Culture
Books
Miles Franklin Literary Award 2021 shortlist announced
Stories of loss – including from a Booker Prize winner and two debut novelists – form a left-of-field shortlist for Australia’s most famous literary prize.
- by Melanie Kembrey
Latest
Jane Austen family link to abolition movement comes to light
While Jane Austen admirers savour her enduring novels, scholars ferret out details of Austen’s life and times, including a family link to slavery that surfaced 50 years ago.
- by Lynn Elber
How do you create joy at the end of the world? These writers might have ideas
It’s a writers’ festival but not as you know it: speed pitching, performances and music are all part of this year’s Emerging Writers’ Festival.
- by Kerrie O'Brien
The Night Watchman, Malcolm X biography win arts Pulitzers
Stories of race, racism and colonialism in the US swept the Pulitzer Prizes for the arts.
- by HILLEL ITALIE and MARK KENNEDY
Metafictional work rewrites history to shed new light on the present
In this perfectly believable yet totally made-up story, French author Laurent Binet looks at how the world would look if Columbus had met steelier opposition in the Americas.
- by Jack Cameron Stanton
Monica Dux blows figurative raspberries at the Catholic Church
Now a cynical atheist, the author remains appreciative of what religion gave her as a child.
- by Jessie Tu
Fiction reviews: Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray and other titles
Anita Heiss’ new novel reimagines colonial Australia from an Aboriginal perspective.
- by Cameron Woodhead
Non-fiction reviews: Mother & I and other titles
Ianto Ware’s memoir is written with tender detachment and sharp detail.
- by Fiona Capp
Quiet realism and questions of identity in new short story collections
Two new short story collections both come from Tasmanian writers, but tackle very different themes.
- by Owen Richardson
A fractured fairytale about love and control
Alice Pung’s new novel is a portrait of a young woman struggling for personal agency
- by Thuy On
PR buzz and a Hulu adaptation: is this the next big novel?
Zakiya Dalila Harris’ debut novel offers a sly social commentary.
- by Declan Fry