Friday 17 April, 2009
Balls
The new Meanjin blog has taken longer to get off the ground than I hoped so we are taking up camp here. Posts will either be by me (Sophie) or by Jessica Au. We'll sign them so you know who we're reading.
What made me jump the gun on the blog is my outrage about the Miles Franklin Shortlist. The long list was the following:
Addition by Toni Jordan
A fraction of the whole by Steve Toltz
Breath by Tim Winton
Fugitive blue by Claire Thomas
Ice by Louis Nowra
One foot wrong by Sofie Laguna
The devil's eye by Ian Townsend
The pages by Murray Bail
The slap by Christos Tsiolkas
Wanting by Richard Flanagan
The shortlist was all men: Tim Winton, Louis Nowra, Murray Bail, Christos Tsiolkas, Richard Flanagan
Now I'd be one of the first to say Go Christos, and there are other fine novels on the list as well. Ham-fisted gender balance can end up being patronising -however, are the judges ( Robert Dixon, Morag Fraser, Lesley McKay, Regina Sutton and Murray Waldren) really suggesting that NONE of the following female writers deserved a shortlisting? Orly?
Michelle DeKretser, Helen Garner, Amanda Lohrey, Joan London or Kate Grenville. That's just to mention the women who didn't make the longlist. Those that did make the longlist but didn't get to the next round are Toni Jordan, Claire Thomas and Sofie Laguna. Writers like Julia Leigh also leap to mind though I accept she isn't eligible because her novel is set in France (yes - that old must-represent-Australian-life chestnut).
What was the problem? Too modest in scope? Too domestic? The undermining of women's writing involves the use of many such phrases.
Views from the Floor
Jess says:
WOOOHOOOO!! (about temp Meanjin blog, not Miles Franklin shortlist (except in case of Christos and Winton)). Personally I agree that it's ludicrous not to have any women on there, although I already have some beef with MF prize re: the whole 'Australian context' issue. Good to see that Tsiolkas is on there though, for his brave and multicultural representation of contemporary Australian life.
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