Latest news with #ChrisHammer
Sydney Morning Herald
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
The River: Chris Hammer, crime writer, returns to the source
Chris Hammer had a singular stroke of fortune when, in 1982, not quite knowing what he wanted to do with his life, he enrolled in a journalism course at a small institution then known as the Mitchell College of Advanced Education in Bathurst, in the central west of NSW. The college, which later became Charles Sturt University, retains a near-legendary reputation as a cradle of first-class Australian journalism. For Hammer, it laid the foundations for what – after he had completed a grand career roving the turbulent world as an SBS TV news documentary maker, and later writing for a magazine and this masthead – led to his current status as one of Australia's most outstanding crime writers. All these decades later, Hammer and I find ourselves enjoying lunch at Port Melbourne's excellent The Graham Hotel and discussing Hammer's wild success as an author of 'rural noir', a genre of Australian crime fiction that the legendary political correspondent and connoisseur of mystery novels, Laurie Oakes, once dubbed 'dingo noir'. 'It was a very small course,' Hammer recalls of Mitchell, painting something approaching an idyll of youth awakening to life's promise in an untroubled countryside. 'There were probably only 50 or 60 people a year in the three courses, all combined. There was print journalism, broadcast journalism and public relations, and a theatre course went along with it. '[Bathurst] is west of the mountains, and in those days, there was no internet. Telephone calls were prohibitively expensive. You're cut off, and all we had was each other. So we played in bands. And there were plays being produced constantly. 'We did radio shows on the local community radio station, which was based on campus, and still is. 'I'm incredibly fortunate – I made lifelong friends.'
The Age
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
The River: Chris Hammer, crime writer, returns to the source
Chris Hammer had a singular stroke of fortune when, in 1982, not quite knowing what he wanted to do with his life, he enrolled in a journalism course at a small institution then known as the Mitchell College of Advanced Education in Bathurst, in the central west of NSW. The college, which later became Charles Sturt University, retains a near-legendary reputation as a cradle of first-class Australian journalism. For Hammer, it laid the foundations for what – after he had completed a grand career roving the turbulent world as an SBS TV news documentary maker, and later writing for a magazine and this masthead – led to his current status as one of Australia's most outstanding crime writers. All these decades later, Hammer and I find ourselves enjoying lunch at Port Melbourne's excellent The Graham Hotel and discussing Hammer's wild success as an author of 'rural noir', a genre of Australian crime fiction that the legendary political correspondent and connoisseur of mystery novels, Laurie Oakes, once dubbed 'dingo noir'. 'It was a very small course,' Hammer recalls of Mitchell, painting something approaching an idyll of youth awakening to life's promise in an untroubled countryside. 'There were probably only 50 or 60 people a year in the three courses, all combined. There was print journalism, broadcast journalism and public relations, and a theatre course went along with it. '[Bathurst] is west of the mountains, and in those days, there was no internet. Telephone calls were prohibitively expensive. You're cut off, and all we had was each other. So we played in bands. And there were plays being produced constantly. 'We did radio shows on the local community radio station, which was based on campus, and still is. 'I'm incredibly fortunate – I made lifelong friends.'
CBC
5 days ago
- Sport
- CBC
Canada's Stefan Daniel wins World Triathlon Para Series race in Montreal
Decorated Canadian Para triathlete Stefan Daniel claimed his first victory of the season Saturday in Montreal. The 28-year-old Calgarian raced from the front of the pack in the swim, bike and run sprint distance to win the World Triathlon Para Series event. Daniel, a six-time world champion and two-time Paralympic medallist, covered the 750-kilometre swim, 20k bike and 5k run in a time of 56 minutes 25 seconds at Parc Jean-Drapeau. The Canadian races in the men's PTS5 classification, which is for athletes affected to a low degree on the leg, a moderate level in both forearms, a high degree in one foot and ankle, or have absence of limbs. Daniel was born with club hands. Montreal was the fourth of five international races in the Para triathlon world series after stops in Devonport, Australia, Yokohama, Japan and Taranto, Italy. World champions will be determined in October in Wollongong, Australia. Daniel finished second to American Chris Hammer, who was third Saturday, on July 12 in Magog, Que. "It was good today. I was totally happy with that one," Daniel said. "I didn't have my best effort last week in Magog, so I tried to just have fun with it today and enjoy being back in Montreal. "My fitness isn't where I want it to be right now in the bike and the run, so the goal was to commit to having a really good swim." Daniel was among the top three men coming out of the water, which put him in good position for the bike around the Gilles Villeneuve Formula One track. "'I'm glad I was able to have a good swim and find the front guys. The three of us quickly pulled away from the field," the Canadian said. "Everyone is close on the bike and there are lots of fast runners in the field now so I just wanted to find the feet of the lead pack. I was able to execute the plan." After earning Paralympic silver in 2016 and bronze in 2021, Daniel was front-running in Paris last year when he crashed out during the bike leg. "It was a bit of a relief for sure crossing the finish line in first. There has been lots of ups and downs since Paris, and it is normal that you experience a bit of a dip in motivation in the post-Paralympic year," he said. "It felt great to know that I was able to battle hard and have a great result heading into this next stretch." Also Saturday in Montreal, Desirae Ridenour of Cowichan Bay, B.C., and Quebec City's Mathis Beaulieu were winners in the Americas Triathlon Cup held in conjunction with Para triathlon. The 25-year-old Ridenour broke the tape in the sprint distance in a time of 57:12. Beaulieu, 20, won the men's race in 51:30.
