Celebrating Australian Women Writers in the Short Story Form.

My roundup here includes the end of 2017 with the starting blocks of 2018 and it certainly looks as if members are off to a cracking New Year. Let’s hope it will be a good one for all writers, and for Australian Women Writers in particular.

Sue at Whispering Gums says that while her head can understand why some readers don’t like short stories, her ‘readerly heart’ cannot which is just one of the reasons why I love her site. In reviewing Stephanie Buckle’s collection, Habits of silence, she analyses the silence of the title and the way it permeates many of the stories.  The excerpts Sue chooses to showcase Buckle’s ‘honed spare writing’ shine the spotlight perfectly and you can’t help but feel that rush of excitement . . . a collection worth chasing up.

Ashleigh at The Book Muse shares a wonderful review of Vasilisa the Wise and Other Tales of Brave Young Women by Kate Forsyth and Illustrated by Lorena Carrington. The title alone is enough to excite me. Ashleigh tells us that these retellings manage to ‘keep the integrity of the original whilst giving it wings and a new voice …’ :

It is an amazing book that can be read alone or out loud to younger people and shared with young women of all ages to show them how to be courageous and brave.

Bravo!

Vasilisa-cover-Kate-Forsyth

Theresa Smith, a fan of Kate Forsyth, singles out ‘The Stolen Child’ as her favourite and praises the collection as a whole as ‘a true celebration of girl power’.  Theresa also quotes from Lorena Carrington’s illustrator notes to give us some insight into this ‘beautiful book with the most unique and striking illustrations’. The illustration shared on Theresa’s review is indeed stunning. Check it out.

Writer Cass Moriarty is a prolific reader and reviewer so we won’t hold it against her when she says she did not read this ‘great doorstop of a book, the size of two house bricks’ from cover to cover. Cass did, however, read every Australian contributor. Deadlier: 100 of the Best Crime Stories Written by Women compiled and edited by Sophie Hannah sounds like a must for crime enthusiasts.

I’ll catch you all in March with the next short story roundup. Happy reading and reviewing everyone.