  When they are of age, they are separated and have no means of contact. Working as servants during the Great Depression, they descend into poverty trying to survive.

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
Set in Victorian London, this is a historical novel about two people who fall for each other in an unusual way. Cora Seaborne is a London widower who moves to Essex and meets Will Ransome, the local vicar. Mysterious disappearances are attributed to a legendary Serpent, and a moral panic ensues.

Barkskins by Annie Proulx
I have heard great things about this huge novel by Annie Proulx. I love her work but have not yet attempted this 700+ page beast. Spanning 300 years, this is the story of immigrants to New France, who were wood-cutters or barkskins, and their descendants.

First Love by Gwendoline Riley

Neve cannot escape from her toxic marriage to Edwyn. She is a thirty something writer, he is an older man with ill health. Neve sees her parents' marriage in her own relationship. Is she reliving the past?

Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
Winner of the Governor General's Literary Award and shortlisted for the Booker Prize, it is a safe bet that Thien's novel will be shortlisted for this award. This is the epic story of an extended family in China who lived through Mao's Cultural Revolution.

The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain
A melancholy tale of two childhood friends - Gustav and Anton - in Switzerland. The first part focuses on Gustav's childhood. The next is on his parents, and in the final part Gustav and Anton are older men reflecting on the choices they made.



These titles will be reduced to a shortlist of six, with the winner announced on 7 June 2017.

The Public Interest

I had never heard of Sonya Voumard until the Stella Prize longlist was released in early February, but I was intrigued by the sound of her nominated book, so quickly borrowed it from my local library and read it. The Media and the Massacre (Port Arthur 1996-2016) is an investigation into the nature of journalism and the ethics involved in the hunt for a good story.

On 28 April 1996 a man drove to the Port Arthur historic site and opened fire on the tourists and workers, killing 35 and inflicting trauma on dozens more. At the time it was the world's worst civilian massacre by a lone gunman, ushering in an era of gun control. There would be few adults in Australia who would not recall where they were when they heard about the massacre.

Sonya Voumard is a former journalist turned academic, and this book arose from her doctoral thesis on the ethics of storytelling.  Her background gives her an acute understanding of what drives journalists in their work and the ethics they ascribe to. It also gave  her access to reporters and editors to interview for this work.

Voumard writes about how the media covered the massacre, at the time, in the aftermath and on anniversaries. She depicts the journalist's adrenalin-fueled quest to be best and first - first on the scene, first to file, first to get the best photos and best interviews - and the sometimes questionable tactics used to meet deadlines.

Much of Voumard's investigation centres on the best-selling book by Robert Wainwright and Paola Totaro, Born or Bred? Martin Bryant and the Making of a Mass Murderer (2010). This work began as a memoir by Carleen Bryant, mother of the perpetrator, who withdrew from participation in the project when she felt she would not be represented fairly. Wainwright and Totaro persevered, using Carleen's notes without consent thereby opening a legal and ethical can of worms. Voumard explores the breakdown of this relationship, with evidence from various sources, leaving the reader with the distinct view that the authors exploited Carleen and her naïveté about journalism and publishing.

There were other accounts, like Carol Altmann's After Port Arthur (2006) which explores the effects of the massacre that linger a decade later. Voumard also talks to many journalists and editors about the impact the story had on them - the trauma of covering the story and bearing witness to such a horrendous act  - and some had even left the profession.

Her interviews with Simon Longstaff about professional standards are fascinating. It was interesting how little redress is available to someone who has a complaint about the behaviour of journalists.

Importantly, this book is not about the massacre itself or the man who committed the crime. It is about ethics and journalism, and as a consumer of media it made me think about sensationalist news stories and the need to engage critically.

While I appreciated Voumard's thoughtful exploration of the ethical issues, particularly around the journalist and the subject, I felt rather flat when I finished wondering whether there is any hope for a profession that has become some depleted by the 24 hour news cycle and an erosion of standards. My hope is that this book is read by journalists and students of journalism and it causes some introspection and reflection on the integrity of their profession.

Down in the Holler

The cover of the book spoke to me. It is an "International Bestseller", having spent 28 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list (at time of posting) with boastful claims:

• "You will not read a more important book about America" - Economist
• "A great insight into Trump and Brexit" - Independent
• "The political book of the year" - Sunday Times

So would JD Vance's Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis (2016) live up to expectations? 

Hell yeah! This is an important, timely memoir that helps to explain the ways in which poor white Americans have been disenfranchised and have consequently grown distrustful of institutions. Since finishing the book a few weeks ago, I have found myself frequently pondering the plight of Americans in the rust-belt.

