Vogel Winner : The Roving Party

Rohan Wilson has won the Vogel Award 2011 for his novel The Roving Party, about the genocidal persecution of Tasmania's Aborigines by the founder of Melbourne, John Batman.

The judges described The Roving Party and its depiction of John Batman's man-hunt as a great original new voice full of stark, compelling imagery.

1829, Tasmania.
John Batman, ruthless, singleminded; four convicts, the youngest still only a stripling; Gould, a downtrodden farmhand; two free black trackers; and powerful, educated Black Bill, brought up from childhood as a white man. This is the roving party and their purpose is massacre.
With promises of freedom, land grants and money, each is willing to risk his life for the prize.
Passing over many miles of tortured country, the roving party searches for Aborigines, taking few prisoners and killing freely, Batman never abandoning the visceral intensity of his hunt. And all the while, Black Bill pursues his personal quarry, the much-feared warrior, Manalargena.
A surprisingly beautiful evocation of horror and brutality, The Roving Party is a meditation on the intricacies of human nature at its most raw.

Rohan Wilson lived a long, mostly lonely, life until a lucky turn of events led him to take up a teaching position in Japan, where he met his wife. They have a son who loves books, as all children should. They live in Launceston but don't know why. Rohan holds degrees and diplomas from the universities of Tasmania, Southern Queensland and Melbourne. This is his first book.

He can be found on Twitter: @rohan_wilson.

read more about the Vogel Award here.

May Argghh!

Well it is May, nearly, and we at the Sun Bookshop have been preparing for the Williamstown Literary Festival this weekend so many great events all squished into 2 days check the website.. We are also pretty excited at the Sun to be hosting one of the Miles Franklin short, shortlisters Chris Wormesley at our bookclub Wednesday night, one of my best books from last year have you read it yet? . You also need to know there are so many great books coming out this month, I can’t recommend enough S.J Watsons’ Before I go to Sleep a great book of a woman suffering short term memory loss, scary and incredibly readable. It must be the month of memory loss book because we also have for young adults (anyone really) Forgotten by Cat Patrick a great page turner with a weirdly similar memory loss as Before I go to sleep. It’s a bit like the covers of books some months they all seem to be green or have only half a girls head, go figure! Also loved Ottoman Motel by Chris Currie and A visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan it won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and rocks, really. New Restaurant Alert. I have now eaten at Tin Pan Alley in Victoria Street Seddon and it was yummy whenever I walk past I see the wood fired Pizza Oven and want to run in instantly but must keep walking cannot give in… Pizzaaaa. Eat, read be merry.

Miles Franklin Shortlist

Oh yes we are famous

It was a little while ago now, but did you see us in the Maribyrnong Leader?

Click here to check it out!

Bossypants

I love 30 Rock I love Mean Girls and yes I love Tina Fey. So how excited was I when yesterday we received loads of copies of her new memoir Bossypants. I took a copy to the bank with me and

stood in the queue killing myself laughing, then stood in front of the teller doing the same thing. Went home killed myself laughing, stayed up, too late, killing myself laughing. I love Bossypants.

I am also pretty excited about reading Karen Russell's ,Swamplandia and just finished A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. I really enjoyed this American writers characters in the music scene can't stop thinking about them actually, she gives you just enough story but doesn't tie everything up. Very excitingly, I will not say too much but, I have been reading so many great books that are coming in the next few months. The Life a novel by Malcolm Knox is one . I think this is a breakthrough novel for Malcolm Knox I loved Jamaica but this one is at another level, incredible. Oh yes, new restaurant alert in Yarraville went to

the Corner Shop's new venue, The Wee Genie, in Anderson street, Yummy

review : Mr Peanut

Mr Peanut, Adam Ross (Viking)

What a curious read this is, fantastically curious. Mr Peanut explores several dysfunctional marriages, and the intersection of love and violence. The opening sentence sets the scene of just how dysfunctional Alice and David’s marriage had become: “When David Pepin first dreamed of killing his wife, he didn’t kill her himself. He dreamed convenient acts of God.” So begins the journey through the past and present of the Pepin’s marriage and as a backdrop the marriages of the officers investigating Alice’s death. Early on Ross refers to MC Escher’s ‘Encounter’ and like that image this book is a complex, circular journey full of dark and light, he also throws in some Hitchcock and a real unsolved murder case. This is a brilliant read and more than a little mind-bending.

--Michelle--

Chic-lit at its finest!

The Secret Life of Dresses, Erin McKean (H&S Fiction)

A wonderful novel about vintage dresses, small towns, romance and being a little lost in life. Author Erin Mckean created the famous US website Dress-A-Day; and her knowledge, respect and love of stitching, hemlines, and floral patterns poetically transcends into her first novel. You’ll be absorbed by the 20-something year old Dora as she faces the challenges of losing a loved one, dealing with family secrets and the heartache of making tough decisions. A great read for lovers of vintage fashion, shift dresses and Jackie Kennedy gloves: “chic-lit” at its finest.

--Felicity--