Furious Horses

MIDWEEKERY

furioushorses — Wed, 30 May 2012 04:23:13 +0000

A couple of things to keep an eye out for in the coming weeks:

Applications close July 12 for the QWC / Hachette Australia Manuscript Development Program. This is a wonderful opportunity for both fiction and nonfiction writers to work with professional editors on a manuscript. I was lucky enough to participate in the 2008 program, alongside Philippa Fioretti and Favel Parrett, who both subsequently saw their manuscripts picked up and published by Hachette. More details here!

Speaking of the QWC, I’ll be part of an excellent seminar this Saturday called So You Want to Be a Writer. I’ll be talking and answering questions alongside Angela Slatter and Benjamin Law. We’ll be talking about the realities of starting out as a writer, and how to maintain it as a career. It’ll be great fun, so make sure to book your tickets here.

On Monday June 11, I’ll be part of a really cool project called The 24-Hour Novel, where me and a bunch of other cool people will be writing and editing an entire book in 24 hours. Once we’ve finished, the first copy will be printed out at Brooklyn Public Library, and will also be available almost immediately after online. You can keep track of us working on the 11th at liveblog, so please swing by!

And finally, I believe I have pinpointed the exact moment when the novel died.

COLLABORATIVE STORIES ARE BACK … IN POG FORM!

furioushorses — Tue, 01 May 2012 23:50:53 +0000

If you’re reading this and you’re under 25 (although you’re probably not, because reading isn’t as radical as pouring vodka into your eyeballs, drinking hand-sanitizer or raising a Tamagotchi) you should be aware that Express Media, that tireless champion for young writers, has an excellent thing happening during National Young Writers Month. It’s a Travelling Story, where 30 young writers (under 25) from 30 different towns around Australia will each day contribute 100 words to a collaborative story. The completed story will be published in the September Issue of Voiceworks.

It’s like those stories where you write a bit and then fold the paper over and then pass it on to the next person, but so much cooler (how can I put this, young person? It’s like The GoogleTube crossed with Alf. You remember Alf, right?)! The starting 100 words have been provided by me, and it’s your job to keep the story going! Regional writers are especially encouraged to apply, so get to it, youngsters! You’ve got until Monday, May 21 at 5pm to enter. Find out more here.

Catch you on the flipside, dudes!

VINTAGE KIDS CLASSICS

furioushorses — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 22:15:36 +0000

Random House have just announced a range of children’s books in their continuing Vintage Classics series. They’ve had great success with their excellently designed modern classics for $12.95, and this new range will come in at $9.95. As always, they’ll go up against Penguin, whose Puffin Classics share a price point (but whose titles are a little more run-of-the-mill). Here are a few of my favourite covers from the new list:

The series is due for publication in August. You can find the complete list here.

SUNDAY DIVERSIONS

furioushorses — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 03:13:37 +0000

So if you’re not exploring the exciting Brisbane literary site Stilts then you really should be. The brainchild of a bunch of QUT graduates (also my fine alma mater), it’s grown into an excellent resource of essays, reviews, fiction and general goings-on about town. Over the next month or so, a bunch of Brisbane writers have read each others’ books, and are posting responses. My response to Mei Yen Chua’s “Brisbane’s Budget Bites” has just gone live, and is a brand new piece of fiction from me called All The Time. You can read it here.

And if you still have time left in the week, why not have a listen to 56 hours of David Foster Wallace.

And speaking of DFW, here’s The New Yorker’s pretty excellent take on the recent Pulitzer Prize for Fiction scandal.

Have a good week, errybody!

