Sylvia Plath’s adoration of the avocado
Iconic literary food moments
To celebrate Richard Glover's book, The Land Before Avocado, set in Australia in the 1970s, we have opted for another modern author, Sylvia Plath, as the subject of our iconic literary food moment. Plath never experienced the 1970s, having committed suicide in 1963, not long after she published her novel The Bell Jar. But it is a fairly safe bet that she would have found the prospects for women in the 1970s just as dreary as for women in the 1950s and 1960s. As Richard stresses in his book, we have come a long way.
Straight from the authors’ mouths
Recommended Reads
Our guest Debra Oswald, author of The Whole Bright Year has chosen An Odyssey by Daniel Mendelsohn as her recommended read for Word of Mouth TV. A novel that echoes the themes and circularity of the original Homerian epic; the second oldest surviving work of Western literature and the sequel to the Iliad, which is the oldest, An Odyssey reminds us of the universality of themes surrounding fathers and sons, trickery and truthfulness.
Didion on congee and food for the grieving soul
Iconic literary food moments
In honour of our fashion episode for Charlotte Smith's One Enchanted Evening, we have chosen a quote from style-icon Joan Didion because few people have managed to marry fashion, food and literature so well. Didion was an author of both literature and cookbooks, and kick-started her writing career on the pages of Vogue. She experienced great sadness in her life, losing both her husband and her daughter, the latter dying at just 39 year’s of age, but she never lost her connection with fashion and words. The quote we have chosen comes from her novel The Year of Thinking Magically, when Didion muses on the power of food to comfort and console.
Pineapple and mint salsa and herby tomatoes
Portrait of a recipe
Something light and fresh was needed to accompany our Balmain bugs for the Holly Ringland interview and this pineapple and mint salsa paired with a tomato and herb salad fitted the bill. It was 29 degrees in the shade for this interview and not a scrap of salad was left in the bowls by the end of the day - simple hot-weather crowd pleasers. We hope you enjoy these salads as much as we did.Episode 7: Holly Ringland’s Lost Flowers of Alice Hart
Word of Mouth TV caught up with Holly Ringland on her whirlwind tour of Australia. Her novel, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, was one of the debut sensations of the year. Holly talks with us about the language of flowers and what it feels like to have your writing dreams come true. She also offers a great cookbook recommendation for all our vegan fans (we know there are a few).
Episode 6: Writing NSW’s Kids & YA Festival
Word of Mouth TV had such a great time interviewing authors at Writing NSW's Kids & Young Adult Festival. The events were packed but we still managed to persuade authors Jaclyn Moriarty, Garth Nix and Belinda Murrell to spare some time to talk about their latest books and share their book and food tips. Everyone else must have had a great time too, because the event trended fourth on Twitter for the day, no mean feat.
Lauren Chater’s whopping giveaway
The Lace Weaver
Thanks to publisher Simon & Schuster, Word of Mouth TV has two more book packs to give away this week to celebrate our first debut author, Lauren Chater. And they are bumper giveaways. Each contains the most books of any giveaway to date (so exciting!) All you need to do to enter is SUBSCRIBE to our Youtube channel, or our website, and complete the drill. Click through for details!
Loving the Sydney Writers Festival!
Wow! What a fabulous few days we’ve had at the Sydney Writers Festival. The Carriageworks is a great venue – plenty of space, groovy eateries and bars, and wonderful lounges to relax after author sessions. And what a fabulous line-up of authors. It has a great central hub that makes it easy for people to mingle and meet, and watch the authors zooming through to their next appearance.
Kelly Rimmer
Kelly Rimmer is the USA Today bestselling women’s fiction author and has sold more than 600,000 digital copies of her previous four novels.