Morgan returns and she has opinions

Morgan Returns ... with opinions

I've recently returned from a terrific road trip down the NSW South Coast, across the Great Ocean Road and the Coorong to Adelaide, up to Lake Mungo and Broken Hill, and then through western NSW back to Sydney. I am not going to use the much overused word ‘surreal’ to describe the disconnect between the book I was reading in a motel at night and the Australian landscape I was seeing through the car window by day.

Set in Paris just before Covid, and during the 1970s, Lauren Elkin's erudite novel Scaffolding centres on Anna, a psychotherapist grieving after a miscarriage. Elkin (Art Monsters) has much to say about Jacques Lacan and his famous Seminars, about living in Paris and its beautiful apartments, to the notion of jouissance, desire, fidelity, friendship, marriage and motherhood. So, not the rollicking yarn or rural noir that may have been more suited to the environment I was traveling through. Nevertheless, I found Scaffolding to be deeply satisfying and thought-provoking. Thematically, it has much in common with Michelle de Kretser's forthcoming tour de force, Theory and Practice, which I’ll have much to say about closer to its November release date.

Whether one likes a novel or not is a very subjective thing. A lot of people, including my highly esteemed colleague (and editor of this gleemail) Andrew Sims, loved Colm Toibin's Long Island, but it did nothing for me. He is similarly taken by Rachel Kushner's Creation Lake, which has been very well reviewed and longlisted for the Booker. Much as I enjoyed it on a superficial level - the main character is a delightfully immoral young woman and its French setting is charming - by half way through I was wondering where it was going, and when I finished, didn't think it had gone anywhere much. You may just love it, and if you're already a fan of Rachel Kushner, you certainly will.

Disturbing news this week about Shawline Publishing and the rather tricky past of its founder Brad Shaw. This is one of the many outfits online who promise inexperienced authors fame and fortune and best-seller status for their babies. Authors paid Shaw as much as $6,000 and got virtually no publicity, no sales, and no royalties in return. Beware would-be authors. You should always contact the Australian Society of Authors before signing any contracts with a non-mainstream publisher.

Also disturbing is news of the staff redundancies which have been announced by Network 9/SMH/ The Age et al. Literary Editor Jason Steger is apparently one of the journos to go, no doubt to be replaced by a 12 year old cadet. What an outrage.

Morgan

August - September Gleaner

The August-September Gleaner is out now. Pick up a copy from any of our branches while they last, or browse/download a digital copy. Your favourite columnists, the usual double-spread of bargain priced remainders, and to coincide with his upcoming Glebe event in conversation with Michelle de Kretser, we have an extract from Malcolm Knox's chilling new satire The First Friend.

If you would like a hard copy of the Gleaner posted to you, it is one of the benefits (along with free events and postage) of our Gleeclub rewards programme.

New September Events

Our upstairs events programme is heating up! Here are two new September events just announced! Local legend Reg Mombassa braves Friday the 13th, and get your tastebuds ready for Bundjalung woman Mindy Woods, the second author in our series of culinary events.

Bookings are also open for a swag of new October events too. Check our website for new events with Peter Godfrey-Smith, John Safran, and Rick Morton.

Reg Mombassa – Hypersonic Realism - Friday 13th September

A stunning retrospective of one of Australia’s most beloved and celebrated artists. Reg Mombassa’s work has been a part of the fabric of Australia’s pop culture for over 40 years with his irreverent take on life down under, but it is his unique landscapes that have earned him a place as one of Australia’s most influential and prolific fine artists.

Mindy Woods – Karkalla at Home - Thursday 19th September

Chef, author and proud Bundjalung woman Mindy Woods features stories and profiles on more than 40 of the continent’s most readily available native ingredients, including the iconic macadamia, citruses, berries, plums, myrtles and seeds, coastal greens and succulents, and a host of exceptional native seafood.
Karkalla At Home, a please-use-me cookbook that brings Australia’s incredible bounty of native foods into your kitchen.

BAD Sydney Giveaway

We have double passes to give away to three sessions in the upcoming BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival 2024 taking place from the 11th-14th September at the State Library of NSW. Email us at competitions@gleebooks.com.au and nominate which of the three sessions you'd like to attend. Make sure you are available to attend; winners only will be notified!

Thursday 12 September 3.30pm
Crime fiction includes all sorts! Hear crime fiction specialist and experienced reviewer Sue Turnbull talk to Sulari Gentill (historical and meta-fiction), Amanda Hampson (cosy crime with an historical angle) and David Whish-Wilson (thriller set on a fishing trawler) about their recent books and what attracts them to writing crime.

Friday 13 September 10.30am
Queer crossroads: Where from here for LGBTIQ+ justice? Michael Burge reads the tea leaves with three authors who refused to accept the cover ups - Steve Johnson who exposed the true nature of his brother Scott’s death, Duncan McNab, former police detective and true-crime and Jonathan Butler who re-examined the unsolved murder of a family member on home soil during WWII.

Saturday 14 September 12.00pm
Sins of the fathers. What is the impact of discovering murder amongst members of your own family tree. Two writers tell their story to Larissa Behrendt. Matthew Condon is writing about his great uncle and David Marr’s Killing for Country exposes hidden secrets.