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Jane Sullivan Jane Sullivan i(A31736 works by)
Born: Established: 1949 ;
Gender: Female
Arrived in Australia: 1979
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Works By

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1 y separately published work icon Live Recording : Anne Enright in Conversation Jane Sullivan (interviewer), Melbourne : Readings , 2021 23474479 2021 single work podcast interview

'A conversation with Anne Enright about her formidable body of work and her latest novel, Actress.'  (Production summary)

1 River of Dreams : Anita Heiss’s New Novel Jane Sullivan , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , June no. 432 2021; (p. 38)

— Review of Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray Anita Heiss , 2021 single work novel
'There are two famous statues in the Gundagai area. One is the Dog on the Tuckerbox. The other is of two heroes, Yarri and Jacky Jacky, who, with other Wiradjuri men, went out in their bark canoes on many exhausting and dangerous forays to rescue an estimated sixty-nine people from the Great Flood of 1852.' (Introduction)
1 The Doherty Bunch : Recruiting Your Own Children as Spies Jane Sullivan , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 430 2021; (p. 21)

— Review of With My Little Eye : The Incredible True Story of a Family of Spies in the Suburbs Sandra Hogan , 2021 single work biography

'Here’s a story about a spy with a wooden leg, another spy who liked to sit around with his penis exposed, and a spy’s daughter who spent decades refusing to believe her father was dead. If this tale of an everyday family of secret agents were a novel or a Netflix drama, we’d laugh, frown, and admire it as a surreal fantasy. But it is real, the children are still alive, and their recollections are proof that truth is nuttier than fiction.' (Introduction)

1 Cross Over into Campgrounds : An Original Début by Nardi Simpson Jane Sullivan , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , January–February no. 428 2021; (p. 42)

— Review of Song of the Crocodile Nardi Simpson , 2020 single work novel
1 y separately published work icon Live Recording : Ramona Koval on A Letter to Layla Jane Sullivan (interviewer), Melbourne : Readings , 2020 23474066 2020 single work podcast interview

'Writer and broadcaster Ramona Koval chats with literary journalist Jane Sullivan about her insightful new book, A Letter to Layla. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.'  (Production summary)

1 y separately published work icon Live Recording : Andrew O'Hagan on Mayflies Jane Sullivan (interviewer), Melbourne : Readings , 2020 23473571 2020 single work podcast interview

'Andrew O'Hagan chats with fellow author Jane Sullivan about his new novel, Mayflies. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.'  (Production summary)

1 The Brother as Torturer : Alex Miller's Tribute to a Mentor Jane Sullivan , 2020 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October no. 425 2020; (p. 36)

— Review of Max Alex Miller , 2020 single work biography
'When Alex Miller first thought of writing about Max Blatt, he imagined a celebration of his life. But would Max have wanted that? He was a melancholy, chainsmoking European migrant, quiet and self-effacing, who claimed nothing for himself except defeat and futility.' (Introduction)
1 Cooee! : A Wry Romantic Comedy Jane Sullivan , 2020 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , August no. 423 2020; (p. 31)

— Review of Kokomo Victoria Hannan , 2020 single work novel
'Kokomo has a startling beginning.'Mina knew in that moment what love is', goes the first sentence. She is looking at Jack's penis, which is compared to a soldier, a ballerina, a lighthouse, and a cooee. It is also the nicest penis she has ever seen.' (Introduction) 
 
1 Many Flights of Stairs : Australian Women Artists in France Jane Sullivan , 2020 single work
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , June-July no. 422 2020; (p. 65)

— Review of Intrépide : Australian Women Artists in Early Twentieth-century France Clem Gorman , Therese Gorman , 2020 single work biography

'Art and Paris meant everything to Agnes Goodsir. ‘You must forgive my enthusiasm,’ she wrote. ‘Nothing else is of the smallest or faintest importance besides that.’ Goodsir was the Australian artist who painted the iconic portrait Girl with Cigarette, now in the Bendigo Art Gallery. It depicts a cool, sophisticated, free-spirited woman of the Parisian boulevards. When Goodsir created it, in 1925 or thereabouts, she had lived in Paris since the turn of the century. Apart from brief visits back to Australia, she stayed there until her death in 1939.' (Introduction)

