Tag Archives: Claire G. Coleman

Kindred: 12 Queer #LoveOzYA Stories edited by Michael Earp

Book Review, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Overview
Image result for kindred 12 queer book cover

Title: Kindred: 12 Queer #LoveOzYA Stories
Author: Marlee Jane Ward, Erin Gough, Michael Earp, Jax Jacki Brown, Claire G Coleman, Nevo Zisin, Jen Wilde, Christos Tsiolkas, Ellen van Neerven, Omar Sakr, Alison Evans & Benjamin Law
In: Kindred (Michael Earp)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Australian authors, Contemporary, LGBTQI, Short story collections
Dates read: 9th June – 17th July 2020
Pace: Medium
Format: Anthology
Publisher: Walker Books
Year: 2019
5th sentence, 74th page: His disbelief at the time that has slipped away is overwhelming.

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Synopsis

What does it mean to be queer? What does it mean to be human? In this powerful #OwnVoices collection, twelve of Australia’s finest writers from the LGBTQIA+ community explore the stories of family, friends, lvoer and strangers the connections that form us.

Thoughts

This is an amazing collection. A great taste of some of the amazing talent that Australia has to offer. And a unique theme – LGBTQI+. It’s definitely a theme that is slowly filling more and more of my shelves. But it’s one that I’m definitely actively hunting for more of. I now have all twelve of the authors in my collection on my wishlist…

Each and every one of the stories in this collection are thoughtful and intriguing. They ran the gamut of emotions – some had me in tears, others had me hooting with laughter. But, what they all had in common? They had a great, thought-provoking theme that drew me in from the very beginning.

This is my first #LoveOzYA collection. And when I bought this, I did buy a few others. Now, I am exceedingly grateful for the fact… I can’t wait to enjoy more of the beautiful Qussie work on my shelves!

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Image source: Bookdepository

Sweet by Claire G Coleman

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for kindred 12 queer book cover

Title: Sweet
Author: Claire G Coleman
In: Kindred (Michael Earp)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Australian authors, Gender, LGBTQI
Dates read: 22nd May 2020
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Walker Books
Year: 2019
5th sentence, 74th page: No school could teach me what I needed to learn.

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Synopsis

In a world of no gender identity, what will happen when one girl figures out that she’s a she, not a they?

Thoughts

I’ve read a novel by Coleman not long ago. And what struck me most about her writing was the fact that she was able to take issues which are constantly occurring in our daily lives, flip them on our head and make you see things from a totally different perspective. The fact that she did that in this short story, all based around gender, made me literally clap my hands in joy.

I love that this is a world in which there is NO gender. It drives towards this idea that we have – that gender completely defines who we are. And that there are only two options; male or female. I may identify as a woman myself, but I don’t think that that completely defines me. Completely removing all identifications of gender throughout this story was a great stroke of brilliance. It made you think a little bit more about what makes a person a person, rather than how gender makes a person…

The other thing that removing all gender in this world did was remind us what prejudice against those who don’t fit into our schemes does. Instead of being attacked and hunted because the characters don’t fit a binary gender – they become attacked and hunted because they do. We’d like to think that this doesn’t happen anymore in today’s society. But that most certainly isn’t the case and this was a great reminder of that.

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Image source: Bookdepository

Terra Nullius by Claire G. Coleman

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for terra nullius claire g coleman book cover

Title: Terra Nullius
Author: Claire G. Coleman
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Adventure, Dystopia, Indigenous Australians, Science fiction
Dates read: 17th February – 1st March 2020
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Hachette Australia
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: If only they would stay put – stay in the camp they had established for utterly mysterious reasons of their own – he would find it easy to beat a path around them and back to the road.

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Synopsis

‘Jacky was running. There was no thought in his head, only an intense drive to run. There was no sense he was getting anywhere, no plan, no destination, no future. All he had was a sense of what was behind, what he was running from. Jacky was running.’

The Natives of the Colony are restless. The Settlers are eager to ahve a nation of peace, and to bring the savages into line. Families are torn apart, re-education is enforced. This rich land will provide for all.

This is not Australia as we know it. This is not the Australia of our history, This TERRA NULLIUS is something new, but all too familiar.

This is an incredible debut from a striking new Australian Aboriginal voice.

Thoughts

I figured this would be a pretty good and intense book – it’s apparently won quite a few awards. Plus, Coleman is an Indigenous Australian woman. So she was probably going to write about things and topics which I am constantly trying to find out more about being a white Australian woman and all… I DID NOT realise how intense this was going to be… or how unforgettable. And well, kind of life changing.

For the first half of this book, I didn’t really get how this was a science fiction story. It honestly just felt like a retelling of the horrors that Europeans enacted upon Indigenous Australians. There were the Natives and the Settlers and everything they did was exactly what the first settlers did to our First Nation Peoples. There was nothing really fantastical about that. Mostly, it just gave a face and a personality to some really horrendous acts. But then you get to the halfway point… and everything changes.

I love that the beginning of this story feels very human, very typical and very expected. But then you reach that turning point, when the quotes start to talk about alien life forms, future dates and interplanetary colonisation. Suddenly the horrors are inflicted upon all humans. Racism seems incredibly stupid when the entire human race is fighting for survival – our differences apparently just aren’t so bad.

This is a book that everyone should read. It has a potent message, and a great storyline. It is especially important for Australians – we need to acknowledge and accept our past, so that we can find a way to begin to heal the wrongs of the past. It isn’t the kind of book that you will read through insanely quickly. At least, it wasn’t for me. Rather, it is the sort of book that you will mull over and consider as you digest it. Giving yourself time to absorb and understand the intensity of what Coleman is trying to say.

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Image source: Hachette Australia