Award Winning Australian Writing 2008

The Age

Saturday September 20, 2008

Cameron Woodhead

Award Winning Australian Writing 2008

Ed., David Tenenbaum

Melbourne Books, $34.95

THIS ANTHOLOGY OF winning entries from various Australian short story and poetry competitions pretty much confirmed my worst fears about such writing. Sure enough, the material is almost evenly split between droll bushwhackers and deeply felt expiations of personal trauma. Nothing wrong with these things in themselves but they do lead to a lot of unambitious writing. Grief is a common theme, and the best stories in this volume avoid the cliches it can inspire: Stephen McGrath's supple elegy A Parachute Landing In Siberia (winner of The Age short story award) and Ryan O'Neill's vividly experimental Tyypographyy lead the way. Unfortunately, you have to wade through a fair amount of amateurish fiction to get to the gold.

© 2008 The Age

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