Craig Sherborne’s satire could be an ingenious portrait of deluded conceit

The author of ‘The Sparsholt Affair’ on the role of the not-always biological family in his work

The meticulous novelist takes on the oldest subject there is

A cultural, scientific and historical account of shit: a Midas Dekkers book extract

Walter Isaacson’s new biography is a study of crippling perfection and obsessive observation

‘A Long Way from Home’ takes on new relevance following debate about Australia Day

Two Australian groups use vocals to swoon-worthy effect

A particularly genteel and suitably confusing festival

The Australian musical export that’s making history

From Neutral Milk Hotel to Justin Timberlake

The British band bring their intimate sound to an expansive venue

Björk moves towards renewal on ‘Utopia’

The debut director goes home to make a funny, touching film about wanting to leave it

The French-Moroccan director presents a clear-eyed portrayal of true activism during the AIDS epidemic

The screenwriter leaves nothing unexplained in his directorial debut

Having conquered planes and automobiles, Neeson and director Jaume Collet-Serra move the action to trains

Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Call Me By Your Name’ is a passionate, positive tale of first love

The director of ‘The Lobster’ can’t quite pull off this high-concept dance between the grandiose and the grotesque

Contrary to its name, this year’s Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art emphasises unity

The Perth Festival event encourages reflection on a precious resource

A new exhibition series’ first instalment delivers a heady mix of populism and politics

Treasures from Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum at the Art Gallery of New South Wales

The Hobart museum’s new wing will mess with your senses, in the most wonderful way

The German artist transforms Carriageworks

Brett Dean and Neil Armfield reimagine the Shakespearean tragedy at the Adelaide Festival

The prolific director is bringing jumbotron Shakespeare to the Adelaide Festival

Some actors intentionally suffer for their art

Part cracking musical, part Indigenous family drama, Belvoir’s latest production deserves to go far

The annual festival of experimental art energised Sydney’s Carriageworks over ten days

Nat Randall plays a five-minute scene of attempted reconciliation – with 100 different men over 24 hours

The Sydney Festival-bound show’s choreographer loves mixing the body with technology

Sydney Opera House (touring Canberra, Brisbane, Melbourne)

Body Electric’s jazz ballet for adults

Critics give their picks for the year’s top ten

The secret history of Bangarra Dance Theatre’s ‘Patyegarang’

Critics give their picks for the year’s top ten

Beautiful on the outside … the tragedy of Bennelong Point

Brutalist masterpiece or harbour eyesore? Sydney’s Sirius building faces an uncertain future

The Australian Islamic Centre is notable for what it isn’t as much as for what it is

Durbach Block Jaggers is a practice in argument

Why is Australia planning so many new casinos?

Power and resistance at the 56th Venice Biennale

Victoria Lee takes on the Victoria’s Secret runway

‘The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier’ at the National Gallery of Victoria

At the Bendigo Art Gallery

Romance was born - ‘The Oracle’, 2011

Can a young wartime couple pick up where they left off?

Hamish Hamilton; $32.99

The perverse attraction of autobiographical fiction

Penguin; $29.99

HarperCollins; $29.99

Clive James’ ‘Sentenced to Life’ and Les Murray’s ‘Waiting for the Past’

A century of Dylan Thomas

Meeting Ko Un

Peter Steele (1939–2012)