1. Who are the short fiction authors you admire (Australian or otherwise, alive or dead)? For short stories I love Joan London, Cate Kennedy, Lorrie Moore, Jhumpa Lahiri, Anne Enright, Annie Proulx, Raymond Carver and of course I can’t not mention Chekhov. 2. What is the most memorable short story you have read? And why … Read More
Indigo Book of Australian Prose Poems
Our small wonder prose poem/micro fiction competition kicked off on October 16 and so we thought it timely to reflect on the fine tradition of prose poetry in Australia. This week on The Column, Ali Jane Smith reviews The Indigo Book of Australian Prose Poems, Edited by Michael Byrne (Ginninderra Press, 2011). Opening an anthology … Read More
Spineless Wonders asks A.S.Patric
1. Who are the short fiction authors you admire (Australian or otherwise, alive or dead)? Lydia Davis comes to mind first. That term, short story, sometimes gets redefined. What it means. What’s still possible. Lydia Davis cracks open words and out spills new DNA. Everything is changed. I am no longer who I was. I’m … Read More
Announcing! Prize-winners of 2011 Carmel Bird Short Fiction Award
Spineless Wonders is very proud to announce the following writers and their winning stories in The Carmel Bird Short Fiction Award, judged by Sophie Cunningham for 2011. Winner $500 Susan McCreery ‘The Gardener’ Runners Up $100 Claire Aman ‘Those Gauls Must Be Crazy’ SJ Finn ‘Paper Anniversary’ These three stories along with twelve others which … Read More
Spineless Wonders Asks Patrick West
1. Who are the short fiction authors you admire (Australian or otherwise, alive or dead)? Vladimir Nabokov comes to mind first. I remember reading a raggedy copy of Nabokov’s Dozen, ages ago, at the beach. The book was so ancient that the pages were almost petrified. Each time you turned one it came away from … Read More
small wonder prose poems & micro fiction
small wonder an anthology of prose poems and micro fiction Is it a prose poem? Or poetic prose? Perhaps it’s postcard fiction or sudden prose. A vignette or a monologue. SPINELESSWONDERS invites you to break some rules. Try a little genre-bending. Let the line break take a stroll through the streets and fields of prose … Read More
Spineless Wonders asks Mark Welker
1. Who are the short fiction authors you admire (Australian or otherwise, alive or dead)? I tend find inspiration from different authors at different times, depending on what I’m writing. At the moment my book pile is stuffed with shorts by John Updike, Ray Bradbury, John Cheever, Shirley Jackson and Julio Cortazar. I’ve also read … Read More
Spineless Wonders Asks Irma Gold
1. Who are the short fiction authors you admire (Australian or otherwise, alive or dead)? Some of my favourite contemporary Australian short fiction writers are Cate Kennedy, Nam Le, Helen Garner, Marion Halligan, Gillian Mears and John Clanchy. For the ‘otherwise’ who can possibly go past Alice Munro? And then there are the greats of … Read More
Spineless Wonders asks Sophie Constable
1. Who are the short fiction authors you admire (Australian or otherwise, alive or dead)? *has a terrible urge to read thousands more stories to make an informed decision…comes back to earth reluctantly* I know I should be saying Saki, Emily Perkins, Turgenev, Oliver Sacks, Paul Jennings, (because it’s true, I do admire them all) … Read More
Little Bleeders 2 Talking short crime with A.S. Patric
This week, The Column asks Alec Patric, winner of the 2011 SD Harvey Short Story Award about writing short Australian crime. I spent years reading prose that was lit up with insights and revelations. Dense with psychological verisimilitude. That exposed all the nuances of our most precious relationships. Years with tortured prose that demanded a … Read More