Tag: non-fiction

Book review — Shirley Hazzard: a Writing Life, by Brigitta Olubas

Title: Shirley Hazzard: a Writing Life

Author: Brigitta Olubas

Publisher: Hachette/Virago Press, 2022; RRP $34.99

Shirley Hazzard was an important Australian author, born in 1931 and dying in 2016. Though born in Australia, she left in 1947, travelling through Europe with her family. She finished up in New York where she worked with the United Nations through the 1950s and where she spent the rest of her life. 

Her 2003 novel, The Great Fire, won the US National Book Award, the Miles Franklin award and the William Dean Howells medal, and was named Book of the Year by The Economist. Her 1970 novel, The Bay of Noon, was shortlisted for the 2010 Lost Man Booker Prize; her 1980 novel The Transit of Venus, an international bestseller, won the National Book Critics Circle Award; her novel A Long Story Short won the 1977 O Henry award. and she was shortlisted for numerous other awards. She also wrote non-fiction.

Whenever people speak of her writing. constant reference is made to the particular beauty of her writing, in words like ‘luminous’ and ‘brilliant’, but also wisdom and insight.  From The Transit of Venus we read,

            “When you realise someone is trying to hurt you, it hurts less.

            “Unless you love them.”

or my favourite,

            “Dora sat on a corner of the spread rug, longing to be assigned some task so she could resent it.”

This is an authorised biography written by Brigitta Olubras, a University of New South Wales  English professor whose areas of research includes Australian literature and transnational writing, literary and visual culture, gender studies and narrative ethics. The academic qualifications of the author are reflected in this densely researched work and its layout.

Read an obituary of Shirley Hazzard by James Campbell

@ the guardian

It is difficult to do justice to this very extensive biography of Shirley Hazzard without reference to its sheer volume. It is so comprehensive that it could be described as being at the intersection where biography meets reference work, almost a mini encyclopedia.

Because of this, the work is not just a little daunting, but a huge plus is that its layout is well set out, detailed, thorough, and easy to navigate. It is laid out such that particular areas of interest can be easily located without having to plough through the whole book.

Under Sources we are given a guide to using both Sources and Notes. Both provide guidance for future researchers or those just interested in looking deeper into her subject’s life find more material. Of particular value is a reference to the existence of as yet unorganised material, which is almost all Hazzard’s diaries and notebooks, suggesting the story of her life is not finished. Instead of a bibliography by title as is usual, there is a list of abbreviations for each source used in the copious Notes following. 

This takes the reader to the source, and this, if followed up, is a chance to check the context of quotes and also the location of the item quoted from. The Index is a richly detailed gateway to very specific areas. I found the bits referring to Hazzard’s relationship with her sister interesting. for example, but being scattered throughout made it difficult to get the full picture as they were mainly snippets of information, many pages apart. However, by working my way through the pages listed in the Index under her sisters name, I was able to get a clearer picture. In contrast, the Contents page is a simple chronological list, meaning interest in a particular time frame is very easy to find. My only criticism of this area would be that the text is smaller than the rest of the book and some may find this difficult.

Watch a talk by the author about A Writing Life

the center for fiction @ youtube

The author has used as her source a wide range of published and unpublished material, so unlike a reference tool it is rich with personal detail and pages of photographs, and crosses the boundary between her subject’s personal and family life, and her writing aims and output rather than just being a collection of facts.

Anyone interested in Australian literature generally and Shirley Hazzard particularly would find this very useful to absorb slowly in its entirety or dip in and out of. Those who enjoy biographies would enjoy it as the mix of Hazzard’s personal and professional life makes her come alive on the pages.

Reviewed by: Rhonda Cotsell

Ballarat Writers Inc. Book Review Group

Review copy supplied by the publisher

Book review – The Writer Laid Bare, by Lee Kofman

Title: The Writer Laid Bare: Emotional Honesty in a Writer’s Art, Craft and Life

Author: Lee Kofman

Publisher: Ventura Press, April 2022; RRP: $32.99

Lee Kofman holds a PhD in social sciences and a MA in creative writing. Lee, who lives in Melbourne, is a writer, mentor, editor and teacher. She identifies as a Russian-born Israeli-Australian writer and has written three fiction books and two memoirs. Lee has also co-edited works and written short pieces that have been published in Australia as well as the US, Scotland, UK, Canada and Israel.

