cread | read & see

The Brisbane Writers Festival got off to a controversial start with guest speaker Germaine Greer saying that, “The ABS reports that 47 per cent of Queenslanders cannot read a newspaper, follow a recipe, make sense of time tables or understand instructions on a medicine bottle.” She argued that a "good time" could not be had at a writers festival with such statistics being an underlying truth. Apparently Greer misrepresented the ABS' findings - according to State Library of Queensland representative Jane Cowell. But she certainly got the job done of getting BWF on the national agenda, if briefly, by being the "provocative discussion-starter" that the festival's director Jane O'Hara had wanted. Greer's comments have, not surprisingly, upset a lot of people (mainly Queenslanders), but there is a serious side. Concerns have been raised that her comments only deepen the shame for people who do have literacy problems. Author Nick Earls, however, wh...

By Josiah Hallett The Big Issue is a five dollar magazine sold by vendors who retain $2.50 of that sale price for themselves. These vendors are people like Lea, a former drug addict, who became homeless and lost her kids after separating with her husband. Lea's story is told in the current edition of The Big Issue , where she expresses her thanks to the publication for giving her the opportunity to make some money, when what she had become accustomed to was “no.” The “fiction edition” of The Big Issue is in circulation until September 10. It features 12 short works of fiction, and each of these stories has been matched with artworks by modern artists. When flicking through the magazine, the positioning of these artworks seemed random, but once I'd read the accompanying stories my mind made the most of the fiction's framing, leaping one way or another to make sense of why each artwork belonged where it was. I think that's the way it's supposed to be with art, r...

Forty nine leading British writer have written to The Daily Telegraph in London condemning the proliferation of false book reviews. This follows revelations that several authors, the most recent being award-winning crime writer RJ Ellory, have posted flattering reviews of their own work while criticisng the work of other authors. The group, including bestselling writers Ian Rankin, Lee Child, Karin Slaughter, Val McDermid and Helen FitzGerald, say widespread use of “fake identities” was causing untold damage to the publishing world. They urge the reading public to "take possession" of the online review process with free and honest reviews that will drown out "phoney voices". The online review capacity of sites such as Amazon has suffered a credibility issue in the past with the widespread practise of authors and publishers purchasing positive reviews. One example was American Todd Rutherford's now defunct gettingbookreviews.com where he offered 50 po...

Welcome back to Creaview, as we take a look at the weekend's book reviews from major publications across the globe. This week we'll drop in on the book sections of The Washington Post , Christianity Today and The Canberra Times . 500 Days by Kurt Eichenwald was reviewed by Dina Temple-Raston of The Washington Post . The book looks at the Bush administration's handling of the 18 months following September 11, 2001. Temple-Raston thought most of what the book covered was familiar ground, but she was won over and 500 Days compelling due to Eichenwald's “journalistic attention to detail.” The Book of Mormon Girl: A Memoir of an American Faith by Joanna Brooks was reviewed by John G Turner of the Post , who simply summarises the book, an autobiography by Morman Joanna Brook. Turner gives little indication as to his thoughts regarding the content or the quality of the book until the conclusion of his review: “Brooks’s sprightly yet thoughtful prose, her carefully con...

As Australia mourns the loss of five defence force personnel in Afghanistan, it feels almost irreverent to join the discussion about a former US Navy Seal's book about the killing of bin Laden. Our collective grief is much closer to home. But the author Matt Bissonnette (briefly known by the pseudonym Mark Owens) is adamant he chose to write the book No Easy Day to remember the fallen of 9/11. The war in Afghanistan is almost a direct consequence and there are many fallen there too. The book is top of Amazon's best-seller list well before its hardcover release on September 4 and paperback release on September 7. Author wears disguise for 60 Minutes interview In a US 60 Minutes interview to be screened on September 11 (portion above), Bissonnette was disguised by Hollywood make-up artists to conceal his identity, although CBS said he had been willing to appear without disguise. Now that his name and identity have been revealed - first by Fox News - the disguise is a waste ...

After participating in one of the biggest celebratory events in recent history, you can't blame Pippa Middleton for riding a Royal wave and releasing a book on events and celebrations. Celebrate: A Year of Festivities for Families is to be published by Penguin's Michael Joseph imprint on October 30 but is already available for on-line pre-order . Penguin describe Celebrate as "a useful, practical and inspiring journey into British-themed occasions, focusing on tradition and ritual and the importance of bringing friends and family together." Imprint Michael Joseph is known for handling Penguin's "highly commercial" authors and books and there are reports that Middleton negotiated a six figure sum for the book. And in defence of the claim that she is cashing in on her royal connections, her family does run a party business, Party Pieces , and the 28-year-old is reported to have delayed the release of the book to avoid the Queen's Jubilee cel...

New media, in the hand of entrepreneurial tech-savvy individuals, is finding its way into every avenue of life and reading is no exception. ReadCloud was founded in 2009 by Jeremy LeBard and is “the world's first social eReading software.” It recently signed with publisher, Macmillan, lifting its tally of eBooks to 75,000. It offers three products globally: Social eReading software for schools and book clubs which allows for sharing of annotations directly inside eBooks as well as easy distribution of eBooks to school laptops and tablets A white-label eBooks platform with tablet applications allowing physical bookstores to hacve their own digital bookstore selling eBooks from major international and Australian publishers. Course material encryption and distribution for corporate training and university course notes. The social platform syncs all connected ReadCloud apps (PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android) such as within an educational institution, to the cloud – internet data ...