News

Australia Council Grant

The Literature Board of the Australia Council has given me a $60,000 grant over two years to support me in writing my next novel, Oceania. This means I can live in the land of prose without disruptions – a scary yet exhilarating thought. The Australia Council’s Literature Board encourages the development, promotion and enjoyment of Australian literature, as well as writers like me, and it would be a hard environment without their support.

Wagga Wagga Writer-in-Residency

My two weeks’ residency was productive (I’ve now transferred my next novel, Oceania, from my head to the page), pleasant and invigorating. Loved the company I kept, the readers I met, the students I spoke to, and the pink sheep (Wagga is a red soil sort of place). Didn’t quite love the resident possum whose nocturnal emissions flavoured the air in the bedroom. … the smell is reminiscent of slightly damp babies’ nappies.

Pure Fiction and the Unreliable Narrator

I really enjoyed dissecting my novel under the intelligent questioning of the MA students, but it’s quite a surreal process trying to recall what my motives and reasonings were almost ten years ago when I set out to write it.  Our lives are a continuing work of fiction, I believe, and as Feather Man started out with the title Pure Fiction, my answers to the seminar group were probably all made up.

My Next Gig

September 3, 10, 17 I’ve been asked back to Sydney Uni by Prof. David Brooks to run some sessions with the  MA students in Creative Writing. We’ll discuss me, me, me again – or rather my novel, Feather Man, and the writing process.

Mildura Writers’ Festival is Unique

Although the Festival is open to the public – of course – and well-attended, this Festival is more like a literary conference – with the added attraction of Stefano’s great slow food using fresh local ingredients. After all, Mildura is one of Australia’s biggest food bowls.

None of the sessions overlapped one another, so everyone could hear Alexis Wright (“Carpentaria”, winner of the Miles Franklin ), Christopher Koch (“The Memory Room” and two-time winner of the Miles Franklin), Robert Gray (he was interviewed by Virginia Trioli about his memoir “The Land I Came Through Last”), Sophie Cunningham (“Bird” and editor of Meanjin), Peter Goldsworthy (the genre-traveller: poetry, novel, opera, theatre), Ronald Sharp (a Vassar College professor, who gave a fascinating address on “Mateship, Friendship & National Identity”), a host of others and, wait for it – me.

Asked to say which book has been transformative in my career, I chose ‘The Enchanted Wood’ by Enid Blyton. It’s a seriously good read.

Mildura Writers’ Festival

Off to Mildura to join in some panel talks about poetry and prose – and to eat gorgeous food cooked by  Stefano de Pieri of “Gondola on the Murray” fame.

How Poetry Works

Had a great time running the poetry workshop at the NSW Writers’ Centre on 28 June. The 18 participants did all the work – and what an inspiring mix of people. I’ll do it again on the 14th November.

Poetry Reading at Sappho 9 September

Speaking of poetry, I’m to do a reading at Sappho’s Bookshop on Wednesday 9 September. I’ll also judge the poetry slam… should be fun.

Motherlode

I’m to have two poems published in Motherlode: Australian Women’s Poetry 1986-2008, to be published in 2009 by Puncher & Wattman. As all my poetry books are out of print now, this is a welcome event.

Hecate essay

Have a read of Eileen Chong’s definitive essay on Feather Man: Reclaiming Identity in Rhyll McMaster’s Feather Man in Hecate Vol.34 No.2 2008, available now in all good bookshops (well, certainly in Gleebooks).

Australian Author article

Check out my article in Australian Author, April 2009: Letter Home, titled England, later… I first went to London in 1972 and returned last November, thirty-six years later, to attend the Southwold Literature Festival and promote my novel there and in Paris.

Panel at Contemporary Australian Fiction Festival

I had a great time with Martin Harrison, Mark Tredinnick, Brook Emery and audience at the 3rd Fiction Festival at the Writers’ Centre on April 4. I had ten minutes to discuss the truth of fiction and the fictional nature of poetry – I think I sorted it out.

Sooky’s Relationship with Redmond Defended!

See Eileen’s masterly defence of the Sooky/Redmond relationship in her Comments at Feminist Review. I do love a vigorous discussion.

Feminist Review

Well, they pretty much liked Feather Man at Feminist Review... ‘ feminist themes are plentiful’ … ‘a strong feminist sensibility’. I didn’t think that way when I was writing it: I was just trying to get as close to the truth as I could. They thought there were a few holes in the Sooky/Redmond relationship. (I think Sooky did too). See what you make of their comments.

