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Kirsten Tranter Kirsten Tranter i(A7187 works by)
Born: Established: 1972 ;
Gender: Female
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Works By

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1 1 A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville Review – the Untold Story of an Unruly Woman Kirsten Tranter , 2020 single work review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 31 July 2020;

— Review of A Room Made of Leaves Kate Grenville , 2020 single work novel

'What would Elizabeth Macarthur, wife of notorious Australian colonist John Macarthur, say if she could set the record straight?'

1 Virtual Vacation : Expatriates on Hydra Kirsten Tranter , 2020 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 421 2020; (p. 34)

— Review of A Theatre for Dreamers Polly Samson , 2020 single work novel

'For or anyone feeling stir-crazy after weeks cooped up in self-isolation, A Theatre for Dreamers offers an appealing escape, a virtual vacation on the Greek island of Hydra. Dive into these pages and you can swim vicariously in a perfect horseshoe-shaped bay, dry off in the summer sun, admire countless young, scantily clad men and women, and end the day with a glass of retsina while you watch the moon set and listen to a young Leonard Cohen enunciate profundities about life and art.' (Introduction)

1 The Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan Kirsten Tranter , 2020 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 420 2020;

— Review of The Good Turn Dervla McTiernan , 2020 single work novel

'Dervla McTiernan’s third novel consolidates her standing as a star of Irish detective fiction, following her breakout début, The Rúin (2018), and its follow-up, The Scholar (2019), all featuring Detective Sergeant Cormac Reilly.'  (Introduction)

1 Changing the Conversation : The Stella Prize Kirsten Tranter , 2019 single work criticism
— Appears in: Sydney PEN Magazine , November 2019; (p. 40-43)
'In 2011, the US-based organization VIDA (Women in Literary Arts) sparked an international conversation in the literary world by publishing a ‘count’ of gender balance in the world of reviewing. They revealed, in shocking coloured pie-charts, the remarkable disparity between the number of women and men reviewed and authoring reviews in major literary publications. The VIDA count proved with data what many of us already knew: women writers’ slice of the pie was absurdly, maddeningly small.' 

 (Introduction)

1 An Inherently Stupid Prize of Our Own? Kirsten Tranter , 2019 single work column
— Appears in: Overland [Online] , August 2019;

'A couple of weeks back I was watching stories appear on social media celebrating the historic win of Melissa Lucashenko in the Miles Franklin Literary Award for her novel Too Much Lip. She became the third Indigenous writer to win the prize in its 62-year history, and the sixteenth woman. One moment I was looking at flowers and champagne for her book, the next I was running across Emmett Stinson’s essay arguing that literary prizes are ‘inherently stupid’, published in this magazine literally days after Lucashenko’s win.' (Introduction)

1 Once Again : Outside in the House of Art Kirsten Tranter , 2018 single work essay
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 401 2018; (p. 20)

'The setting is a gorgeous, somewhat decayed, many-roomed Georgian mansion in upstate New York, near the Hudson, in 2012. Nine screens placed around a darkened gallery space each show a room of the house, most of them occupied by a person and a musical instrument: a willowy woman in a slip on a chaise longue, arms wrapped around a cello; a dark-skinned man seated at an ornate desk leaning intently over a bass guitar. There is a man at a grand piano in a room with densely patterned wallpaper, at a drum kit in a kitchen doorway, on a bed with a guitar next to a naked woman. A naked man in a bathtub holds a guitar, not seeming to mind that it dips into the bubbly water. They all wear headphones, listening attentively, mostly unmindful of the camera. One screen shows the front verandah on which a disparate group of people are gathered, standing, sitting, straddling the balcony rail. One by one the musicians take up their instruments.' (Introduction)

1 4 y separately published work icon Hold Kirsten Tranter , Sydney South : HarperCollins Australia , 2016 9178727 2016 single work novel

'A haunting, hypnotic and enticing novel of grief and desire, by one of Australia's finest, most assured novelists.

'Three years ago, Shelley's lover, Conrad, died in a surfing accident. Now, still in a state of subdued grief, Shelley has just moved into an old Victorian terrace in Paddington with David, her new partner, trying for a new beginning. At home one morning, Shelley discovers a door to a small intriguing room, which is not on the plans. There is a window, a fireplace and a beautiful chandelier. But nothing else.