Irish Independent
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Today's top TV and streaming choices: The Bourne Ultimatum, Crime Scene Cleaners and Shark Whisperer
An Ghig Mhór RTÉ One, 8.30pm The latest established musician lending their expertise to an up-and-coming band is Wyvern Lingo member Karen Cowley, who performs under the name of Krea during her solo career. She takes rockers The Hex from Leixlip under her wing. The excellent Australian crime drama based on the novels of Chris Hammer is back for a second season. This time reporter Martin (Luke Arnold) unearths terrifying secrets during a rare visit to his home town with his new partner Mandy (Bella Heathcote). Continues on Tuesday. Crime Scene Cleaners Channel 4, 10pm Not for the faint-hearted, this new series follows groups of cleaners who have one of the world's most gruesome jobs — clearing up the mess left behind by violent crime. The first episode features the discovery of a body in rural Kent and two grisly murders from across the USA. The Bourne Ultimatum TG4, 9.30pm Espionage thriller in which Matt Damon reprises his role as Jason Bourne. He finally regains his memory, only to discover he's been targeted by a CIA director (David Strathairn). Shark Whisperer Netflix, streaming now Whether you deem her a social media opportunist or a 'changemaking' conservationist, you can't quibble with the (literal) name Ocean Ramsay has made for herself. Melding striking visuals with a close character study, the film dissects the ethical and ecological dilemmas at the heart of environmental activism. Perspectives from scientists, indigenous voices, and conservationists — on all sides — reveal the complexity of Ramsay and the issues she raises. Squid Game Netflix, streaming now Brace yourselves… In the wildly anticipated third and final season of Squid Game, Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae, aka player 456) returns. Haunted by incremental loss, he's determined to end the deadly competition once and for all. His clash with the enigmatic Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) escalates into a (surprise, surprise) grave battle of strategy and morality, as new games and old enemies collide. With the expected level of twists — including a baby being added to the mix and the viral Gachapon craze (plastic vending balls to you) putting in a pivotal appearance — the stakes are high. As surviving players face progressively brutal choices, the line between justice and tainted vengeance increasingly blurs. Can humanity survive the harshest reality? As the world awaits the final answer, writer-director Hwang Dong-hyuk promises a powerful conclusion to the global phenomenon. I think we'll be the collective judges of that. The Charles Ponzi Story AppleTV+, streaming now We've all heard of Ponzi schemes, but what do you know of their namesake? He was a broke immigrant based in 1920s Boston, who rocketed to wealth and infamy in mere months by orchestrating what would become known as the infamous scheme, one of history's boldest financial frauds. For more stories inspired by true events, try Smoke starring Taron Egerton, John Leguizamo and Greg Kinnear.
