This is my mandatory round-up post about the Australian Women Writers’ Challenge 2017. I undertook to read 10 books by Australian women writers. I read 14. Here they are. I’ve tried to be clever with the lay-out. My apologies if it shows up on your screen as a jumble (as it certainly will on a phone).
Seven poetry collections:
Jennifer Maiden
Metronome
Kathryn Lomer
Night writing
Nicola Knox
Green Light Running
Aisyah Shah Idil
The Naming
Jenny Blackford
The Loyalty of Chickens
Emily Crocker
Girls and Buoyant
Shevaun Cooley
Homing
Four novels, three of them e-books:
Jennifer Maiden
Play with Knives Two: Complicity
Jennifer Maiden
PWK Three: George and Clare and the Grey Hat Hacker
Jennifer Maiden
PWK Four: George and Clare, the Baby and the Bikies
Felicity Castagna
No More Boats
Three memoirs:
Cathy McLennan
Saltwater
Maxine Beneba Clarke
The Hate Race
Kim Mahood
Position Doubtful
Not a dud among them!
I’m signing up for the 2018 challenge.
My general gender stats: This year I read 20 books by women and 46 by men.
Shocked at my own gender bias, I can massage the figures:
- If I don’t count comics, the male-written books come down to 24, or 29 if I count each comics series as a single work
- If I include journals, add 5 to the women’s score and 3 to the men’s (or 6 and 3 respectively if you count Southerly 76.3, jointly edited by Laetitia Nanquette & Ali Alizadeh)
So, with a bit of creative counting, I have read 26 books by women and 32 by men.
Me fail? I fly! 
I’ve been intrigued by the whole notion of a ‘Women Writers Challenge’ as I don’t think the gender of the author enters into my thinking much when I choose a book. But yesterday I read an article about a man who said he had never read a book written by a woman(http://www.signature-reads.com/2017/03/the-man-who-doesnt-read-women/?cdi=5C050D3156555887E0534FD66B0A2FFB&ref=PRH24BB520913), which made me think again about the whole way people choose their reading! Thanks for another year of stimulating blogs Jonathan.
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That’s a great article, Kathy. I like her question, ‘When was the last time you read a book that was not written by an author whose identity was the same as yours?’ I use Something of the kind to guide my reading. I don’t know if you sawTegan Bennett Daylight’s recent article about teaching English 1 at uni? NONE of her beginning students have ever read anything by an Australian writer ? Sometimes it’s important to make a point of reading things by people who share an identity. The AWW challenge helps me do both things.
I’m glad you enjoy the blog
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Well done, Jonathan:) I’ve read a couple of these and No More Boats made it onto my Best of 2017 shortlist.
Thanks for a beaut year of reviewing and all the best for 2018!
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Thanks Lisa. I love the camaraderie you bring to the Challenge
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Love that you contribute so much poetry to the Challenge Jonathan, and I love that you had not a dud among them. I’ve only read two of your books – the Clarke and Mahoud, and certainly agree they are not duds!
As for your gender balance, I love your “massaging” of the stats. That’s the joy of stats isn’t it … !
I look forward to seeing you at the Challenge again this year.
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