Part One of this interview can be found here.
Pictured: Emily Maguire and I before the Sleepers Salon in October.
I ask Maguire about the setting. Is it pertinent for this story to be set in Sydney? She says it probably could have been a few cities, but ‘western Sydney is – the cliché is ‘melting pot’, [...]
Author Archives: LiteraryMinded
This cumulative kind of effect when you stop: an interview with Emily Maguire on Smoke in the Room, part two
November 5, 2009 – 7:53 am
This cumulative kind of effect when you stop: an interview with Emily Maguire on Smoke in the Room, part one
November 3, 2009 – 12:23 pm
In Smoke in the Room, three characters end up in a share house in Sydney. Katie works on instinct and is weighted by an overwhelming empathy. Adam, an American, is grieving and needs to save money to get home. Graeme, an aid worker, has rid himself of possessions and simplified his existence. In this novel, [...]
Moving house, check out Readings Monthly and diminishing attention spans
October 31, 2009 – 8:29 am
Lots of books are getting moved from one place to another this weekend (and categorised and alphabetised) so forgive me for being a bit quiet.
It’s not online yet, but my feature interview with Alex Miller, on his new novel Lovesong, has just come out in the November issue of Readings Monthly. Pick up a copy if [...]
Buying time: Liz Sinclair on asking for money to write her book
October 29, 2009 – 8:50 am
I was very curious when I heard about Liz Sinclair’s project ‘Help Me Write My Book’. Like many writers, Liz has to work to support herself, and of course, work takes time away from what she’s really wanting to do – write that book. My first reaction, honestly, was something along the lines of ‘why does she [...]
Avatar: a mash-up
October 25, 2009 – 10:53 am
This piece is a mash-up of an undergrad essay from a couple of years ago, plus present thoughts, imaginings and speculation on the narrative of self in a virtual environment.
Storytelling is as old as humanity. The human has always actively projected him/herself into realms of fantasy (through song, art, drama, writing). Modernity advanced the visual aspect of [...]
Guest review: Lorelei Vashti on Linda Neil’s Learning How to Breathe
October 22, 2009 – 7:55 am
9780702237348
UQP
September 2009 (Australia)
Review by Lorelei Vashti
When I was first offered this book to review I thought: Well, Ms Meyer, it seems that not only are you literary-minded but you’re also literally minded, because what you have given me here is a book about a Brisbane girl returning home to her family. Which, Angela—as you very [...]
And the winner is…
October 21, 2009 – 10:13 pm
Twitter user @whymicesing (Michelle Farran) is the winner of the double pass to the Speakeasy Cinema screening of Obscene: A Portrait of Barnet Rosset and Grove Press, along with a burgers and bevvies. Michelle’s answer was My Secret Life and Tropic of Cancer. Cheers for your entries! Come along anyway if you like - ticket details are in [...]
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Snapshot
Number of items on to-do list: Nine. Not too bad.
The next five books I’m planning to read in no particular order: Jasper Jones (Craig Silvey), Siren (Tara Moss), Parrot & Olivier in America (Peter Carey), The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe (J Randy Taraborrelli), The Year of the Flood (Margaret Atwood).
Time I got to bed [...]