1 3 y separately published work icon Storytime : Growing up with Books Jane Sullivan , Edgecliff : Ventura Press , 2019 16709081 2019 selected work essay

'What was it exactly? Wonder, rapture delight, surprised recognition, laughter - but also darker feelings that made my heart beat fast and my stomach turn over, and sometimes a frantic urge to close the book before whatever it was sucked me in and destroyed me. But always, I read on. In Storytime, author and literary critic Jane Sullivan takes us from Wonderland to Narnia, Moomintroll to Mr Toad and from Winnie the Pooh to the Magic Pudding, to find out why her favourite childhood books were so vitally important, and how they shaped the woman she is today. This intimate, intense and emotional adventure down memory lane is much, much more than nostalgia. It is a surprising and sometimes disturbing voyage of self-discovery. As Jane relives old joys and faces old fears, she discovers that the books were not what she thought they were, and she was not the child she thought she was.'  (Publication summary)

1 Power and Parenthood Jane Sullivan , 2019 single work essay
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , January / February no. 408 2019; (p. 31)

'What is it that so fascinates us about lost children? Whether fact or fiction, their stories keep surfacing: Azaria Chamberlain, Jaidyn Leskie, the Beaumont children, or the schoolgirls Joan Lindsay dreamed up for her 1967 novel Picnic at Hanging Rock. Indeed, those girls have wafted through so many subsequent incarnations in books, a play, a film, and a television series that some people are convinced they were real and that the story of their disappearance is true.'  (Introduction)

1 Crossroads Jane Sullivan , 2018 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October no. 405 2018; (p. 46)

'A stranger rides into a one-horse town on a shiny new motorbike. Cue Ennio Morricone music. Except it’s not a stranger, it’s that skinny dark girl Kerry Salter, back to say goodbye to her Pop before he falls off the perch. The first conversation she has is in the Bundjalung language (translated for our benefit) with three cheeky crows. One bites a dead snake in the head and its fangs get wedged onto the bird’s beak, fastening it shut. Chances are it’ll starve to death, thinks Kerry. ‘The eaters and the eaten of Durrongo, having it out at the crossroads.’'  (Introduction)

1 y separately published work icon Mondo Cane - Street Dogs of Italy Jane Sullivan , Port Adelaide : Ginninderra Press , 2017 11975275 2017 selected work poetry
1 Works in Progress Jane Sullivan , 2017 single work essay
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , March no. 389 2017; (p. 32)
'An odd thing happened after I had finished reading this short story collection. I came back to it a couple of weeks later, intending to write this review, and found I had almost completely forgotten some of the stories. Such amnesia is unusual for me. Good short stories generally set up a resonance that lingers, even if not all the details stay in the mind. Does that mean, then, that these are not good short stories? I wouldn’t say that. Uneven, perhaps. Some seem unresolved, more like fragments: although they aim at completeness, and are polished to a finished form, on some level they go on unfurling, not yet ready to declare The End.' (Introduction)
1 Turning Pages Jane Sullivan , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 3-4 September 2016; (p. 21)
1 Turning Pages : Confessions and Revelations Galore at Bendigo Writers Festival Jane Sullivan , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: Brisbane Times , 19 August 2016;
'... It was a weekend of confession, revelation and awkward moments relived at the fifth Bendigo Writers Festival, bigger than ever and rich in writerly wisdom. Often the less wise learning experiences were the ones that resonated with the audience. Most writers had such stories, frequently told against themselves. ...'
1 y separately published work icon Faunaverse : Australian Wildlife in Poetry Alexander Dudley , Jane Sullivan , Coolatai : Faunaverse , 2016 9862207 2016 selected work poetry
1 Jane Sullivan Laments the Lack of Australians in a Hymn to Female Crime Writers Jane Sullivan , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: Brisbane Times , 29 July 2016 2016;
'Raymond Chandler famously advised fellow crime writers that when in doubt, they should have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand. When today's crime writers are in doubt, they have a woman come through the door with a passive-aggressive zinger on her lips. ...'
1 Turning Pages Jane Sullivan , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 30-31 July 2016; (p. 21)
1 Turning Pages Jane Sullivan , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 9 July 2016; (p. 21)
'In these days, when you can see everything - and I do mean everything - on the internet, it seems strange that librarians once collected supposedly naughty books and locked them away from the public. ...'
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