Even grown-ups want to believe in fairytales, as a journalist found when public outrage greeted his "unmasking" of the best-selling Italian novelist Elena Ferrante this week.

It's 1923, and Hitler suddenly decides he needs to boost his national profile.

Bruce or Barnesy - who hit the top of the charts?

The readers of Elena Ferrante are devoted – and fiercely protective – of that anonymous Italian author. That much was clear from the swift and unforgiving backlash after an investigative journalist used financial documents to suggest in an article published on Sunday that Anita Raja, an Italian translator, was behind Ferrante's books.

A quiet conviction of latent greatness would be the most vital piece in one of this country's strangest rock'n'roll success stories, the Go-Betweens.

Literary news and events in Canberra

When television entered our homes, a sweet inattention dawned, where it was enough to witness the world, it didn't have to be understood or questioned.

Eight great artists are vividly revealed as the flawed and brilliant human beings they were.

Politics professor John Murphy sheds new light on the life of Herbert Vere Evatt.

Anthony Bourdain has lent his name to a new Asian food-hall venture in midtown Manhattan.

Pam the name is 10 times funnier than Lisa. Glenn with two Ns is hilarious compared to his one-N version, while Barbara, or Barb, is comedy gold in contrast to Mrs O'Brien.

A new poem about landscape, cemeteries and humanity by John Kinsella

Who is Elena Ferrante? The best-selling author who doesn't want you to know her name.

Jimmy Barnes' account of his journey from Glasgow poverty to Australian stardom with Cold Chisel and beyond is No. 1 on the bestseller lists.

"He would love this book. Its a real pity he had to die to get it," says Anne Brooksbank, Ellis' wife.

It is Anthony Albanese's belated search for his real father that makes Karen Middleton's book an unexpected page-turner.

The problem as Alan Schwarz sees it is that millions of children are being told they have ADHD when they don't.

The way Chris Mitchell exercised his power is most evident in his dealings with every prime minister from John Howard to Tony Abbott.

In the hands of circus performer Judith Lanigan, the clown is an unlikely Zen master.

On December 3, 1926 the author Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days. Kristel Thornell wondered what happened.

Tim Costello has travelled the world for work in poverty and emergency relief and led World Vision in Australia for more than 12 years. His new book is Faith: Embracing Life in All Its Uncertainty (Hardie Grant).

Hannah Kent had one of the most talked about debut novels in Australia. Now she's back with her second novel - The Good People - and is heading to Canberra to discuss it.

People everywhere who loved Antoine de Saint-Exupery's classic The Little Prince will be sucked in and then desperately disappointed.

Making stuff up about actual writers invites comparison with your subjects, and only draws attention to your own limitations as a writer and thinker.