Carmel Shute - Sisters in Crime Australia

Crime wave across Australia – 27 stories shortlisted for the 29th Scarlet Stiletto Awards

Sisters in Crime Australia is proud to announce that 27 stories by 25 authors have been shortlisted for its 29th Scarlet Stiletto Awards for best short stories written by Australian women. Nicole Chamoun, star of Troppo, will present the awards at a gala dinner on Saturday 3 December, 6 for 6.30 pm, at South Melbourne’s Rising Sun Hotel. She will first discuss her life in crime with author and podcaster, Vikki Petraitis.

Corelli – TV Review by Siobhan Mullany

To celebrate its 90th anniversary, the ABC is posting classic TV dramas. One of these is Corelli. It is on a square screen but otherwise is as relevant today as it was in 1995. It is so much more than the set where Deborra-Lee Furness met Hugh Jackman. The portrayal of prison life is spot-on. From the first scene, you get a visceral feel for a prison: the noise, the bravado, the underlying menace, and the need for constant vigilance. The psychologists’ offices are squirrelled into the thick prison walls – the only light from high-set windows.

Twisted families: Lisa Jewell

Best-selling UK author, Lisa Jewell, doesn’t usually write sequels. But, from the day her 2019 novel The Family Upstairs was published, her social media inboxes filled up with messages from readers begging her for a sequel. She told them no, at first, but then, began to think maybe it could be fun. The result is The Family Remains.

Murder Monday: Jacqueline Bublitz

Jacqueline Bublitz won an amazing two Sisters in Crime’s Davitt Awards on 27 August for Before You Knew My Name – Best Debut Book and the Readers’ Choice award. All 169 books in contention competed for this award as decided by the 500+ members of Sisters in Crime. Before You Knew My Name has the unusual distinction of being narrated by a dead woman. She spoke to Karina Kilmore, debut crime writer, journalist, and interviewer for Sisters in Crime Australia, about her novel approach and how she crafted her book.

Crime wave hits Cobargo

Seven of Australia’s most popular female crime writers converged on the South Coast in August for a Sisters in Crime two-day writers festival on August 27 and 28. Candice Fox, Vikki Petraitis, Sulari Gentill, Fleur Ferris, Ilsa Evans, Professor Caroline de Costa, and Dorothy Johnston debated all matters crime before 100 people packed into the Cobargo Hall and a live-streamed global audience.

The crimes a country tried to hide: Lily Arthur

At the age of 17, Lily Arthur was forcibly taken away from the man she loved and planned to marry – for the ‘crime’ of being pregnant. She was incarcerated by the state to work indefinitely in a notorious Magdalene laundry in Brisbane, and her child was given away to strangers. She spent decades seeking justice for the 150,000+ women who had their children taken away. She recounts her struggles in Dirty Laundry.

2023 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards

Entries are now open for the 2023 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. Now in its 38th year, the Awards celebrate the country’s finest literary offerings, with prizes for fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, writing for young adults, Indigenous writing, and the overall Victorian Prize for Literature, worth an additional $100,000 – the single most valuable literary award in the country.⁠ …

D I Ray: TV review by Siobhan Mullany

Parminder Nagra (Bend it like Beckham) plays DI Rachita Ray with restraint. She is a detective promoted to Homicide as a token dark person. She has been brought in against the wishes of her bosses. They do not support her. She sucks it up. In her private life, she is equally restrained. I don’t love DI Ray but I want a second series. I want to see her succeed … I want those in charge to be made accountable. Is this misdirected fury at Morrison?

A dead woman narrator: Jacqueline Bublitz

Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz is narrated by a young dead woman in New York. The book has won an amazing two Davitt Awards – for Best Debut and Readers’ Choice, as judged by the 500+ members of Sisters in Crime. Jacqueline splits her time between Melbourne and New Zealand and, luckily for us, crossed the ditch to accept the awards.

You can’t even spell! S. D. Hinton

S. D. Hinton didn’t know she was dyslexic until she was an adult. She went through school in an era where dyslexia was rarely recognised, and poorly understood, if it was. Sufferers were usually labelled as inattentive or not very bright. That constrictive label, reinforced from prep, became part of who she was. Find out how she put her disability to good use – and how it adds to her creativity.