Jaye Chin-Dusting spent 30 years doing medical research but wanted something else to do. So she bought a bookshop.

Imagine a land in which everything was outlawed, except for the things that were specifically allowed. Things would more-or-less work, until you tried something new.

Shirley Hazzard was one of the most cosmopolitan, elegant and quietly formidable writers of the 20th century, claimed by Australians and New Yorkers – and some Italians – as one of their own. Born in Sydney, a US citizen since the 1970s, she died at the age of 85 in her Manhattan apartment on Monday night.

The novelist Georgia Blain died last week. Fellow novelist James Bradley pays a tribute to a true friend and a woman possessed of a black sense of humour.

The 2004 Miles Franklin Award winner worked for the United Nations in Italy before moving to a critically acclaimed career in writing.

Literary news and events in Canberra.

Footy fans knew him as one of the great rogues of the game. But in his autobiography, and over lunch, a different Dane Swan emerges.

This collection of essays and recollections focuses on Kiffy Rubbo, the gallery director who had a profound influence on the Melbourne art world.

We can only wonder how St John would feel about the musical adaptation of her first novel, The Women in Black.

Jimmy Barnes tops the biography best-sellers' list this week with Working Class Boy.

Rather Be the Devil may just be one of the most genial books in the entire series.

Dr Simon Longstaff raises ethical questions in a modern children's fairytale.  

 A published book for any first-time author is a bright and shiny thing.

Writers discover their vocation in different ways. In the case of Alex Miller, it was the Fat Owl of the Remove, Billy Bunter, who helped.

Here is a selection of some of the best books for younger readers of varying ages published in 2016.

Margaret Flockton arrived in Australia at the age of 27 and went on to become Australia's first professional botanical artist.

In Alice Hoffman's Faithful there's plenty for the reader in the way of evocative detail and emotional subtlety.

The idea sounds twee but Jeanette Winterson's Christmas tales are brilliant.

Almost 30 years after he became their regular support act, Paul Livingston is now one of the All-Stars and chronicles their comeback.

George Orwell's books are laced with powerful reactions to places and people provoked by their smells.

Fairlie Kingston is a ceramicist who writes warm, understated stories with charming illustrations by her brother, Peter.

John M. Green's latest thriller is clever and fast-paced and has women at its core.

Cadel Evans' started as a mountain bike racer but soon switched to road cycling, becoming the first Australian to win the Tour de France.

When Damon Young wrote a book about his reading he was surprised by what it revealed about his taste. So he decided to do something about it.