In part, this is a tale of survival. Vance had a challenging childhood in Ohio - his mother was an addict, bringing an ever revolving door of father figures into the home to destabilise the family. Moving home frequently, Vance relied on his older sister and their grandmother, the outspoken Mamaw, to make them feel safe and loved. Against all odds Vance found a life for himself, first in the Marines, and later at Yale law school where he found a mentor and champion.

Vance uses his compelling personal narrative to address social, economic, cultural and political issues which have arisen and that the government seems ill-equipped to deal with. He describes Middletown Ohio as a small city where life revolved around the Armco steel works. Almost everyone in town was somehow affiliated with the company, and when the company declined, so too did the town. Poverty came when people lost their homes, or sold them at a loss, bringing with it a range of social issues - teen pregnancy, domestic violence, addiction, crime and welfare dependency.

The author talks about the lack of work ethic (characterised by laziness, disrespect and abandonment) while at the same time a culture of consumption in which people would rather buy the latest phone than spend their money on healthy food for their children. Some of the conditions he describes are squalid and unhealthy - like "Mountain Dew Mouth" in which people in Appalachia have such poor teeth because of the volume of soft drink consumed. Vance describes the learned helplessness of many who blame the government, immigrants and others for their woes, but doesn't let them off the hook, insisting they take responsibility for their own circumstances.

I have long been fascinated with Appalachia, having spent some time in the Blue Ridge Mountains many years ago. I also enjoyed the series Justified, set in Kentucky's hillbilly country, which explored many of these issues. Through Vance I have a greater understanding of the hillbilly kinship system - loyalty and honour are highly valued in this community. Vance is empathetic to his people and is proud of his heritage, even though he has moved out of the holler.

While I doubt Vance set out to write a book that provides "a great insight into Trump and Brexit", and certainly neither of these events are covered in the memoir, the timing of the publication is fortuitous. Many working class white voters in middle America yearn for days gone by, when manufacturing was big and people had jobs for life at the local factory or mine. They resent the Big City Cultural Elites of the knowledge economy, they resent losing their jobs to automation and outsourcing, and they resent the globalisation forces that are forever changing they way they live.

Issues of class and race are not unique to America and while reading this I could not help but draw parallels to Australia and the rise of right wing populism here. I also thought a lot about The Spirit Level (2009) and the argument that we need to actively build more equal societies. Unfortunately we still lack the political will to address the underlying issues. But eye-opening books like Hillbilly Elegy may make people pause and think about the world we want to live in. It has certainly been thought provoking for me.

Who Do You Think You Are?

In 2010, Scottish actor Alan Cumming  was invited to be part of the BBC genealogy television show Who Do You Think You Are?  The show takes a celebrity and traces their family tree. Cumming was keen to explore the mystery of his maternal grandfather, war hero Tommy Darling, who died while serving as a British police officer in Malaya.

During the weeks and months that Cumming was filming this show, a mini-series and his recurring part on The Good Wife, another drama was unfolding. His estranged father Alex Cumming told him that Alan was not his son. At age 45, Cumming was suddenly in turmoil as he tries to make sense of his life. This sensemaking is the basis for his wonderful memoir Not My Father's Son (2014).

Cumming has avoided a celebrity memoir of glitz and glamour to tell the story of his upbringing.  His childhood was extremely difficult by his violent, philandering father, who physically and emotionally abused and belittled his children and undermined his wife. Cumming's mother Mary Darling countered this abuse with love, support and encouragement.

The memoir moves back and forth in time, from the 2010 filming of the documentary to Cumming's childhood on the Panmure Estate in Carnoustie, Scotland, and to various times in between. The exploration of the double mysteries - uncovering grandfather Tommy Darling and the surprise of Alex Cumming's bombshell - is a great narrative device.

While some of the memoir is quite dark, Cumming's wit, humility and honesty make it compelling reading. Deeply moving, intimate, funny and intriguing with its' many twists and turns. Cumming's conversational tone makes the reader feel as if you are there with him, a dear friend, sharing his journey. By the time I finished, I wanted to hug Alan tightly and then go out with him for a beer.

The Stella Prize Longlist 2017

The Stella Prize is an annual literary award celebrating women writers of both fiction and non-fiction. Named after Australian author Stella Miles Franklin, the Prize was created in 2013 in response to the lack of diversity in nominees for literary awards. It is hoped that through the promotion of excellent books by women, more people will be drawn to their works and inspiration will be given to emerging female writers.