SMOKING CAN MAKE YOU SEE DOUBLE

furioushorses — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 05:48:45 +0000

PanMacmillan, May 2012

HarperCollins, August 2011

A BIT OF NEWS

furioushorses — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 02:19:01 +0000

So sometime while I was asleep last night, my book, The Ottoman Motel was shortlisted for the 2012 Commonwealth Book Prize! I’m completely stunned and deeply honoured to be part of what is an excellent shortlist. Special congratulations must go to my Australian compatriots Mette Jakobsen, Cory Taylor and Jeanine Leane, who join me on the shortlist for the Pacific Region. Mette, Cory and myself are all published by the wonderful folks at Text Publishing, whose commitment to finding new literary voices continues to be richly rewarded. Jeanine’s book is published by University of Queensland Press (whose offices are just across the river from me) and was the recipient of Winner of the 2010 David Unaipon Award for Indigenous Writing, an award just scrapped by new mayor of Brisbane Campbell Newman. Just another reason to support the new, Newman-Free Queensland Literary Awards. Special mention also to Nic Low, whose short story Rush was shortlisted for the 2012 Commonwealth Short Story prize.

Here is the list in full:

Commonwealth Book Prize

The Wandering Falcon, Jamil Ahmad (Pakistan), Hamish Hamilton

Patchwork, Ellen Banda-Aaku (Zambia), Penguin Books, South Africa

Rebirth: a novel, Jahnavi Barua (India), Penguin Books India

The Sly Company of People Who Care, Rahul Bhattacharya (India) Picador

The Ottoman Motel, Christopher Currie (Australia), The Text Publishing Company

A Cupboard Full of Coats, Yvvette Edwards (UK), Oneworld Publications

The Book of Answers, CY Gopinath (India), HarperCollins India

Jubilee, Shelley Harris (South Africa), Weidenfeld & Nicolson

The Dancing and the Death on Lemon Street, Denis Hirson (UK), Jacana Media

The Vanishing Act, Mette Jakobsen (Australia), The Text Publishing Company

Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew, Shehan Karunatilaka (Sri Lanka), Random House India

Purple Threads, Jeanine Leane (Australia), University of Queensland Press

Sweetheart, Alecia McKenzie (Jamaica), Peepal Tree Press

The Town that Drowned, Riel Nason (Canada), Goose Lane Editions

Dancing Lessons, Olive Senior (Canada), Cormorant Books

The Sentimentalists, Johanna Skibsrud (Canada), William Heinemann

The Dubious Salvation of Jack V, Jacques Strauss (South Africa), Jonathan Cape

Me and Mr Booker, Cory Taylor (Australia), The Text Publishing Company

Pao, Kerry Young (UK), Bloomsbury

HAPPY DAYS!

MIDWEEKERY

furioushorses — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:10:13 +0000

Seeing as Wednesday is the start of my writing week, I thought I might share with you a few literary diversions to get you through your mid-week (anyone who uses the phrase “hump day” is not allowed to read this blog).

The Pulitzer Prize committee could not decide on a winner in the Fiction category. You can read excerpts from most of the shortlisted books in all Literature categories here at The Millions. You can also read some interesting commentary from Laura Miller at Salon and Bethanne Patrick at Bookriot.
Phill at toothsoup has just announced the toothsoup prize.
This year’s Orange Prize for Fiction Shorlist has just been announced.
If you’re not following “Peter Carey” on Twitter than you must be a post-doctoral Vogel-winning 33 year old ingenue.
Amazon may be moving to Australia? Fairfax once again gleefully explains that local bookshops will “shudder” at the news.

And in final, really sad non-book news, I learned this morning that Levon Helm, legendary member of The Band and amazing musician in his own right, is in the final stages of cancer. His is a voice I’ve loved all my life, and it’s unbearably tragic to hear that it will soon disappear.

Here is the video I will be watching for the rest of the day:

SYSTEM ERROR

furioushorses — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 05:26:59 +0000

Oh man, it’s just been brought to my attention that no one has been able to see my numerous and well-considered posts on here for absolutely ages and I definitely haven’t been ignoring the blog and not writing anything at all. I have contacted my webmaster to see what has happened and once again I can’t stress enough how this was a technical error and nothing to do with me not posting anything for months and months. I mean, here are some of the great posts that you’ve missed and which I have kept no other copies of so no one will ever get to read them:

ACTUALLY, WHAT I SAID WAS THAT FLIPBOOKS WOULD NOT ACTUALLY BE THAT GREAT (23 August 2011)

WHY JULIAN BARNES WILL WIN THE BOOKER PRIZE AND YOU SHOULD PUT $5 ON HIM (15 October 2011)

