Georgia Blain Georgia Blain i(A11996 works by)
Born: Established: 12 Dec 1964 Sydney, New South Wales, ; Died: Ceased: 10 Dec 2016
Gender: Female
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Works By

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1 4 y separately published work icon We All Lived in Bondi Then Georgia Blain , Carlton North : Scribe , 2024 27045907 2024 selected work short story

'From the author of the multi-award-winning bestseller Between a Wolf and a Dog, a powerful collection of previously unpublished stories.

'A sister is haunted by the consequences of a simple mistake. A daughter searches for certainty as her mother’s memory degrades. An encounter at a house party changes the course of a life.

'In We All Lived in Bondi Then, beloved Australian author Georgia Blain returns to her resonant themes of relationships and family, illness and health, love and death. Composed in Blain’s final years, these nine stories grapple with large questions on a human scale, brimming with her trademark acuity, nuance, and warmth.' (Publication summary)

1 Lost for Words Georgia Blain , 2017 single work essay
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 26 August - 1 September 2017;

'When the late writer underwent surgery for a tumour in the language centre of her brain, she faced the fear her command of English would be irrevocably damaged. '

1 2 y separately published work icon The Museum of Words : A Memoir of Language, Writing and Mortality Georgia Blain , Brunswick : Scribe , 2017 11523068 2017 single work autobiography

'In late 2015, Georgia Blain was diagnosed with a tumour sitting right in the language centre of her brain. Prior to this, Georgia’s only warning had been a niggling sense that her speech was slightly awry. She ignored it, and on a bright spring day, as she was mowing the lawn, she collapsed on a bed of blossoms, blood frothing at her mouth.

'Waking up to find herself in the back of an ambulance being rushed to hospital, she tries to answer questions, but is unable to speak. After the shock of a bleak prognosis and a long, gruelling treatment schedule, she immediately turns to writing to rebuild her language and herself.

'At the same time, her mother, Anne Deveson, moves into a nursing home with Alzheimer's; weeks earlier, her best friend and mentor had been diagnosed with the same brain tumour. All three of them are writers, with language at the core of their being.

'The Museum of Words is a meditation on writing, reading, first words and last words, picking up thread after thread as it builds on each story to become a much larger narrative. This idiosyncratic and deeply personal memoir is a writer’s take on how language shapes us, and how often we take it for granted — until we are in danger of losing it.' (Publication Summary)

1 5 y separately published work icon Special Georgia Blain , North Sydney : Random House , 2016 9021226 2016 single work novel science fiction

'I am a Lotto Girl. I should not be here. Why haven't they come for me?

'Fern Marlow is alone, datawiped and in hiding. Her mobie says she's Delia Greene, a reuse sorter for ReCorp. Every day she queues to work to earn enough data credits to buy enough food and water to stay alive. Every night she dreams of her former life, the life she's meant to be living: back at exclusive Halston school for girls, a prodigy whose life has been set since before her birth, when her parents won a lottery to have their daughter genetically designed by BioPerfect.

'Her rescuers said that she couldn't trust BioPerfect, that her life was a lie. But they also said they'd come for her, and they haven't.

'Fern doesn't know who to trust. To find the truth, she needs to answer the one question she can't face. Is she special?' (Publication summary)

1 13 y separately published work icon Between a Wolf and a Dog Georgia Blain , Brunswick : Scribe , 2016 8849783 2016 single work novel

'Outside, the rain continues unceasing; silver sheets sluicing down, the trees and shrubs soaking and bedraggled, the earth sodden, puddles overflowing, torrents coursing onwards, as the darkness slowly softens with the dawn.

'Ester is a family therapist with an appointment book that catalogues the woes of the middle class. She spends her days helping others find happiness, but her own family relationships are tense and frayed. Estranged from both her sister, April, and her ex-husband, Lawrence, Ester wants to be able to let herself fall in love again. Meanwhile, April and Lawrence are battling through their own messy lives, and Ester and April’s mother, Hilary, is facing the most significant decision she’ll ever have to make.

