Maria Takolander

Maria Takolander, born in Melbourne in 1973, is an Australian writer. She is an Associate Professor in Creative Writing and Literary Studies at Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria.^[1]

Biography

Takolander is the author of five books: a collection of short stories, The Double (Text, 2013);^[2] a book of literary criticism, Catching Butterflies: Bringing Magical Realism to Ground (Peter Lang, 2007); and three collections of poems, The End of the World(Giramondo, 2014),^[3] Ghostly Subjects (Salt, 2009)^[4] and Narcissism (Whitmore Press, 2005).

Takolander won the inaugural 2010 Australian Book Review Elizabeth Jolley short story competition,^[5] and was awarded a 2011-12 Australia Council New Work grant to complete a subsequent book of short stories, The Double. Her poetry collection Ghostly Subjects was short-listed for a 2010 Queensland Premier's Literary Prize.^[6] She has also been awarded a 2014-2015 Australia Council New Work grant to complete a novel for Text Publishing.

Takolander's short stories, poems and essays have been widely published in Australian journals and newspapers.^[7] Her poems have also been featured in The Best Australian Poems 2005 (Black Inc), The Best Australian Poetry 2006 (UQP), The Best Australian Poems 2007 (Black Inc), The Best Australian Poems 2008 (Black Inc), The Best Australian Poems 2009 (Black Inc), The Best Australian Poetry 2009 (UQP), The Best Australian Poems 2010 (Black Inc), The Best Australian Poems 2011 (Black Inc), The Best Australian Poems 2012 (Black Inc), The Best Australian Poems 2013 (Black Inc) and The Best Australian Poems 2014 (Black Inc). Her poetry is also included in the 2011 anthology Thirty Australian Poets (UQP) and in the 2014 anthology The turnrow Anthology of Contemporary Australian Poetry (Turnrow).

Takolander is married to the Australian poet and critic David McCooey.

Bronwyn Lea has written of Takolander's poetry: "Takolander’s poems are ruinous, diabolical, all the more so for their polish and precision. Here, as in Baudelaire, beauty is inextricably linked with evil: it’s 'the dark italics', as Wallace Stevens phrased it, that compels the poetic imagination in these poems … Don’t be surprised if they take up residence in your body after reading them … it’s just that kind of book."

Geordie Williamson, the chief literary critic at The Australian, has written of The Double: "Takolander, though immured in the same darkling stuff as Plath, always remains in command. Hers are a series of thought experiments in which enduring Western narratives are recast according to the author's imaginative and philosophical inclinations. The results are fiercely intelligent and idiosyncratic, sometimes shot through with black humour, sometimes pressing down on the reader with the full weight of human horror...Individually, Takolander's stories can be bleak. But collectively they are thrilling. Slender as this collection may be, it announces the arrival of a considerable talent.".^[8]

Other reviews of Takolander's work can be found at The Blurb, Goodreads, Writinghood and Artshub.

Publications

Fiction

• The Double, Melbourne: Text Publishing, 2013.

Poetry

• The End of the World, Artarmon: Giramondo, 2014.
• Ghostly Subjects, Cambridge: Salt, 2009.
• Narcissism, Geelong: Whitmore Press, 2005.

Literary criticism

• Catching Butterflies: Bringing Magical Realism to Ground. Bern: Peter Lang, 2007.

References