Past winners include:

Carrie Tiffany for Mateship with Birds (2013)

Claire Wright for The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka (2014)

Emily Bitto for The Strays (2015)

Charlotte Wood for The Natural Way of Things (2016)

On 7 February 2017, the longlist for the 2017 Stella Prize was announced with 12 nominees from over 180 entries. This year there was a heavy emphasis on non-fiction, with a diverse range of topics. Brenda Walker, chair of the judging panel, described the books as follows:

Many of them address urgent national issues with particular relevance to women, at a time when women are fighting to be politically seen and heard, and to secure their positions in the public sphere.

When the list was announced, I was surprised to see that I had only read one title and was familiar with a few more, but many were completely unknown to me. Part of the excitement of these prizes is finding new writers and new titles to read.

The 2017 longlist is as follows:

Julia Baird - Victoria: The Queen

Historian and journalist Julia Baird has written an epic tome on Queen Victoria that I have flipped through every time I have seen it in a bookstore, with longing and apprehension. I am intrigued by Victoria and I have heard great things about this biography, which the judges describe as "rich and compelling". But at the same time this is a massive book and I do not feel I can commit to it at this time. Maybe one day.



Georgia Blain - Between a Wolf and a Dog
This novel takes place over the course of one day in Sydney.  Esther is a family therapist who works to bring people together, while personally her own relationships are strained. The judges described the late Georgia Blain's final novel as "a triumph: finely structured, suspenseful and morally acute."  I am not familiar with Blain's work but by all accounts she was a fine writer.


Maxine Beneba Clarke - The Hate Race

The judges describe this memoir as "an important account of growing up in suburban Australia in the 1980s and 1990s." Maxine Beneba Clarke, an Australian of Afro-Carribean descent, faced discrimination and casual racism, and through this book she shows the complacency of white Australia and the reluctance to deal with issues of race. I have seen interviews with Clarke and have read some of her poetry, but have not yet read this book.



Catherine de Saint Phalle - Poum and Alexandre
I must admit, I have never heard of this book, nor its author. Catherine de Saint Phalle is a Melbourne based author and this is her first work of non-fiction. It is a memoir of her unmarried parents and their lives in Paris. The judges describe this as a "tender portrait of a lifelong partnership [that] deserves to be an instant classic of the biography genre."





Madeline Gleeson - Offshore
Lawyer and researcher Madeline Gleeson has written this important book about Australia's offshore refugee regime on Manus and Nauru. She explored the first three years of offshore processing, since it began in 2012 and what it is like behind the wire for the refugees and the staff in detention centres. The judges described this book as "a rigorous and comprehensive narrative on one of the central challenges of our times: the care for those who seek asylum in Australia when life in their own countries becomes untenable." Important indeed.

Julia Leigh - Avalanche
At the 2016 Sydney Writers Festival I heard Julia Leigh speak about this book. It was so heart-wrenching to listen as Leigh shared her story, but I cannot bring myself to read this book. Leigh is a novelist and at the age of 38 she started IVF in an effort to have the family she longed for. She started writing this book at the point when she decided to stop treatment, and as such it is a raw, emotional, and courageous tale of IVF and the cycles of joy and despair felt by so many women for whom IVF is unable to help.

Emily Maguire - An Isolated Incident

I read this book in 2016 and really enjoyed it. A page-turning psychological thriller set in rural Australia, Maguire switches perspectives between two different women as the mystery unfolds. I can see why this was nominated as it is a taut novel which addresses issues such as domestic violence, sexism and discrimination from a feminist perspective. My review of Maguire's book is available on this blog.



Fiona McFarlane - The High Places
This collection of stories brings McFarlane back to the Stella Prize, as she was shortlisted in 2014 for her debut novel, The Night Guest. The judges call this collection "consistently brilliant, inventive and memorable... richly observed stories about complex people and situations, told by a gifted writer." I love short stories, especially Alice Munro and more recently the work of Tegan Bennett Daylight. I look forward to reading this.


Elspeth Muir - Wasted

Muir was inspired to write this book after her young brother killed himself after getting intoxicated and jumping off a bridge. Alexander was celebrating completing his final exams, and was not looking to harm himself. Following the shock and grief of this event, Muir put her skills to work to write about her bereavement and explore how alcohol is consumed by young people. The judges write that "questions about celebration, bravado and the mitigation of intoxication from within and outside the family are raised in this engaging, generous and multifaceted book."


Heather Rose - The Museum of Modern Love
This is the seventh novel of Tasmanian author Heather Rose. The judges describe this as "an ambitious novel that demonstrates the value of art as a catalyst for love, connection, and an apprehension of mystery." The novel ponders deep questions through characters attending a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Sounds interesting, and I totally I love the cover of this book. Update June 2017: read review here.

