Of interest - Anita Heiss

[sweet-adelheid.livejournal.com]

I've read and reviewed two of Anita Heiss' books, and I'm now eagerly awaiting at least two more: Heiss writes chic-lit with Indigenous Australian main characters (among other things) and now as well as Avoiding Mr Right, her newest book Manhattan Dreaming has just been announced.

However, of even more interest to those of us on the East coast of Australia, in Alice Springs, or in New York City, or Atlanta, GA, Heiss will soon be appearing in a location near(-ish) you.

Anita Heiss' appearences from tomorrow (March 9) through August 22, 2010. Of particular interest: she'll be offering workshops at the Black Writers Reunion and Conference in Atlanta, GA in late June, and will be a featured speaker at the Australian Consulate in NYC during NAIDOC* Week.

NAIDOC stands for National Aboriginal and Islander Day of Celebration. That Day is now a Week, which... is better than nothing?

19-21/50: Qamar, Teo, Whitehead

[cyphomandra.livejournal.com]

I borrowed all of these from the library, but they don't have a lot else in common - the first is a YA, coming of age (or responsibility) novel, set in contemporary Pakistan; the second, a literary novel that mixes general and personal histories to create various identities (in families, in cultures, in racial/ethnic groups); and the third is a satire, sharp and uncomfortable. More details follow - spoilers, definitely, for the first book, and the second two I talk about how I felt about the endings, although am hopefully vague enough about actual events.

( Amjed Qamar, Beneath my mother's feet. )

( Hsu-Ming Teo, Love and Vertigo. )

( Colson Whitehead, Apex hides the hurt. )