I am sad to report the news that Cory Taylor has died, aged 61. She was a brave woman, facing her impending death by writing about in a book called Dying: a Memoir. This is not a book I can read at the moment, it’s too soon for me after the death of my mother, and I’m still too raw about the topic, but Dying: a Memoir has been hailed as a remarkable gift and I think it will be one of those books that everyone needs to read at some time.
Cory Taylor burst onto the literary scene in 2011 with Me and Mr Booker which won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for the Pacific Region. This was followed by My Beautiful Enemy (see my review) a book which remains in my memory as wise, thoughtful, and oh yes! exploring something different about Australian life in wartime. It was (and is) a book that changed my mind about things, a book which actually affected the kind of person that I am and the attitudes I have. That is a grand legacy, I think.
I hope Cory Taylor’s friends and family can take some comfort in knowing that there is a vast army of readers out there who feel bereaved by the loss of this remarkable author. We may never have met her, but she lives on in our hearts and minds because of the books she wrote.
ANZ LitLovers LitBlog 
I have Dying on my bedside table ready to read. I have also read My Beautiful Enemy but haven’t yet got to Me and Mr Booker. She was a remarkable woman from all accounts.
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By: sharkell on July 7, 2016
at 11:28 am
I always meant to read Me and Mr Booker… when it first came out I thought, from the blurb, that it was YA but revised that opinion after I read My Beautiful Enemy. If I didn’t currently have so many books that have come in all together from the library I would reserve a copy of it…
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By: Lisa Hill on July 7, 2016
at 12:04 pm
It’s on my list at the library but I am also swamped with library books at the moment. I had to prioritise Dying, though, I think it will be a very important book.
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By: sharkell on July 7, 2016
at 12:16 pm
LOL I hate the way they all come in at once!
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By: Lisa Hill on July 7, 2016
at 12:51 pm
:(
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By: karenlee thompson on July 7, 2016
at 11:44 am
Oh dear, I was only talking about her earlier this week. Very sad to hear. And too young to go. Life can be cruel.
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By: whisperinggums on July 7, 2016
at 1:22 pm
Yes, very hard on her family…
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By: Lisa Hill on July 7, 2016
at 4:44 pm
She died when here time came…..look what she left for us all. Beautiful soul.
If she was born in 1973, doesn’t that make her 43…not nit picking but just wondered…..
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By: Lesley on July 7, 2016
at 2:02 pm
Oh my goodness, yes… my mistake, I misread it from Google and mixed her up with some American Corey Taylor. Thank you for letting me know, I have fixed it now.
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By: Lisa Hill on July 7, 2016
at 4:41 pm
That’s a lovely post, Lisa.
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By: rebecca on July 7, 2016
at 8:47 pm
Yes. so sad. I was affected by My Beautiful Enemy also. thanks writing about it so well.
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By: mdbrady on July 10, 2016
at 4:36 am
[…] is called Datsunland, but there are other beaut novellas of course, including one by the late Cory Taylor so this edition is a bit of a treasure in more ways than […]
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By: Six Degrees of Separation, from Never Let Me Go , to…. | ANZ LitLovers LitBlog on November 5, 2016
at 7:26 pm
[…] Issue #54. It was a great night, hosted by The Hill of Content Bookshop: there was a tribute to Cory Taylor (who has a fiction piece in the edition) and there were readings from the collection as well. This […]
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By: ‘Datsunland’ in Griffith Review #54 Earthly Delights, The Novella Project, edited by Julianne Schultz | ANZ LitLovers LitBlog on March 26, 2017
at 10:56 pm
[…] Issue #54. It was a great night, hosted by The Hill of Content Bookshop: there was a tribute to Cory Taylor (who has a fiction piece in the edition) and there were readings from the collection as well. This […]
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By: ‘Datsunland’ in Griffith Review #54 Earthly Delights, The Novella Project, edited by Julianne Schultz #BookReview | ANZ LitLovers LitBlog on January 27, 2018
at 12:13 pm