Cory Taylor - Dying: A Memoir

Taylor wrote this book while she was dying from cancer. A life-affirming memoir about dying, novelist Taylor details why she wanted to choose the circumstances of her death. While I have no doubt this book is well written, I don't feel like I want to read this book. Having recently read Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking (2005), I know that books about death can be inspiring and uplifting, but I think I will pass on this at this time.


Sonya Voumard - The Media and the Massacre
In 1996 Australia was shaken by the Port Arthur massacre in which a lone madman opened fire at a historic site in Tasmania, killing 35 and wounding dozens more. Twenty years on, Voumard has explored the way in which he media responded to the crime. Described as part memoir and part ethical investigation, this book looks at the journalist profession and their responsibilities. This book sounds fascinating to me and I have just reserved it at the library. Update February 2017: read review here.

The Shortlist will be announced on 8 March - International Women's Day - with the winner revealed on 18 April 2017. Better get reading!

Random Reads (05/02/17)

Another week has passed and yet it seems so much longer, with Trump's Executive Orders and actions banning refugees, cutting funding to women's health, repealing affordable health care, facilitating the construction of pipelines through native land, lessening regulations on Wall Street, building a wall along the Mexican border, reorganising security councils to put Steve Bannon in the mix, and withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. And then he picked a fight with Australia!

There have been many fascinating articles to read this week about the downfall of American democracy. Here is a sample:

• Benjamin Wallace Wells writes in The New Yorker about A Dangerously Isolated President which highlights the way in which he is ruling with little thought for Congress and its legislative powers. 
• David Frum has an excellent piece in The Atlantic about How to Build an Autocracy. He highlights how Hungary has ceased to become a free country in the last ten years through a non-violent campaign of intimidation and pressure. He writes that the US is not immune to corruption, and there will be little opportunity to stop Trump from excess: 

A British prime minister can lose power in minutes if he or she forfeits the confidence of the majority in Parliament. The president of the United States, on the other hand, is restrained first and foremost by his own ethics and public spirit. What happens if somebody comes to the high office lacking those qualities?

• Nicolas Kristof writes in the New York Times about the funding cuts to Planned Parenthood, Marie Stopes International and numerous other health care facilities in President Trump's War on Women Begins. 
• In The New Yorker Jeffrey Frank writes about the meta-bullying of Trump in Speechless: The Trump Effect
• Jonathan Alter writes in The Daily Beast - Donald Trump, Our 'America First' President, is Profoundly Un-American - because he has forgone the values and ideals that America's Founding Fathers enshrined into the Declaration of Independence.
• Time Magazine published an interesting piece on puppetmaster Steve Bannon - Is Steve Bannon the Second Most Powerful Man in the World?
• There is a humourous piece in the Washington Post by Dana Milbank called It's about Time Someone Picked a Fight with Australia! 

But it is not all terrible. Some of the more interesting Trump-related pieces are:

• The Independent published 2017 isn't 1984 - it's stranger than imagined. Apparently sales of George Orwell's 1984 have skyrocketed. I am reckoning they are being used by the Trump administration as instruction manuals on how to create the Ministry of Truth (for the Alternative Facts), the Ministry of Peace and the Ministry of Love.
• Likewise, Electric Literature writes that Dystopian Novels are All the Rage. Literature as resistance!
• Legendary JK Rowling has taken to Twitter to respond to people who do not like that she does not like Trump. There is a good summary of her takedowns on Bookriot.

But enough about Trump!

This week I enjoyed reading Jane Bozarth, Crystal Balling with Learnnovators. In this interview with Dr Bozarth, she talks about how she became a learning and organisational development thought leader. I really enjoyed her book Show Your Work (2014) about how to capture knowledge within an organisation through working out loud. She talks about how you can use Snapchat and Pinterest for learning.

I was saddened to hear that Bharati Mukherjee passed away on 28 Jan 2017. I remember reading Jasmine (1989) as part of my undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto. Jasmine was a young widow who moved from India to Iowa and has to recreate herself with each move she makes to adapt, assimilate and find her own identity. I haven't thought of that book in over 20 years, but it may be worth reading again.

My first feminist hero, Mary Tyler Moore, passed away this week too. I remember watching the Mary Tyler Moore Show (in rerun) as a tween, admiring character Mary Richards' pluck and independence. I loved her joyous hat-tossing and have often sung the theme song in my head when I felt satisfied with professional accomplishments. Sarah Larson writes a wonderful article about MTM in The New Yorker. Thank you Mary!