'Taking place over one rainy day in Sydney, and rendered with the evocative and powerful prose Blain is known for, Between a Wolf and a Dog is a novel about dissatisfactions and anxieties in the face of relative privilege. Yet it is also a celebration of the best in all of us — our capacity to live in the face of ordinary sorrows, and to draw strength from the transformative power of art. Ultimately, it is a joyous recognition of the profound beauty of being alive.' (Publication summary)

1 Far From Home Georgia Blain , 2016 single work short story
— Appears in: The Best Australian Stories 2016 2016; (p. 71-82)
'High in the hills it was still too hot, although from the back of an airconditioned car you could almost pretend that it was a European winter, the clouds were so grey and low. In the front seat her mother asked the driver the same questions over and over again, mostly innocuous variation of where he was born, or some harmless query about what they were passing. Then, whenever there was a pause she would lean over to ask whether they had bushfires in these hills. This last one never made sense to him. 'Yeees,' he said, drawing the word out, like a wide uncertain smile, although it was clear he didn't understand her...' (Introduction)
1 Choose Control Georgia Blain , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 8 October 2016;
'As her tumour returns, Georgia Blain knows the greatest comfort available to her would be the right to choose how she dies.'
1 In Sickness and in Health Georgia Blain , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 23 July 2016;
'As her partner bears witness to all the ambiguity her illness entails, the author has learnt what it means to truly love.'
1 The Unwelcome Guest : Waiting, Knowing and MRIs Georgia Blain , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 25 June 2016;
'Dogged by the uncertainty of incurable illness, is there comfort in sometimes not knowing test results?'
1 The Unwelcome Guest : Meditation and Guilt Georgia Blain , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 21 May 2016;
'How do you find the balance between living and the ongoing treatment that brain cancer requires?'
1 À Propos de Pittwater Georgia Blain , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 23 April 2016;
'How our shifting perceptions of art reflect the moment we’re at in our lives.'
1 Mercy and Euthanasia Georgia Blain , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 26 March 2016;
'Euthanasia is often described as a caring act, but should the ongoing needs of the dying take precedence?'
1 The Unwelcome Guest : Going to Plan Georgia Blain , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 30 January 2016;

'Can a detailed planner come to terms with the uncertainty of a cancer diagnosis and learn to live day to day?'

1 Slipping the Curtain Open Georgia Blain , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December no. 377 2015; (p. 24)

— Review of Six Bedrooms Tegan Bennett Daylight , 2015 selected work short story
1 Selected Shorts Debra Adelaide , Tony Birch , Carmel Bird , Georgia Blain , Maxine Beneba Clarke , Susan Midalia , Ryan O'Neill , Paddy O'Reilly , Chris Somerville , Maria Takolander , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , September no. 364 2014; (p. 52-50)

— Review of Heat and Light Ellen van Neerven , 2014 selected work short story ; Captives Angela Meyer , 2014 selected work short story ; Arms Race : And Other Stories Nicolas Low , 2014 selected work short story ; Las Vegas for Vegans A. S. Patrić , 2012 selected work short story ; An Elegant Young Man Luke Carman , 2013 selected work short story ; Tarcutta Wake Josephine Rowe , 2012 selected work short story
1 Big Dreams Georgia Blain , 2013 single work short story
— Appears in: Island , Autumn no. 132 2013; (p. 31-37)
1 6 y separately published work icon The Secret Lives of Men Georgia Blain , Brunswick : Scribe , 2013 Z1931528 2013 selected work short story 'In these haunting stories, Georgia Blain explores human nature in all its richness: our motivations, our desires and our shortcomings. The men in these tales frequently linger at the edges - their longings & failures exerting a subterranean pull on the women in their lives.' (Publisher's blurb)
1 [Essay] : Faith Singer Georgia Blain , 2013 single work essay
— Appears in: Reading Australia 2013-;

'These are the words of Faith Singer, a whisky-drinking, parsley-chewing (to hide the smell), white-haired blues singer who has enough heart, courage, honesty and failings to make her one of the most unforgettable characters of Australian writing. Faith’s words, towards the end of the book, capture the wisdom of a novel that is about the importance of compassion, truth, love and maintaining faith in humanity in all its mess, chaos, tenderness and brutality. It is a voice that is vivid and authentic, coming from a woman that I am reluctant to call a character – she is more akin to a living being; the kind of person that we all need in our lives.' (Introduction)

1 1 The Secret Lives of Men Georgia Blain , 2012 single work short story
— Appears in: Review of Australian Fiction , vol. 1 no. 2 2012; Review of Australian Fiction , Omnibus vol. 1 no. 2012;
1 y separately published work icon Strange Times Georgia Blain , Milsons Point : Random House , 2012 Z1862887 2012 single work essay 'As a child Georgia Blain craved normality. With both parents in the public eye and the 1970s in full swing, she dreamt of a family more like the versions depicted in her mother's weekly newspaper column. At the end of her primary years, Georgia is given the opportunity to reinvent herself, change schools and begin Opportunity Class, only to discover that all environments expose Strange Times.' (Source: Publisher website)
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