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Strong governments stand up for little people.

Donors have pledged $15 million for a makeover of the State Library of NSW, with the aim of transforming the sandstone building into a "global cultural destination".

It was a night of mixed emotions as Georgia Blain won a posthumous Victorian Premier's Literary Award and playwright Leah Purcell took out the $100,000 Victorian Prize for Literature.

When I started work as literary editor of The Sydney Morning Herald in January 1996, one of my first pleasant duties was to attend Sydney Writers' Festival. Back then, as a small offshoot of the Sydney Festival, it wooed about 18,000 sedate book lovers away from more hedonistic entertainment to listen to writers talk in the galleries of the State Library.

Advance for planned presidential memoir is expected to break the $US15 million record set by Bill Clinton.

"The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command," wrote George Orwell.

Literary news and events in Canberra.

Like few other pastimes, crosswords seem to offer that lifelong affair, an intimate tussle to keep the brain supple, from breastfeeding to that last dinner tray.

Cordelia Fine examines the assumption that testosterone is what turns young boys into stereotypical men.

Scott Pape's The Barefoot Investor tops the independent bestsellers chart.

According to Alex Soojun-Kim Pang, the eight-hour day has become a dimly remembered base line, but four hours work is all that's necessary.

Heyman literally immersed herself to write her new novel, Storm and Grace, spending two years learning to free-dive.

Andy Jones' rom-com offers a fresh take on a convention-bound genre.

Cecelia Ahern's novel about reality TV is intricately plotted and, at times, extremely moving.

"In the modern world we hardly need to think about where we live because we eat the same food, go to the same shops."

Ali Land's novel is an interesting treatment of the subject: what happens to the children of criminals?

Ali Land worked as a child and adolescent mental-health nurse in hospitals and schools in Britain and Australia before becoming a full-time writer.

James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man was published 100 years ago. But it almost met with disaster.

Claire-Louise Bennett's novella or series of stories is unlike anything in contemporary fiction.

The man who prosecuted the killers at Myall Creek was the subject of considerable public criticism.

The biography of Michael Chabon's grandfather is derived from the elderly man's deathbed stories, fleshed out with Chabon's and other people's memories, and his imaginings.

According to Thomas Friedman, we will be able to solve the big social and health problems of the world. That's optimism.

Julia Foulkes explores the connections between West Side Story, the social issues of New York and the Cold War politics of the day.

The origins of champagne as a mass-market prestige product are unsettling for lovers of fizz.