The Guardian
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Chris Hammer: ‘The suburbs can be delightfully sinister. The blandness is a great setting for crime books'
Grey clouds are gathering overhead as Chris Hammer parks on the edge of the Jerrabomberra wetlands, a reserve bordering Canberra's Lake Burley Griffin. It will be ironic if it rains – Hammer is here to talk about drought. In 2008, long before Hammer had begun writing the crime novels that would propel him to national and global fame, he was starting his first book, The River: A Journey through the Murray-Darling. Hammer had been working as a journalist in the parliamentary press gallery, but left to travel the length of the Murray-Darling from its headwaters in Queensland to its mouth in South Australia. It was the height of the millennium drought and Hammer's resulting travelogue is a moving account of parched landscapes and the people trying to live in them. Fifteen years after the book was released, Melbourne University Press has republished it with a new introduction by Hammer. As we set off on one of the tracks that weave through this tapestry of marshes, woodland and grassland, Hammer admits he hadn't reread The River until he was presented with the opportunity to republish it. 'There were bits I was going, 'Oh, that's a bit overwrought',' he says, laughing at himself. 'Then there were other bits, I thought, 'That's quite good. Did I do that?'' Nearly two decades after his journey, more has changed than Hammer's writing. He has left journalism behind and become one of Australia's most celebrated crime writers, producing a string of novels that have shot to the top of bestseller lists around the world. Scrublands, his first, has now been adapted into a major TV series. The Murray-Darling has changed, too. In the new introduction, he reflects on how many of the dams he described as dustbowls are now overflowing, how rivers that were dry are now full. 'Australia has greened once more,' he writes. 'Complacency has returned.' But when asked how to counter today's complacency, he dials down that damning statement. 'Some people are deeply concerned that the climate is becoming more volatile,' says Hammer, who speaks with a quiet authority in measured, thoughtful sentences. 'It's not just a gradual increase in heat, it's maybe deeper and more severe droughts and certainly bigger and more frequent floods. But then you'll talk to other farmers and they'll be quite insouciant, saying, 'We've always had cycles of drought and flood.'' The Murray-Darling Basin is so enormous – roughly the size of France and Germany combined – and home to such diverse communities who work the land in such varied ways, that it is also difficult for Hammer to make any overarching conclusions about how it has changed since his journey. Hammer doesn't expect the Murray-Darling to be a priority for the re-elected Labor government. 'It's not in crisis at the moment, so there are plenty of other things to spend money on,' he says as we loop back on ourselves, crossing over a creek into some woodland. However, if there was desire in the Labor party to introduce new laws, now would be the time. The stories in The River have fed into Hammer's blockbuster crime fiction. In person, Hammer is confident and composed, but as a writer he describes himself as a 'pantser' who develops his characters and storylines as he writes – flying by the seat of his pants rather than plotting in advance. As we walk off the paved trail on to a dirt track that skirts Jerrabomberra Pool, where six cormorants are lined up on a branch, Hammer explains that he always decides on one thing before he starts writing. 'I always start with the setting,' he says. 'It has to be right there at the beginning. It's the stage that the characters will populate, where the plots will play out. It's critical to the way I write.' Several of the rural towns featured in The River have inspired locations in his novels: Wakool inspired the fictional town of Riversend in Scrublands and The Tilt is set in the Barmah-Millewa forest. Hammer's next novel, Legacy, will be published in October. 'It's set on a reimagined Paroo River,' he reveals. 'It has no dams and no irrigation and was in the best ecological condition when I travelled during that drought.' While Hammer's locations are inspired by real places, he makes sure they're never carbon copies – although people long for them to be. 'It's intriguing. I have readers who say, 'I know that place. I grew up there. You've captured it so well,'' he says. Most of his readers, however, are not so familiar with bush towns; approximately 90% of Australians now live in cities. 'I think it's an escape for them. It gets them away from their daily commutes,' he says. Hammer personally feels connected to the bush. He grew up in Canberra in the 1960s and 70s, one of three children of a public servant father and schoolteacher mother. Much of the capital was still being developed at the time, so as a teenager Hammer was desperate to leave – and briefly did, going to university in Bathurst and getting a job in Sydney, although professional opportunities soon brought him back. He met his wife in Canberra in the early 1990s, and they have made it home for their son and daughter. 'It was a pretty boring place as a kid, but what it did have was nature,' he says. 'We'd walk in the bush a lot and go to the rivers to swim.' Today, he still finds peace in the city's parks. If he's struggling to unravel a knot in one of his plots, he goes walking in the Red Hill nature reserve rather than staring at his screen. This might suggest a somewhat dreamy approach to writing, but in general Hammer is more regimented than romantic. His work as a journalist has trained him to churn out words and hit deadlines, and he is not sentimental about deleting and rewriting entire chapters if he develops better ideas. The current popularity of books set in rural areas has led to cries that Australian writers are overlooking the rest of the country. When Christos Tsiolkas was interviewed for this column, he said writers were 'guilty of turning away from the suburbs'. 'I think there's some truth in that,' says Hammer. 'But the suburbs can be delightfully sinister – the anonymity and blandness of the suburbs is a great setting for crime books. I'm sure I'll write one at some point.' As if to prove his point, we break out of the treeline back on to the road where we're parked. One hundred metres away are rows of forgettable brick cottages, but immediately before us stands a building that looks institutional – it could have been part of a school or hospital. It is clearly abandoned, although artists have tried to prettify it with a brightly coloured mural. A quick Google search brings up rumours that it was a morgue, but a deeper dive disproves that. Still, there's something unsettling about it – it's almost like something out of Hammer's novels. 'Look,' he says, cracking a smile and pointing past the graffitied back wall. 'There's even a raven sitting on the fence.' The River by Chris Hammer (Melbourne University Press, RRP $36.99) is available now