'When Shelley meets a man who seems to be Conrad's uncanny double, the mysterious room begins to dominate her world, becoming a focus for her secret fantasies and fears, offering an escape which also threatens to become a trap. A waking dream of a novel, HOLD is spellbinding, sensual and unsettling.' (Publication summary)

1 Copenhagen Kirsten Tranter , 2015 single work prose
— Appears in: Out of Place : Prose Poems and Microfiction 2015; (p. 29)
1 y separately published work icon Out of Place : Prose Poems and Microfiction Kirsten Tranter (editor), Linda Godfrey (editor), Strawberry Hills : Spineless Wonders , 2015 8912045 2015 anthology poetry short story

'These are stories rendered in miniature and moments inscribed with precise focus. Australia's best microwordsmiths offer journeys in words that will take you somewhere surprising. A stolen glimpse of a father dancing alone to music; Gothic landscapes on the New South Wales coast; incredible spectrums in the colours of butterflies; Aussie cricket and climate change; remembrances of an exiled home land or the awkward sexual politics at a funeral. These stories capture delightful and unsettling moments of estrangement, when the new becomes familiar and the ordinary, sublime. ' (Publication summary)

1 Turing Test Study Guide Kirsten Tranter , 2014 single work prose
— Appears in: Flashing the Square : Microfiction and Prose Poems 2014; (p. 23)
1 The Predators Kirsten Tranter , 2014 single work short story
— Appears in: Island , no. 139 2014; (p. 72-75)
1 Go, Little Book Kirsten Tranter , 2014 single work essay
— Appears in: Overland , Summer no. 217 2014; (p. 41-46) The Best Australian Essays 2015 2015;
'The article offers the author's insights on the lesson she learned from being reviewed as an author of the novel "The Legacy," a contemporary adaptation and revision of the book by Henry James titled "Portrait of a Lady." Topics discussed by the author include her experience of writing the novel with a grant from the Australian Council, the positive response of the publisher and the reader to her novel, and how she learned about characters and plots from the perspective of the reviewers.' (Publication abstract)
1 Pet Name Kirsten Tranter , 2014 single work short story
— Appears in: The Best Australian Stories 2014 2014; (p. 214-222)

''Here's the money. Look, it's the exact change.' By the time I tuned in, the argument has already been going on for a while...'

1 Hell Is a Spooky Sojourn Without WiFi Kirsten Tranter , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 2-3 August 2014; (p. 20-21)

— Review of Breakfast With the Borgias D. B. C. Pierre , 2014 single work novel
1 The Class Strugle in a Weird World Kirsten Tranter , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 14-15 June 2014; (p. 35) The Age , 14-15 June 2014; (p. 35)

— Review of Unwrapped Sky Rjurik Davidson , 2014 single work novel
1 Fish Life Kirsten Tranter , 2014 single work short story
— Appears in: The Sleepers Almanac No. 9 2014; (p. 247)
1 Secrets of a Haunted House Kirsten Tranter , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 4-5 May 2013; (p. 32) The Saturday Age , 4 May 2013; (p. 25) The Canberra Times , 4 May 2013; (p. 25)

— Review of The Shadow Year Hannah Richell , 2013 single work novel
1 The Summer Associates Kirsten Tranter , 2013 single work short story
— Appears in: Just Between Us : Australian Women Writers Tell the Truth About Female Friendship 2013; (p. 301-316)
1 Books of the Year Stephen Romei , Graeme Blundell , James Bradley , Geraldine Brooks , Gabrielle Carey , Peter Carey , Stella Clarke , Miriam Cosic , Peter Craven , Tegan Bennett Daylight , Michelle De Kretser , Delia Falconer , Tim Flannery , David Free , Peter Goldsworthy , Andy Griffiths , Gideon Haigh , Helen Garner , Sonya Hartnett , Ashley Hay , Evelyn Juers , Thomas Keneally , Richard King , Ramona Koval , David Malouf , Alex Miller , Louis Nowra , Peter Pierce , Felicity Plunkett , Nicolas Rothwell , Jaya Savige , Kirsten Tranter , Geordie Williamson , Tim Winton , Ed Wright , Fiona Wright , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 21-22 December 2013; (p. 14-18)
1 Hooray for Hollywood Kirsten Tranter , 2013 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 2-3 November 2013; (p. 10-15)
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