Librarything Strikes Again

Robin Dawson thinks Feather Man is fantastic – 4.5* review on 15.Jan.09 – and what’s more this link is translated from the French – how cool is that? On the other hand, Monica and Samantha aren’t such happy readers… can’t win ‘em all.

An Enduring Classic?

Here’s an item from the Weekend Australian, Feb. 7-8, 2009, Review section, Your View column:

In his Forum column Peter Craven suggested some enduring classics of Australian literature from the past 30 years or so (“On Australian classics”, January 24-25). Lists like this are always difficult to compile but I thought one glaring omission from his list was Sally Morgan’s My Place. And various titles by Raimond Gaita, Rhyll McMaster, Ruth Park, Mandy Sayer and Tim Winton wouldn’t be out of place either. Geri Badham, Waramanga, ACT.

Thank you, Geri. Anyone else who agrees could email it to: review@theaustralian.com.au

Writer-in-residence, Wagga

I’m to spend two weeks in wonderful Wagga, (not even the residents call it Wagga Wagga it seems) in residence at the Booranga Writers’ Centre (part of the Charles Sturt Uni campus) from 9-23 October. What an opportunity (the funding is supported by Arts NSW) to speak to readers, students and other interested parties about my novel, and get down to writing the next one.

Contemporary Australian Fiction Festival

And I’ll appear on a panel focusing on poetry to fiction at this Festival at the NSW Writers’ Centre on Sunday April 5. I spoke at the Festival last year and it was a great audience.

Mildura Writers’ Festival

I’ve been invited to the Mildura Writers’ Festival 16-19 July. I hear this is the most well-regarded Festival around. Artistic director is Paul Kane of Antipodes magazine (the Aust/US mag) and past president of the American Association of Australian Literary Studies, and the Chair is Stefano de Pieri of cookery fame – so it’s got to be a winner.

On a Brighter Note:

Just got word there will be a review of Feather Man posted on the 11 February in the Feminist Review. The site looks interesting, so I’m looking forward to their opinion.

Thanks for all your votes… sadly didn’t make it to the Short List.

Voting Deadline of 2 January approaching fast: Spread-the-Word

You have until midday on 2 January to vote Feather Man from the long list to the short list for the Spread-the-Word: Books to Talk About 2009 prize. Pleeeese register and vote as your first New Year’s resolution!! Go to www.spread-the-word.org.uk

LibraryThing Comment:

Feather Man has 12 reviews on the online LibraryThing site: here’s a ****star one from shawjonathan.

Feather Man is one of those books that lingers. (“You know, she was very clever the way she used that song,” I’d ruminate days after reading it. “I just realised she didn’t ever quote the last two lines.” Or: “You know, the final line of the book is much more open-ended than I thought.”) If the book grabs you, and it evidently doesn’t grab everyone, it does so powerfully…

BBC ‘The World’ with Lisa Mullins ‘Feather Man’ interview

My interview was aired across America on December 18… how exciting. Have a listen here.

Scarlet Pimpernel

For those of you old enough to get the reference: “They see (her) here, they see (her) there…” I’m everywhere these days. Find me on Facebook and check out my hot entry in Wikipedia.

****Star Reviews on Amazon

A bunch of ****star reviews on amazon.com are driving a ton of traffic to the site, according to the Literary Ventures Fund’s Andy Zellman. Whooo… maybe Santa is arriving early this year. See the reviews and comments on Customer Reviews.

Not Boastful Enough

Even though I have a link to them on my Links page, and under Articles & Reviews, I have just realized that I haven’t boasted enough about my review from Helen Oyeyemi in the New Statesman earlier this year, and the fabulous review from Lisa in the online Vulpes Libris – so have a look before the year ends.

Comments from the Spread-The-Word longlisting:

Fabulous book – you think you know where she’s coming from, and you don’t. You think you know where she’s going, and you don’t. It’s surprising, engaging, uncompromising. A great read – Pauline Garde

McMaster’s writing is extraordinary – fierce and delicate-minded at the same time… an amazing first novel… comic, tender, savage, sad and then hilariously wild just when you’re expecting no such turn of events – Kellie Lowry

Beautifully written…very revealing about human behaviour…a very good choice for bookgroups – cactus

One of the best books I have read…there is a killer last line…brilliant on every level –Popsicle

A literary masterpiece…the best books show us something we’ve missed…Feather Man does this in spades – Jesse 2.0

