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Catherine Noske

Catherine Noske

Catherine Noske is the editor of Westerly Magazine at the University of Western Australia, where she also teaches in Literature and Creative Writing. She has twice been awarded the Elyne Mitchell Prize for Rural Women Writers, and her current manuscript, the subject of a Varuna Fellowship, was shortlisted for the 2015 Dorothy Hewett Award.

Catherine Noske reviews 'Terra Nullius' by Claire G. Coleman

December 2017, no. 397 24 November 2017
It is hard to review a novel when you don’t want to discuss two-thirds of it – not because it is not worth discussing, but because doing so risks undermining the genius of the novel’s structure. The blurb of Claire G. Coleman’s début makes clear that the novel is ‘not [about] the Australia of our history’, but for the first third of the novel, this is not readily apparent. ... (read more)

Catherine Noske reviews 'Datsunland' by Stephen Orr

June-July 2017, no. 392 29 May 2017
Datsunland, a collection of short stories and the latest from Stephen Orr, is in many ways flawed. The collection is uneven: the final (titular) work is a novella previously published in a 2016 issue of Griffith Review, which overwhelms the earlier, shorter stories, exhibiting the depth and nuance which several others lack. The narratives and characters alike at times are underdeveloped, and rely ... (read more)

Catherine Noske reviews 'The Hate Race: A memoir' and 'Carrying the World' by Maxine Beneba Clarke

October 2016, no. 385 23 September 2016
Across two new titles, Maxine Beneba Clarke offers an unflinching portrayal of the impact of racism, and transcends form in turning a lens on Australian society. Together, these two works witness the myriad ways in which racism shapes the daily life of its victims, the ongoing impact and the toll on body and mind. We see this damage play out in each work, both in psychological terms and, as she de ... (read more)