Award-winning author

Charlotte Wood

author of The Children, Animal People, Love and Hunger and many more

reveals her

Five Favourite Australian Authors

                                                   —————————————————

I hate picking favourites; mine change all the time. But here are Five Australian novelists I really love.

Patrick White

Because of his humanity, the depth of his perception, his humour and his boldness with language. The Solid Mandala is one of my most cherished books.

Click here to buy The Solid Mandala by Patrick White

Helen Garner

Garner’s precision, the clarity of her gaze and her willingness to turn that gaze on herself as much as her characters – she is an inspiration to me and always will be. The Spare Room is a masterpiece of truthful fiction.

Click here to buy The Spare Room by Helen Garner

Vicki Hastrich

Author of just two novels so far, but what novels they are. Swimming with the Jellyfish and The Great Arch are both full of wit, charm, quiet ambition and astounding language, but her compassion and empathy are what shimmer long after the technical dazzle quietens.

Click here to buy The Great Arch by Vicki Hastrich

Tegan Bennett Daylight

Like Garner, Daylight is so clear-eyed it makes you weep. Her newest stories, about the turning point between adolescence and adulthood, have made me gasp with the shame and pain of recognition. I have learned more from Daylight’s writing than almost anyone else’s – her novels are Safety, What Falls Away and Bombora.

Joan London

The Good Parents is one of the Australian novels I most loved in the past decade. London has the kind of serious, literary ambition that can be easily overlooked because of its subtlety and grace, but her writing is true, confident, soaringly good. I cannot wait to see what she does next.

Click here to buy The Good Parents by Joan London

Charlotte is shortlisted for Booktopia’s: Australia’s Favourite Author.

Be sure to check out (and subscribe to) Charlotte’s new literary magazine The Writer’s Room Interviews

And check out Charlotte’s answers in Booktopia’s Famous Ten Terrifying Questions here. Below is a little taste….

5. Considering the innumerable artistic avenues open to you, why did you choose to write a novel?

I think fiction is the only place for me, really, and a novel provides a bigger space to muck around in than a short story. It’s nice to visit other places sometimes – I’m writing non-fiction at the moment – but I’m getting homesick for the novel, and can’t wait to walk through the door again. A novel allows me space to breathe, spread out, and think.

Click here to go to Charlotte’s author page on Booktopia,
Australia’s Local Bookstore

No comments Share:

About the Contributor

Andrew Cattanach

Andrew Cattanach is a regular contributor to The Booktopia Blog. He has been shortlisted for The Age Short Story Prize and was named a finalist for the 2015 Young Bookseller of the Year Award. He enjoys reading, writing and sleeping, though finds it difficult to do them all at once.

Follow Andrew: Twitter