Pow! (2003) – MO Yan
Mo Yan’s winning of the Nobel Prize probably couldn’t have come at a better time for Seagull Books, who released this Mo novel several weeks after the award was announced. […]
The Odd Angry Shot (1975) – William NAGLE
I have an odd relationship with Anzac Day. On the one hand, I certainly bear no grudge to individual members of the armed forces of Australia, and admire them for […]
The Gathering (2007) – Anne ENRIGHT
The recent debate over the Booker Prize’s perceived shift away from the literary and towards the ‘readable’ overlooks a variety of important facts. The first, of course, is that one […]
Mateship With Birds (2012) – Carrie TIFFANY
The inaugural Stella Prize was announced last week. Conveniently, because Mateship With Birds was longlisted for both the Stella and the Miles Franklin, I thought I should probably read it […]
The City of Devi (2013) – Manil SURI
The recent tensions on the Korean Peninsula remind us that the flashpoints of the future are not in Europe or America—they are in Asia. From North Korean tinpot tyrants to […]
Americanah (2013) – Chimamanda Ngozi ADICHIE
It’s been seven years since the release of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s excellent novel, Half of a Yellow Sun. It has become so popular, it is about to be released as […]
The Commandant (1975) – Jessica ANDERSON
Expectations are a funny thing. If a book is marked as a ‘classic’—particularly as a forgotten classic that needs re-evaluating—a reader can be forgiven for expecting something quite special. This […]
