Do You Know This Author?

Question One: Has an Australian author won the Booker Prize?
Answer: Yes.

New York Review of Books described Richard Flanagan as “among the most versatile writers in the English language.” The Guardian wrote about ‘Question 7‘ “Blending memoir and history and auto-fiction, this brilliantly unique book by the Booker winner is a treatise on the immeasurability of life.”

Question Two: Do you know this author?
Answer: Richard Miller Flanagan (born 1961) is an Australian writer who won the 2014 Man Booker Prize for his novel ‘The Narrow Road to the Deep North’ (several reviews here) and the 2024 Baillie Gifford Prize for ‘Question 7’ which makes him the first writer in history to win both Britain’s major fiction and non-fiction prizes.

Question Three: Have you read one or many of Flanagan’s books?

Question Four: If you have read a Flanagan novel do you call yourself a good reader or a stalwart reader?

Question Five: Do you think you are missing out on a literary experience if you have not read these books?

Question Six: Of the three books (pictured above and below) are you likely to purchase at least one?

Question Seven (wink): Do you know how many other books this Aussie author has written? Not a quiz but, hey!

Richard Flanagan has written:
1994 – 2020 Eight novels
1985 – 2023 Nine non-fiction books
1998 – Film ‘The Sound of One Hand Clapping’ (director and screenwriter)
2008 – Film ‘Australia’ (co-writer)
2008 – ‘Wanting’ a complex 19th-century tale set in Tasmania and England involving an Aboriginal girl and novelist Charles Dickens.
2024 – Baillie Gifford Prize for ‘Question 7’

Current Awards and Honours:
Too extensive to list here so please click on the Wikipedia and Penguin Books link for full details and prepare to be amazed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Flanagan
Baillie Gifford Prize:
https://www.penguin.com.au/books/question-7-9781761343483

Inspired? Keen to read something different? Challenge yourself or your book club. My reviews are on the way but meanwhile you can read Aussie WordPress blogger ‘Whispering Gums’ excellent review here.

The above questions are rhetorical.

💗 © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025

Penguin: https://www.penguin.com.au/articles/3908-a-introductory-guide-to-australian-author-richard-flanagan
Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-Flanagan

https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-living-sea-of-waking-dreams-9781761048159

https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/all/the-narrow-road-to-the-deep-north/

Author Richard Flanagan
(PRH Australia)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/09/11/richard-flanagan-question-7-review/

‘Character Creation Intensive’ Jen Storer Flash Sale

Hi Everyone,

That flash sale I was telling you about, well, Jen says it’s on it’s way! Here are her details:

Cart opens this Friday, 10 January 2025. For three days only.

•Instant access! Jen says no faffing about waiting for module deliveries. You can hop in and get busy straight away.

•Full access for lifetime of the course. No more to pay. EVER! Once you have it, it’s YOURS.

•Eleven jam-packed video lessons including revelations, insights and innovative exercises. (Plus Jen’s support videos to motivate you and keep you on track).

The Character Creation Intensive looks at:

*Romancing the Story (A brilliant exercise to get you writing and keep you writing).

*Show Don’t Tell (Jen goes hard with this one! TWO sessions).

*Ghosts (Not the paranormal kind but the kind every main character needs!).

*Symbols and Props.

*Secondary Characters (Again, Jen goes hard here. TWO sessions with Beware slapped on them! That’s how important secondary characters are. She sees countless emerging authors slip on this banana).

*Alternative, fun and powerful approaches to character creation and story writing (‘Tried and true, Jen says, I use these methods myself’).

*Downloadable PDF course notes (always handy for a printout).

Aim to start the New Year 2025 with a spring in your step. Learn to create characters (and stories) your readers will NOT forget!
Click Jen’s Character Creation Intensive Flash Sale

Cart opens: Friday 10 January, 7am
Cart closes: Sunday 12 January, 10pm

Character Creation Intensive, Flash Sale! Only $67 AUD (Normally $167).

Love
Jen xo
Girl and Duck creative writing | creative life.

PS: Writers of adult fiction are warmly invited by Jen to grab this intensive, too. It’s for all creative writers not only kidlit authors! 💗 Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025