Totally involving, moving, and manages to be funny also…her sentences make you smile because she uses language so well – choosy

A clever, subtle and incisive writer who pulls some extraordinary tricks from her writer’s bag…a very, very assured and exciting book – Ecosseboi

This book is a masterpiece. The characters haunt you long after you have finished reading it. I loved the blackness of the humour… – ez

I read this novel non-stop. I particularly loved the descriptions of Sooky’s art…McMaster must have synesthesia because her images are so beautifully and constantly visual –Tully

Highly recommended for reading groups, but it’s also a fascinating read for anyone who loves good writing… a stunning novel – Sunday

The main character became so very real to me…a great bookclub selection…I read it on Barnes & Noble’s online bookclub –Ibis

Don’t forget to vote

Vote Feather Man onto the Spread-The-Word shortlist before 2 January 09. Go to www.spread-the-word.org.uk and register and vote.

Triumphant tour of London and Paris

The Southwold Literature Festival was great fun. I was on a panel with an extremely nice writer called Sadie Jones whose book The Outcast had parallels with mine. Southwold’s pebbly beach looks out across the moody North Sea, so I took the opportunity to skip a stone across it (it bounced twice).

While in London I was interviewed by the BBC for the American program The World, hosted by Lisa Mullins. This is a co-production by Public Radio International, BBC World Service and WGBH Radio Boston, and is a world first global radio news program broadcasting right across the United States. We can’t get it here, but they’ll send me a link when it has gone to air. It was so exciting swanning into the BBC studios on The Strand – self-importance was high on the register.

And while in Paris I was invited to sign five copies of Feather Man into the famous (so famous it’s in the Guide to Paris) English-language bookshop on the Left Bank, Shakespeare & Company. Never thought my tome would travel so far.

2008 Indie Next Highlights List – American Booksellers Association

From the hundreds of thousands of books published this year, the Indie bookselling community in the US has gleaned an impressive 2008 Indie Next Highlights List, featuring great fiction and nonfiction that has garnered especially strong support from ABA members nationwide. The list includes 51 titles, and FEATHER MAN IS ON THE LIST!

‘Spread The Word’ Longlisting for Feather Man in UK.

World Book Day (U.K.) has selected Feather Man for the longlist for ‘Spread the Word’: Books to Talk About 2009. This promotion is backed by WH Smith who stock the winning book in all outlets, including airports.

NOW VOTING IS OPEN INTERNATIONALLY. Please vote Feather Man onto the short list before 2 JANUARY 09. To see the longlist go to www.spread-the-word.org.uk, where Feather Man is looking pretty winning.

Full edited Feather Man discussion on ‘Book Explorers’

Here is the full edited Feather Man Discussion on the Barnes & Noble site.

Goodbye to ‘Book Explorers’

I can’t recommend the Barnes & Noble online ‘Book Explorers’ Club highly enough. Feather Man was discussed in detail, with serious passion and frank critical commentary, over a month. Free copies were sent out to those readers who agreed to join the discussion. There was even a reader from France. Ande from the Literary Ventures Fund was the moderator supremo. Handily, Feather Man is written in 4 sections, so they discussed it one section per week. There were over 600 posts and some posts were viewed over 500 times. I joined the discussion over the last week. This sort of well-structured ‘virtual’ book group discussion, concentrating on one book per month, is a win/win situation for readers, authors, booksellers and publishers. It’s just begging for a consortium to pick up the idea here in Australia.

Feather Man suggested for National Reading Group Month in the US

The WOMEN’S NATIONAL BOOK ASSOCIATION has declared October to be the National Reading Group Month in the US. Authors of reading group favorites will appear at events across the country sponsored by WNBA chapters.

FOREWORD MAGAZINE has suggested FEATHER MAN as one of six novels reviewed in their September issue for library reading groups to discuss in October, as part of National Reading Group Month.

QUAILMAIL: September 6

Quail Ridge Books & Music in Raleigh, NC, who won Publishers Weekly Bookseller of the Year have this to say: “I’m reading a lot of positive reviews about Feather Man by Rhyll McMaster (Marion Boyars, $15.95). “In this beautifully written and disturbing Australian coming-of-age novel, McMaster tells the story of Sooky, who struggles to overcome her difficult childhood, the effects of which are powerfully portrayed as she moves from relationship to relationship and from Brisbane to London.” – Nancy Felton, Broadside Bookshop. Also on our paperback table.”

