Two self-published books - including a unique album of typographical art in which every image is made with letters that spell its very name - have cracked the shortlist for information books in the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards.

A personal account of a quest for meaning

Ever wonder how a dictionary is made? Take an insider's tour of a word factory.

The actor who starred as Inspector Morse's sidekick Lewis has paid tribute to the detective's 'warm and friendly' creator, Colin Dexter, who has died aged 86.

Literary news and events in Canberra.

Not the usual approach to crime for Hideo Yokoyama. He's more interested the psychology and social dynamics of characters who happen to be affected by it.

Here in the 'new island' of Australia, what is striking is the lack of vision.

Today's hipster movement has been light on language, Daddy-O.

When C.K. Stead read The Great Gatsby he was fired by its romantic quality and the way its clear, sharp prose went close to poetry.

Compelling tale of a German Jewish artist

This portrayal of single motherhood falls victim to its examination of First World problems

Interweaving stories explore grief from different points of view.

The writing of pioneering African-American filmmaker and dramatist Kathleen Collins was largely overlooked in her lifetime

A novel about family and the way we live our daily emotional lives and accommodate whatever happens to us.

Saroo Brierley's Lion: A long way home, tops the biography bestsellers chart

Jane Harper's initial hopes for The Dry, a page-turning murder-mystery set in drought-stricken rural Australia, were modest enough. Firstly, it was to finish the manuscript she had started, then it was to get published and onto book shelves.

"The thing about sisters," says the young adult fiction writer Jaclyn Moriarty, "is we understand the importance of praise.''

The film is based on an as-yet-unpublished book, From the Corner of the Oval.

Should we neutralise certain phrases to avoid sexism?

Tozer's novels cover first jobs, new loves, big decisions, the agony of indecision and uncertainty, peer pressure - and lots of kissing.

Sports journalist Angela Pippos argues there is still a long way to go before girls and women, at all levels of sport, are treated equally.

Mark Kurlansky conjures up a city of dark shadows, bright sunshine and narrow streets

A memoir of grief

These rejection letters reveal the exquisite irony of longing