AustLit
Latest Issues
AbstractHistoryArchive Description
Notes
-
Author's note: In memory of Iris Eileen Mary Webber, nee Shingles (1906-1953)
-
Selected as one of the ABC Arts best books of 2022
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Large print.
Works about this Work
-
Miles Franklin 2023 : A Guide to the Shortlist of Australia’s Biggest Literary Prize
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 25 July 2023; -
Queer Disobedience, Cultural Erasure and Uncomfortable Truths : Your Guide to the 2023 Miles Franklin Shortlist
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 24 July 2023;
— Review of Iris 2022 single work novel ; Cold Enough for Snow 2022 single work novel ; Limberlost 2022 single work novel ; Hopeless Kingdom 2022 single work novel ; The Lovers 2022 single work novel ; Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens 2022 single work novel -
Miles Franklin Award 2023: Shortlist Revealed for Australia’s Prestigious Literary Prize
2023
single work
column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 20 June 2023; -
Acts of Love
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2023;
— Review of Iris 2022 single work novel -
The Most Dangerous Woman in Sydney
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2023; Meanjin , Autumn vol. 82 no. 1 2023; (p. 202)
— Review of Iris 2022 single work novel'Who was Iris Webber? For Fiona Kelly McGregor, the search began at an exhibition where Webber’s gaol mugshot first caught McGregor’s eye. In her 2017 creative writing exegesis, McGregor writes about becoming ‘vexed’ by ‘static, tabloid’ portraits of Webber—gun-slinging, sly-grogging, lesbian gangster of the author’s hometown—who earned the epithet ‘the most violent woman in Sydney’. The academic work examines the many biases that accompany representations of Webber, wrestling the historically contentious figure from the clichéd narratives and hackneyed tropes of contemporary reportage that have been repeated through the years. It throws open a window into McGregor’s motivations and ambitions for her novel Iris to ‘be read as both myth and document’. ' (Introduction)
-
In Iris, Fiona Kelly McGregor Recreates the Criminal Underworld of Depression-era Sydney
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 10 October 2022;
— Review of Iris 2022 single work novel'It’s spring 1932 and Sydney is in the grip of the Great Depression. In the narrow terrace-lined streets and back lanes of inner Sydney, there are illegal two-up games and off-course betting. Sly grog shops are open after the official pub closing time of 6pm, offering beer, spirits and drugs. Police raids are usually pre-arranged, on these venues and others, such as Black Ada’s Academy School of Dancing, where homosexual men can meet under the guise of taking ballroom dancing lessons with the women who work there.' (Introduction)
-
Fiona Kelly McGregor Iris
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 29 October - 4 November 2022;
— Review of Iris 2022 single work novel -
Reimagining Iris : An Exhilarating Squeezebox of a Novel
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December no. 449 2022; (p. 45)
— Review of Iris 2022 single work novel'The accordion, or squeezebox, takes its name from the German Akkordeon, meaning a ‘musical chorus’ or ‘chorus of sounds’. This box-shaped aerophonic instrument makes music when keys on its sides are pressed, one side mostly melody, the other chords. Squeezing the instrument and playing with both hands, the musician dexterously produces polyphonous music.' (Introduction)
-
The Most Dangerous Woman in Sydney
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2023; Meanjin , Autumn vol. 82 no. 1 2023; (p. 202)
— Review of Iris 2022 single work novel'Who was Iris Webber? For Fiona Kelly McGregor, the search began at an exhibition where Webber’s gaol mugshot first caught McGregor’s eye. In her 2017 creative writing exegesis, McGregor writes about becoming ‘vexed’ by ‘static, tabloid’ portraits of Webber—gun-slinging, sly-grogging, lesbian gangster of the author’s hometown—who earned the epithet ‘the most violent woman in Sydney’. The academic work examines the many biases that accompany representations of Webber, wrestling the historically contentious figure from the clichéd narratives and hackneyed tropes of contemporary reportage that have been repeated through the years. It throws open a window into McGregor’s motivations and ambitions for her novel Iris to ‘be read as both myth and document’. ' (Introduction)
-
Acts of Love
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2023;
— Review of Iris 2022 single work novel -
Miles Franklin Award 2023: Shortlist Revealed for Australia’s Prestigious Literary Prize
2023
single work
column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 20 June 2023; -
Miles Franklin 2023 : A Guide to the Shortlist of Australia’s Biggest Literary Prize
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 25 July 2023;
Awards
- 2023 shortlisted Voss Literary Prize
- 2023 shortlisted HNSA Historical Novel Prize — Adult
- 2023 longlisted Davitt Award — Best Adult Crime Novel
- 2023 shortlisted Miles Franklin Literary Award
- 2023 shortlisted ASAL Awards — ALS Gold Medal
- Sydney, New South Wales,
- 1930s