Tag Archives: fiction

Man Booker Winner 2016

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Karen Whitelaw

I heard Paul Beatty talking about his novel The Sellout on Radio National’s Books and Arts . It’s an insightful interview by Sky Kirkham. The Australian Independent Bookseller had this to say about the novel that won this year’s Man … Continue reading →

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Fiction & Compassion

Posted on January 26, 2016 by Karen Whitelaw

  In a large regional town like any other large regional town in Australia lives a woman in her 60s. One of those battlers – you know them, the people who life has kicked around a bit but they get … Continue reading →

Posted in fiction, life, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Characters in Place

Posted on June 12, 2015 by Karen Whitelaw

Jon Snow from Game of Thrones was invited to a swish New York dinner party. Incongruous? Absolutely. Watch the video clip of the dinner. It’s hilarious. I laugh out loud every time I think of it, yet something about it … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, writing process | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

All is Not Well on the Australian Literary Front

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Karen Whitelaw

Last Monday the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards Fiction Prize was split between Richard Flanagan for The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Steven Carroll for A World of Other People. When Richard Flanagan gave the $40,000 prize money he … Continue reading →

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Richard Flanagan on his Man Booker winner

Posted on October 15, 2014 by Karen Whitelaw

Breaking News: Richard Flanagan won the 2014 Man Booker with his novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North. This morning I listened to his interview with Guardian Books. The first thing that struck me was here was someone who … Continue reading →

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Characters and Objects

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Karen Whitelaw

Look at someone’s room and you’ll know something of its owner. The sunroom with a bright rug of crotchet-squares hanging over a wooden rocker. The rumpus room with the giant flat-screened TV and the brick bar in the corner. The … Continue reading →

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Friday Fictioneers – January 31

Posted on January 30, 2014 by Karen Whitelaw

Every Friday writers from around the world contribute 100 word stories prompted by a photograph supplied by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields to Friday Fictioneers. Everyone is welcome to contribute and we love comments on our stories. No Smoking in Workshop Ted was … Continue reading →

Posted in Short stories, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 40 Comments

Characters are Pieces of History

Posted on January 26, 2014 by Karen Whitelaw

We, and our characters, all exist in a public and a private life at the same time. I’m someone’s sister, wife, child, mother, friend, neighbour. I’m that person who loves the thrill of body surfing large breakers, and gets asthma … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments

A Writer’s Glimpse of a Man Booker Winner

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Karen Whitelaw

I’ve started reading Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries, winner of The 2013 Man-Booker Prize, and I’m in awe. It’s fiercely intelligent. The language consistently reflects the mid-19th century, and rolls along in an improbable mix of luxuriously precise prose. Sometimes I … Continue reading →

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Friday Fictioneers – 20th December

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Karen Whitelaw

Every Friday writers from around the world contribute 100 word stories prompted by a photograph supplied by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields to Friday Fictioneers. Everyone is welcome to contribute and we love comments on our stories. Ripples That afternoon the cherry trees … Continue reading →

Posted in Short stories | Tagged , , , , | 39 Comments