ANZ LitLovers LitBlog

5/6/19 This page has been updated to include additional suggestions.

Too busy to read a whole book for Indigenous Literature Week this year?

Here are some short inexpensive suggestions for the time poor.

Links on the titles take you to where you can buy the book.

These ones are all from the Australian Review of Fiction: they are digital editions that come packaged as two stories, one by an established author and the other by an emerging author.  They cost only $2.99, and come in Kindle and other digital formats to suit iPads etc.

• Spirit in the night by Tony Birch, , see Sue’s review at Whispering Gums  and The Sweetest Thing by Ellen Van Neerven, in Review of Australian Fiction, Vol 10 No 4, May 2014 see Sue’s review at Whispering Gums.  You can read these two online, for free, click the links.
• Choosing by Bruce Pascoe, and Shambala by Marie Munkara in Review of Australian Fiction Vol 2 Issue 1
• Lois by Tony Birch in Review of Australian Fiction Vol 3 Issue 5
• Trevor by Marie Munkara in Review of Australian Fiction Vol 8 Issue 5
• Nightwalkers by Siv Palmer and Night Shirt by Bruce Pascoe in Review of Australian Fiction, Vol 8 No 6, May 2015 , see my review
• Departure by Kim Scott and Our Warrior, Our Brother by Liz Hayden in Review of Australian Fiction Vol 15 Issue 4, see Amanda Curtin’s review at Looking Up Looking Down

These are short story collections and anthologies, links on the titles are to suppliers:

• Aboriginal Country by Lisa Bellair (poetry)
• After the Carnage by Tara June Winch, see my ANZ LitLovers review
• ‘I’ve Been Thinking About You Sister’ by Witi Ihimaera (short story, Maori) (see my review).  Find this one at Amazon.
• Fresh Cuttings, an anthology of fiction and poetry edited by Sue Abbey and Sandra Phillips from UQP’s Black Writing series
• Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia,  edited by Anita Heiss, see my review
• Here we are, read us: Women, disability and writing, an anthology by disabled writers, including Maori author Te Awhina Arahanga
• Kindred, by Kirli Saunders (poetry)
• Long Time Now, by Alf Taylor
• Paperbark,  a collection of Black Australian Writing
• The Promise, by Tony Birch, see Janine’s review at The Resident Judge of Port Phillip; also by the same author
• Common People, a short story collection by Tony Birch, see my ANZLitlovers review
• When Darkness Falls, by John Bodey, stories from before recorded time in the Kimberley area.
• This Country Anytime Anywhere, an anthology of indigenous writing from the NT, see Joe’s review at Rough Ghosts
• Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature edited by Anita Heiss and Peter Minter.  (This one will almost certainly be in your local library, but please, do your best to support local Indigenous authors if you can afford it).
• Us Mob Writing, Too Deadly, (anthology, edited by Jeanine Leanne) see Sue’s review at Whispering Gums
• Huia Short Stories, Contemporary Maori Fiction: the Huia publishing company specialises in Maori writing, and they have published 12 of these inexpensive short story collections which you can buy as eBooks at Amazon and other eBook retailers. Use the Short Story collection category from the Huia LHS menu to find a collection you like, and then just open the retailer’s site and enter Huia in the search box.

Or, if a bit of sassy chicklit appeals, you can romp through these novels by Anita Heiss in no time!

• Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms
• Tiddas
• Paris Dreaming
• Not Meeting Mr Right
• Manhattan Dreaming
• Avoiding Mr Right.

Indigenous Literature Week starts July 2 2017 (but of course you can read these any time of the year)!

Sign up here…