An essay I wrote on Australian poet Ern Malley, "Fake Poets and Literary Dreams", has been posted to the South Wing website.

The shortlist for the Miles Franklin award has been announced.

My money is on Tsiolkas for this. He's already won at least one other award (the 2009 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for South East Asia and the Pacific, and the others are fairly well crowned when it comes to Australian literary awards. That said, it's a very safe list, and it is a pity that some of the other, lesser known talents weren't included in the shortlist.

And here is the list:

I recently interview Christopher Fauske, who has translated Norwegian author Alexander Kielland's novel, Skipper Worse, into English. You can read the interview at the South Wing website.

The latest addition to the website is my review of Norwegian author Alexander Kielland's novel, Skipper Worse.

Skipper Worse is a closely observed novel of the social, political, and economic mores of a small Norwegian fishing town. Kielland's voice is clear and precise, and the depth of insight he achieves in a small number of pages is simply awe-inspiring.

The latest review to be added is of Australian author Richard Yaxley's novel, The Rose Leopard.

The Rose Leopard, aside from a well-written and emotionally resonant forty-odd pages near the start of the novel, is an unfortunate novel, poorly told with an astonishingly unappealing protagonist. I would heartily recommend avoiding it except....except....well, those forty pages are good, which makes all the rest more irritating.

The latest review to be added is my review of Australian author Andrew McGahan's novel, Praise.

Praise is miserable, bleak, unpleasant and dismal. There is no sunshine in the work, nothing happy at all. Artistically it is a boiled down work, the narrator's voice reduced to its sparest, most essential parts. And yet - McGahan tell his story well, with the confidence and force of a skilled writer. Recommended to help understand contemporary Australian literature, but it's not a nice read.