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.⁠ …

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Stella Blomkvist: Siobhan Mullany reviews

I enjoyed this Icelandic crime drama but it left me unsettled. It features a tough defence lawyer called Stella Blomkvist. Stella is persistent in trying to get the best for her clients. Her clients have their own agendas and so does Stella. The political angle is fascinating and, almost, believable. The style has cartoon like features …

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Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire Siobhan Mullany reviews

True crime investigations have become the cheap options for some TV programming. Promised revelations are often disappointing. Not with this program available on ABC iView  – Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire. This is a heartbreaking investigation into the deaths of four schoolboys and a father and his two little sons when the ghost train at …

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U3APP Talk: Carmel Shute – A Life in Crime

For thirty years this September, Sisters in Crime Australia has been celebrating women’s crime writing, running exciting events, nurturing authors and having fun. Co-founder Carmel Shute told tall tales and true under a grilling from a fellow convenor, Tara Mitchell, via Zoom on 20 March, to U3A Port Phillip. Catch up on our YouTube channel. …

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The delightful Miss S – Siobhan Mullany reviews

For a break from the dark Nordic crime, SBS On Demand delivered with Miss S, an adaptation of Kerry Greenwood’s Miss Fisher set in the late 20s’ and early 30s’ Shanghai. What a delight. You will recognise Kerry Greenwood’s plots, each spread over two episodes. All your favourite characters are there. Miss Su and Inspector …

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Striking Out – Natalie Conyer reviews

Striking Out, a two-season Irish legal drama (Acorn TV, and Apple TV), is the TV equivalent of comfort food: nourishing, not too demanding, and very enjoyable. No wonder it drew incredible ratings for Irish channel RTE when it first aired in 2017. For Tara Rafferty (Amy Huberman), life is good. She’s a young lawyer working …

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