Exposure: A Journey, by Joel Magarey

By Peter Bishop

The reviewer’s task is to place a book in a reader’s thinking about books. The bookseller’s task is to place a book where the kind of reader most likely to be interested in the book is most likely to chance upon it. 

Sometimes it’s easy for a reviewer to place a book for a reader –another triumphant run of the plough down a well-worn furrow –but hey, look at that earth move! But it shouldn’t be easy: a book –this is a passionate reader speaking– is the very reverse of a homogenised product. If the furrow runs east to west, take the plough to the north! A book can be a whole new world of language and story and connection…

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An apology and an invitation

From the Creative Team

First we must apologise. We’ve been so excited about fruitful conversations, possibilities and the role of the blog that we neglected to explain our intentions and how to join in. Let’s begin again.

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The places from where stories are told

By Carol Major

A few years back my sister attended a panel discussion in which Margaret Atwood was a member. In answering a writer’s question she replied that one of the fundamental starting points for any story (and this can apply to poetry and essays as well) is to be clear on who is telling this story to whom about what. This is a solid piece of advice and to which I would like to add ‘and why’. What is the compulsion to tell that story to that particular audience and at that particular time?

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