Lee Kofman doesn’t do things by halves. In The Writer Laid Bare, she tackles the big and complicated issues of writing in a way that only an experienced and brave writer can. This book, written in her third language, English, covers themes that most writers at some time or other struggle with. The notion of ‘mastering emotional honesty in writing is explored in a depth that makes the book unique.

‘Nonesty’ is a term developed and used by the author to describe a writing process that isn’t honest, integrated or in touch with the complexities of the subject. ‘Artistic writing begins with self-awareness of, and honesty about our psychological landscape — all those messy emotions, thoughts and memories that make us who we are.’

Lee Kofman reads from The Writer Laid Bare

@ writing western sydney: the readings

Further to the above, Lee introduces tenets for the writer in regard to finding their subject. They are: ‘write about what is urgent’, ‘just wait’, ‘write what you need to understand’, and write ‘what makes you blush’. These are challenging and confronting notions for any writer to negotiate but steer us toward the honesty that, I believe, Lee knows so well and is the prelude to writers moving towards an accomplished and satisfying level of writing.

Covering topics in an in-depth manner, this book is structured into four parts, exploring psychological, personal, practical, and external factors that influence a writer’s life. It’s easy to read and relevant to writers whether emerging or established. The author shares and exposes her own experiences with great generosity, which allows a level of authenticity seldom seen in books on the topic of writing. Alongside the personal disclosures are the well-researched inclusions from a wide-ranging field of experts.

This book is a journey into the mind of a writer who has spent time understanding and then understanding again the enormous complexities of writing fiction or non-fiction and how the use of self and self-awareness impacts on all aspects of our writing.

The Writer Laid Bare is a wonderful contribution to writers and the writing sector in Australia and beyond.

Reviewed by: Heather Whitford Roche

Ballarat Writers book Review Group, May 2022

Review copy provided by the publisher

Book review – Missing, by Tom Patterson

Title: Missing

Author: Tom Patterson

Publisher: Allen & Unwin, January 2022; RRP: $32.99

Missing is the first book for Tom Patterson, who grew up in the New England region of New South Wales. A hiker himself, he spent time in the gorge country, but he never saw or met Mark May, the man whose true story he tells with compassion and insight.

The author pays tribute to the May family, especially Peter May, Mark’s brother who provided Tom with documents, photos, and details of Mark’s life. Peter even spent time with Tom in the Gorge where Mark lived for thirty-five years.

Born into a Catholic family in the fifties, Mark was the second of seven boys. They lived in Armidale before moving to a fifty-acre property called Bynalong, just outside of town. Their father, Phil, along with the boys established the property from scratch. Mark was never a willing participator and avoided his father. Mark and his brothers became familiar with the rugged terrain and often camped out, becoming accustomed to the tough conditions.

Mark’s rebellion started early, and his school days were marked with difficult encounters. He was an unsettled student but bright. Drugs and drink became problematic until Mark decided to put things right. It didn’t last long. He and two of his brothers went away to boarding school where Mark’s problems surfaced but he managed to sit his Higher School Certificate. He obtained entry to Australian National University to study law but continued to heavily use drugs. Mark eventually took to the life of a hermit, only coming out of the remote gorge country to collect supplies and sometimes to have fleeting contact with family members.

In 2017, after not sighting Mark for many months, his brothers Pete and Steve with two other family members decided to search for him. Their suspicions and concerns were well-founded when they found one of Mark’s campsites and discovered his remains.

Tom Patterson talks about Missing with Deborah Knight

at 2GB

Tom Patterson has structured this book in a way that gives Mark’s life understanding, an understanding that we are often not privileged to see. Mark, through his letters to friends and family in the earlier years, showed his emotional state at the time, his ongoing struggle and his fine and clever mind. He had extreme reactions to the norms of society; living a life as a hermit may have been his only workable choice. It’s hard to imagine such a tormented mind and not want to reach out to him. But Mark was also strong. He lived for three and a half decades in survival mode in extremely rough terrain.

I recommend Missing, a sad and unique story of a man and his unconventional life.

Reviewed by: Heather Whitford Roche, February 2022

Ballarat Writers Book Review Group

Review copy provided by the publisher

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