I bought this book at Continuum this year. It was being sold by one of the authors. I’ve read some of Robert New’s works before and knew that his story would be good. I had no idea about the others, but was prepared to take a punt.
The Monash Writers Group is facilitated by the Monash Public Library Service. They meet monthly and the library helps the writers with their creative goals. I’ve been thinking of applying to join, but the meeting time of 6-8pm is a little challenging for me. I might consider it next year when things have changed somewhat.
I loved this book, just putting it bluntly. There’s a good variation in the stories, not just in the stories, but also in the writers. The names of the writers show a number of different countries and cultures. There are far too many I want to write about. As usual, I’m having to cull the list and only write about a few stories. All in the interest of brevity. The premise of the whole book is that each author takes the first line from a book or story they like or have been inspired by. This means the first line of each story is in bold to make it stand out, and then given a footnote to tell us the name of the book or story and the author. I really liked that idea.
Ingrid Fry talks about ‘Where There’s Life, There’s Hope’. It’s a great little story, leading me from beginning to end. I laughed at the ending, it was very nicely done. Fry makes us think about what might happen if humans were able to go into suspended animation.
‘Same Thing, No Difference’ by Sakuntala Gananathan takes us through a conference. I’m not sure of the aim of the conference, but it highlights their differences and also their similarities. I really enjoyed the punchline.
The final one I’m highlighting today is by Bala Mudaly with ‘A Reconciliation Myth’. I don’t think I’d be exaggerating if I said I loved this writing more than the rest. I’m not saying the rest were lacking, just that this one had that extra something. It’s a good story to make you think about First Nations peoples. Did I think the right things? I’ve no idea, there are times when my whiteness shows through.
What I also noticed is that this book is available through Booktopia. No affiliate link, just something for you to look at and consider buying. It’s well worth the money.