I love the idea of my novel sitting on a table in Raleigh, NC just waiting for someone to pick it up.

Sydney Uni Seminars

I so enjoyed these seminars with the MA students in Creative Writing. Under close questioning it was a great opportunity to discover my own methods, such as they are. Check out Julie and Eileen’s comments. And a belated thank you to Helen Palmer, whose contact details I don’t have, for her wonderful gift of the City Walks of London. You are so kind, and I shall walk as many as I can when I go to London in November to publicise my book.

Boston Globe Pick Of The Week

Feather Man gets a Pick of the Week recommendation in the Boston Globe newspaper, 28/9/08. How about that!

BLOG POWER RULES OKAY

Feather Man is rating well on AMAZON reader blogs with 4 and 5 stars.

And MOCKDUCK - see under “Blog Power Rules. Or Not?” – and ME AND MY BIG MOUTH have things to say about Feather Man too.

MONSTERS AND CRITICS

I didn’t get monstered or criticised by Sandy Amazeen in her September 14 review at monstersandcritics.

FOREWORD MAGAZINE REVIEWS FEATHER MAN

Read Nancy H. Fontaine’s review (she liked it) in ForeWord Magazine in the US. ForeWord specializes in reviews of good books independently published.

SHANA’S AUTHOR INTERVIEW ON HER BLOG “Literarily”

Following on from her review of Feather Man, Shana has now interviewed me with some searching questions. Read on…

SEMINAR WITH SYDNEY UNI MA CREATIVE WRITING STUDENTS

I did my first seminar last night and I had a great time. I guess they did too, because we didn’t clock watch, even though it was a two hour session, and we laughed quite a bit – must have been having a good time. What a privilege to sit talking about my novel to 18 intelligent people. Next week we’ll look at how I’ve hidden my own poem fragments in my novel – post-Modernism without fees!

PICARO PRESS AND THE ART BOX SERIES

Picaro Press, PO Box 853, Warners Bay, NSW 2282 – www.picaropress.com – publish their Wagtail magazine eleven times a year. Each issue features a single poet, and all back issues remain in print. See March 2003, #19, Rhyll McMaster’s The Elegant Rabbit.

Now they are going to reproduce my out-of-print poetry book, Washing The Money, in their Art Box Series. This series aims to provide low-cost access to significant Australian poetry titles which, for whatever reason, are no longer generally available to the public. Great idea and the series looks stunning.

LVF’S ‘BOOK EXPLORERS’ CLUB AT BARNES&NOBLE ONLINE

Literary Ventures Fund who are promoting my novel in North America run an online Book Club called ‘Book Explorers’, hosted on the Barnes&Noble site. This month my book is under discussion, and in the first few days there are already about 90 passionate comments on the first section of ‘Feather Man’. At the end of the month, on September 28, I will join in the daily online discussion over the course of a week.

Australian readers, who might have already digested the book, are welcome to join in the discussion. The folks at B&N would welcome any new eyes (especially international ones)on their site – a sort of US/Australian Literary Alliance Thread.

Sydney friends agree this could be great fun, and think this is just the sort of thing we should have running here, but given that we don’t seem to have a comparable interactive online Book Club discussion group operating, (why is that so?) to join in the Book Explorers discussion is the next best thing.

You can choose either to have a look at the posts so far, or take part by registering (it’s free), signing in, and participating in the discussion with your own comments.

It needn’t stop with my book, of course. The LVF regularly choose books for discussion.

My ‘discussion’ has already begun, but it’s not too late to join in.

Go to the LVF’s Book Explorers Club and click on the thread “Feather Man” Discussion Part 1 (Lionel)-pages 13-107. There are guides to how to Register, Sign In, and a Help guide.

Melbourne Writers’ Festival was so much fun…

I love discussing my book with readers, and the Melbourne crowd were smart, passionate and receptive, and I got to meet some fellow writers, Sophie Cunningham, Joan London, and Gil Adamson from Canada. Not to forget the dedicated panel moderators, Aviva Tuffield from Scribe Publications and Kirsten Abbott from Penguin, who steered the conversations so adroitly. Great venue, good vibe.

But Before I Go…

I’m heading off to the Melbourne Writers’ Festival 30-31 August to take part in two panel sessions. Session Saturday 30 August, 1.15pm., and the topic is Mad, Bad And Good Mothers: Whoever had a mother straight out of Women’s Weekly? I’ll be appearing with Sophie Cunningham and Mirielle Juchau.

