El Dorado
Sydney
:
Pan Macmillan Australia
,
2007
Z1362160
2007
single work
novel
crime
detective
thriller
(taught in 10 units)
'There is a serial killer stalking the streets of Melbourne. The victims are killed gently, lovingly, a gold mark traced on their forehead. This killer doesn't hate children. This killer believes in childhood innocence at any cost...El Dorado is the story of a friendship under siege, and the very long shadows that jealousy and betrayal can cast.' - back cover
Carpentaria
Artarmon
:
Giramondo Publishing
,
2006
Z1184902
2006
single work
novel
(taught in 47 units)
Carpentaria's portrait of life in the precariously settled coastal town of Desperance centres on the powerful Phantom family, whose members are the leaders of the Pricklebush people, and their battles with old Joseph Midnight's tearaway Eastend mob on the one hand, and the white officials of Uptown and the neighbouring Gurfurrit mine on the other. Wright's storytelling is operatic and surreal: a blend of myth and scripture, politics and farce. The novel is populated by extraordinary characters - Elias Smith the outcast saviour, the religious zealot Mozzie Fishman, leader of the holy Aboriginal pilgrimage, the murderous mayor Stan Bruiser, the ever-vigilant Captain Nicoli Finn, the activist and prodigal son Will Phantom, and above all, Angel Day the queen of the rubbish-dump, and her sea-faring husband Normal Phantom, the fish-embalming king of time - figures that stand like giants in this storm-swept world. (Backcover)
The Boat
Camberwell
:
Hamish Hamilton
,
2008
Z1495449
2008
selected work
short story
(taught in 42 units)
'In the magnificent opening story, "Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice," a young writer is urged by his friends to mine his father's experiences in Vietnam - and what seems at first a satire on turning one's life into literary commerce becomes a transcendent exploration of homeland, and the ties between father and son. "Cartagena" provides a visceral glimpse of life in Colombia as it enters the mind of a fourteen-year-old hit man facing the ultimate test. In "Meeting Elise" an ageing New York painter mourns his body's decline as he prepares to meet his daughter on the eve of her Carnegie Hall debut. And with graceful symmetry, the final, title story returns to Vietnam, to a fishing trawler crowded with refugees where a young woman's bond with a mother and her small son forces both women to a shattering decision.' (From the author's website.)
The Best Australian Essays : A Ten Year Collection
Collingwood
:
Black Inc.
,
2011
Z1774371
2011
anthology
essay
(taught in 3 units)
The Turning
Sydney
:
Picador
,
2004
Z1146280
2004
selected work
short story
(taught in 12 units)
The Turning comprises seventeen overlapping stories of second thoughts and mid-life regret set in the brooding small-town world of coastal Western Australia. Here are turnings of all kinds - changes of heart, nasty surprises, slow awakenings, sudden detours - where people struggle against the terrible weight of the past and challenge the lives they've made for themselves.
These elegiac stories examine the darkness and frailty of ordinary people and celebrate the moments when the light shines through.
Samson and Delilah
( dir. Warwick Thornton
)
Scarlett Pictures
CAAMA Productions
,
2009
Z1561915
2009
single work
film/TV
(taught in 9 units)
'Samson and Delilah tells the story of two Aboriginal teenagers in a remote community. They live in a sparse environment but one that absorbs all manner of cultural influences, where dot painting and country music exist side by side. Samson gets through his days by sniffing, while Delilah is the caregiver for her nana before taking a moment for herself to listen to Latino music. Their journey ranges across many of the most urgent issues concerning Indigenous people in Australia, homelessness, poverty, domestic violence and substance abuse, but it does so with tenderness, dignity, and even humour.'
Source: Adelaide Film Festival website, www.adelaidefilmfestival.org/ Sighted: 23/02/2009
The Best Australian Poems 2011
John Tranter
(editor),
Collingwood
:
Black Inc.
,
2011
Z1812782
2011
anthology
poetry
(taught in 1 units)
'In The Best Australian Poems 2011, renowned poet John Tranter selects the finest poems written by Australians over the past year. The vibrant and unforgettable voices of established poets blend seamlessly with the fresh voices of emerging poets in this sublime collection.' (From the publisher's website.)
This subject aims to provide students with an opportunity to study some of the most recent Australian writing. It is intended that this subject will complement the Australian Literature subject.
Syllabus:
The subject will cover the following topics:
The major developments in Australian poetry and prose since the 1970s with special reference to: Tradition and experiment; The migrant experience in literature; Black Australian voices; Women's voices in contemporary Australian writing; Post-modernism and other forms of cultural discourse as seen in contemporary Australian writing.
