Adam Shoemaker

Commentary - The Gold Coast Somerset Festival by Adam Shoemaker

May 1995, no. 170 • 01 May 1995

I remember hearing about the first Somerset Celebration of Literature when I was in Europe last year. The letters and postcards arrived: imagine a private college paying for Peter Carey to fly out first-class from New York to attend a literary event. Everyone was fixated on the details: limousines for authors; personal minders taking care of presenters; an army of volunteers looking after every de ... (read more)

Adam Shoemaker reviews 'In the Age of Mabo: History, Aborigines and Australia' edited by Bain Attwood

June 1996, no. 181 • 01 June 1996

Some of Australia’s most cogent historical analyses grow out of particular social moments: the close of World War II, the accession (and dismissal) of the Whitlam government, the bicentennial celebrations and protests of 1988. The High Court’s Mabo decision of June 1992 is just such a moment and it is no surprise to find another book which focuses on the aftermath of that landmark decision. In ... (read more)

Adam Shoemaker reviews 'Bridge of Triangles' by John Muk Muk Burke

November 1994, no. 166 • 01 November 1994

This is a fascinating publication. The first book by Wiradjuri author John Muk Muk Burke, Bridge of Triangles, is really free-form short fiction than a novel proper. Novella length, it is episodic, impressionistic, often poetic and open­ended. And, while it has many strengths, this 1993 winner of the David Unaipon Award for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors is ultimately a disquiet ... (read more)

'Obituary for Oodgeroo Noonuccal' by Adam Shoemaker

November 1993, no. 156 • 01 November 1993

Despite the importance of her poetry and prose, Oodgeroo’s experiences were much more than a catalogue of achievements in European terms. Her life, often hard fought, was one of enjoyment as well as pain, of laughter as well as sorrow. Oodgeroo had a wonderful sense of humour; it was, like the title of Ruby Langford’s latest book, ‘real deadly’. She was always able to use this to advantage ... (read more)

Adam Shoemaker reviews 'Kullark / The Dreamers' by Jack Davis

May 1983, no. 50 • 01 May 1983

The twelve-month period which began in February 1982 saw an unprecedented growth of interest in Aboriginal drama in English, both within Australia and overseas. In that month, Jack Davis’s second play, The Dreamers, made its début in the annual Festival of Perth and was generally well received by the critics. Five months later, Robert Merritt’s 1975 play The Cake Man was revived briefly in Sy ... (read more)