MY GREAT NEW IDEA FOR A NOVEL WHERE KIDS TRY TO KILL EACH OTHER AS PART OF A GAMESHOW (Repost: Originally posted April 9, 2008)

I HAVE DECIDED TO WITHDRAW “THE OTTOMAN MOTEL” FROM ALL MAJOR LITERARY PRIZES, WHICH IS THE ONLY REASON YOU WON’T SEE IT ON ANY AWARDS SHORTLISTS (31 December 2011)

CAMPBELL NEWMAN TALKS ABOUT HIS FAVOURITE BOOKS (12 January 2012)

JUST TO CLARIFY, LISTS OF INGREDIENTS ON BREAKFAST CEREALS ARE NOT “BOOKS” (13 January 2012)

BEST BOOKS OF FEBRUARY 23, 2012, 11.53AM (23 February 2012)

BEST BOOKS OF FEBRUARY 23, 2012, 11.53AM [UPDATED] (23 February 2012)

NO, I HAVEN’T READ THE NEW MURAKAMI YET, OKAY??! (9 March 2012)

OR THE DAVID FOSTER WALLACE, I MEAN, JESUS, THERE ARE A LOT OF BOOKS YOU KNOW AND I CAN’T READ THEM ALL AND MAYBE I WANT TO READ THE SHORT ONES FIRST DID YOU THINK OF THAT?! (3 March 2012)

NEW AMAZON “KONY” TIPPED TO REVOLUTIONISE E-READING (12 March 2012)

THE 18 BEST PAGE 259s OF MODERN LITERATURE(29 March)

I think that covers it. Again, sorry I kept no copies or drafts of any of these and I definitely just haven’t been slack on updating Furious Horses.

My Apologies.

NEWRAKAMI IS NEARLY NOWRAKAMI!

furioushorses — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:00:25 +0000

Ladies and Gentlemen, the opening lines of 1Q84 (courtesy of The Millions):

The taxi’s radio was tuned to a classical FM broadcast. Janáček’s Sinfonietta—probably not the ideal music to hear in a taxi caught in traffic. The middle-aged driver didn’t seem to be listening very closely, either. With his mouth clamped shut, he stared straight ahead at the endless line of cars stretching out on the elevated expressway, like a veteran fisherman standing in the bow of his boat, reading the ominous confluence of two currents. Aomame settled into the broad back seat, closed her eyes, and listened to the music.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the official Australian/UK cover of 1Q84:

And, because I like you, I’ll let you in on a little competition that Random House have running, where you can win a leather-bound edition of 1Q84. Obviously, I will be winning this, but I just thought I’d let you know. Good luck!*

*If you win, I get custody on the weekends.

ANTI-DISTRACTIONS

furioushorses — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 07:59:54 +0000

You might say to me, “Chris, I’m a busy person. Why would I need more distractions? Also, why are you in my living room?” To this, I would simply answer: “All these things will enrich your life and may even save you time, getting you straight to the good stuff and meaning you’re not meandering aimlessly around the internet looking for the best things to read. Also, your windows are not very secure. Sorry about the footprints on your carpet.”

Here, then, are three new places you simply must visit/explore/read/listen to this week.

First off, the very exciting new site that kicked off this blog post is The Rereaders, the brainchild of young Sydney-based writers, reviewers and book industry go-getters Sam Twyford-Moore, Rebecca Giggs and Fiona Wright. Each fortnight you can download the Rereaders Podcast, a literary and cultural discussion based heavily on the Slate’s Cultural Gabfest series. The first Rereaders podcast went live today, and it was terrific. In fact, you’re wasting time reading me talking about it. Listen right here (mp3). Twitter = @therereaders

While you’re in the mood for listening, why not check out the excellent BookTuner, where book editor and tastemaker Nikki Lusk impeccably matches book and music combinations (I can personally attest to the Visit from the Goon Squad and Sleigh Bells match). Twitter = @booktuner

And two more quick links to see you through the week:

My Unfinished Novels (which is almost exactly what it sounds like)

The Shortlist Daily (when The Monthly tells you what to read, you listen, sir!)

GET TO IT!