Session Sunday 31 August, 2.45pm., and the topic is Eavesdropping On Guilt. This time I’m with Gil Adamson and Joan London.’

And then… I will be conducting three 2-hour seminars with the MA students in Creative Writing at Sydney University, under the auspices of Dr David Brooks and the Writers At Work program. I’m really looking forward to these discussions – after all, how many authors get the chance to talk about their book for 2 hours to a captive audience?

Southwold Festival

Off to entrance audiences in the Fens country, home to writer Graham Swift, at the Southwold Literary Festival, in the UK, November 6. It’s a beautiful place by the looks of it, and I’ve always wanted to gaze out over the North Sea. See the Southwold program here.

Librarything reads Feather Man

Read Librarything’s full review…

A Family Affair

Want to read my daughter Stella’s dreamy blog? Mmnh… family insights!

You Are What You Read review.

Here’s Loretta Kelly with her July 9 2008 review of Feather Man.

Australian online review.

Never let it be said that I don’t love Australian online reviews – here’s one from Literaryminded, Angela Meyer, an Australian Gen Y writer whom I met at the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival.

Dovegreyreader finally bites the bullet.

Dovegreyreader reads past the first ‘tough’ chapter to discover that she wanted to add ‘Feather Man’ to her list of Booker predictions (now why wasn’t she a judge?) Read review in full.

US AWARD

Feather Man has been chosen as a September Indie Next List pick from the American Booksellers Association, which means special promotion in most of the independent bookshops across America.

Go here for a Preview and see Feather Man in good company with the latest from notables Annie Proulx and Paul Auster.

4 star review from Shana

‘McMaster is an amazing writer. Her prose is pitch-perfect – in the whole of this book there is not an extraneous word. …the reader is truly inside Sooky’s head, and comes to know her intimately. I wanted so badly for everything to turn out well for her…’

To read the full review from Shana go here:

Watch for upcoming author interview on Shana’s blog: http://blog.literarily.com

PEN

Rhyll is a committee member of Sydney PEN, which is a chapter of PEN International. PEN promotes literature and defends freedom of expression. Go to the PEN website to check out their work for prisoners of conscience.

More Reviews!

Watch for forthcoming favorable review in US literary magazine ‘ForeWord‘ – due September
Read Meghan’s complete review of ‘Feather Man’, July 9.

Feather Man already reaping praise prior to its publication in the US in September

Read Lynn Stegner’s and Nancy Felton’s US reviews on the Literary Ventures Fund site.

Tuesday Top Ten

Read Rhyll’s Tuesday Top Ten pick for Mark Thwaite’s Editor’s Corner at The Book Depository.

Medieval Bookworm

Read Meghan’s review in The Sunday Salon at Medieval Bookworm. Meghan is a 22year old at Brandeis University and she loved Feather Man.

Devourer of Books

Here is what Devourer of Books says about Feather Man.

The Book Depository

Read Rhyll’s interview with The Book Depository’s Mark Thwaite.

UTS Glenda Adams Award

Feather Man wins the UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing
NSW Premier’s Literary Awards 2008

Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction

Feather Man short-listed for the Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction
Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2007

Judges’ comments: McMaster has written an exquisitely crafted first novel rooted in the mundane and the mythological. In a language that is both poetic and visceral, she dissects her characters’ motives with a dispassionate gaze, revealing the darkness at the centre of their lives.

Australian Literary Society

Feather Man short-listed for the Australian Literary Society’s Gold Medal 2008 for an outstanding literary work.

Barbara Jefferis Award

Feather Man wins the inaugural Barbara Jefferis Award 2008 for the best novel written by an Australian author that depicts women and girls in a positive way or otherwise empowers the status of women and girls in society.

Judges’ Report: This is a powerful, original novel, wonderfully well written. As an account of a young woman’s survival of a dysfunctional childhood in Brisbane, the coming of age theme avoids all the usual clichés. The story of Sooky’s gradually emerging independence is told in prose that is rich, lyrical and assured, and the portrayals of the characters in all their fabulous monstrosity ring absolutely true. Sooky – flawed, self-doubting, difficult, sensitive, painfully honest and supremely talented is struggling to make sense of her life and establish her identity as a painter. In so accurately analyzing the way Sooky uses her intelligence, wit and unconventional view of the world to fight herself out of the dark hole of her childhood, McMaster has created a fresh and original woman character who is at the heart of this brilliant, witty and disturbing novel.