Laurie Steed

http://www.lauriesteed.com

Laurie Steed is the author of You Belong Here, published in March 2018. His fiction has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and has appeared in Best Australian Stories, Award Winning Australian Writing, The Age, Meanjin, Westerly, Island, and elsewhere. He is a recipient of fellowships from The University of Iowa, The Baltic Writing Residency, The Elizabeth Kostova Foundation, The Katharine Susannah Prichard Foundation, and The Fellowship of Writers (Western Australia). He lives in Perth, Western Australia with his wife and two young sons.

Laurie Steed reviews 'The Vintage and the Gleaning' by Jeremy Chambers

September 2010, no. 324 • 01 September 2010

Smithy is a retired shearer turned vineyard worker. His days are spent among the vines, where minutiae become conversational talking points and the lives of others are dissected with dogged patience. Smithy, a recovering alcoholic, still haunts the bars he used to call home, but no longer drinks in them. As a consequence, memories are resurfacing: a past up north, his wife Florrie, and days when h ... (read more)

Laurie Steed reviews 'A Few Right Thinking Men' by Sulari Gentill

October 2010, no. 325 • 01 October 2010

It takes a talented writer to imbue history with colour and vivacity. It is all the more impressive when the author creates a compelling narrative. As an example of a burgeoning genre, A Few Right Thinking Men more than matches its historical crime contemporaries in both areas. ... (read more)

Laurie Steed reviews 'The Good Daughter' by Honey Brown

July–August 2010, no. 323 • 01 July 2010

At its best, popular ﬁction is almost cinematic. As readers, we know what to expect but still gasp in awe as the rug is pulled from under us in pursuit of thrills, chills, and narrative twists. Honey Brown’s second novel, The Good Daughter, is a ﬁne example of the modern ethos. It reads like a classic girl-gone-bad screenplay. Rebecca Toyer, from the wrong side of the tracks, meets Zach Kinc ... (read more)

Laurie Steed reviews 'The Toymaker' by Liam Pieper

August 2016, no. 383 • 25 July 2016

Liam Pieper has been making quite a name for himself in recent years. He published his début memoir, The Feel Good Hit of the Year, to acclaim in 2014. He followed this up with Mistakes Were Made (2015), a collection of four essays. Now, just over a year later, he has published his first novel, The Toymaker; one reviewer has even compared it favourably to J.M. Coetzee's Disgrace (1999). ... (read more)

Laurie Steed reviews 'When There's Nowhere Else to Run' by Murray Middleton

August 2015, no. 373 • 29 July 2015

Our national literary landscape would be seriously depleted without The Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award. It jump-started the careers of Tim Winton, Julienne van Loon, and Andrew McGahan, authors who have been willing to explore the harsher aspects of Australia’s identity, however confronting these journeys may sometimes have been. Others, such as Gillian Mears, Danielle Wood, and Eva Sallis ... (read more)

Laurie Steed reviews 'After Darkness' by Christine Piper

September 2014, no. 364 • 01 September 2014

Australia’s history is chequered at best. For every story of military heroism, there is one of discomfiting prejudice. So it is with Christine Piper’s After Darkness, which explores Australian history from the point of view of a Japanese doctor, Tomakazu Ibaraki, arrested as a national threat while in Broome, and sent to the Loveday internment camps in regional South Australia. ... (read more)

Laurie Steed reviews 'The Dunbar Case' by Peter Corris

April 2013, no. 350 • 26 March 2013

Known in certain quarters as ‘the godfather of Australian crime fiction’, Peter Corris is certainly persistent. Prior to this, he has written thirty-seven novels involving the wily, irrepressible Cliff Hardy. The Dunbar Case showcases an older but still sprightly Hardy, who deals with maritime mysteries, amorous women, and a notorious crime family. ... (read more)

Laurie Steed reviews 'Other Stories' by Wayne MacAuley

February 2011, no. 328 • 04 May 2011

How to review a book that includes, as major characters, Simpson and his donkey, the Dig Tree, and a bus that may or may not be a tram? In the case of Wayne MacAuley’s Other Stories,it is best to read story by story, pausing only to chart connecting themes in the cultural landscape. MacAuley’s short fiction draws inspiration from a surprisingly broad range of influences. Adam Lindsay Gordon, ... (read more)

Laurie Steed reviews 'The Ottoman Hotel' by Christopher Currie

May 2011, no. 331 • 21 April 2011

One feels greatly conflicted while reading The Ottoman Motel. While Christopher Currie’s début novel certainly shows promise, it would have benefited from further editorial development prior to publication. ... (read more)