Culture
Books
‘I wish I was exaggerating but I am not’: The hidden toll of teaching
There will be another training session about punctuation and calculating percentages, but what about the skills that aren’t quantifiable?
- by Yumna Kassab
Latest
‘That was very naughty of us’: Challenging the narrative of music as a male domain
A new anthology co-edited by former Sonic Youth frontwoman Kim Gordon and author Sinead Gleeson focuses on the female experience of the music industry.
- by Jenny Valentish
Memoir
Review
The power of friendship on the pathway to womanhood
Memoirist and teacher Patti Miller traces the unfolding of friendships that were pivotal in shaping her life.
- by Jessie Tu
Your job isn’t the only thing that could be automated in our ‘superhuman’ future
Transhumanism may be closer than we think as billionaires like Elon Musk back projects that seek to rethink our species, from brain-chip interfaces to extreme longevity.
- by Jason Drake
Why we need the ABC, a brooding wartime thriller and six other books to read
The rigorous analysis of Who Needs the ABC? and period crime novel Deception Bay lead our reviews of new fiction and non-fiction releases.
- by Fiona Capp and Cameron Woodhead
Ancestral spirits and imagined futures take centre stage in Indigenous world-first
The inversion of the familiar constitutes a major aspect of speculative fiction’s raison d’etre – and the approach it offers is well suited to some Indigenous writers.
- by Declan Fry
A meticulous portrait of one of our greatest poets
A portrait of poet Gwen Harwood, who battled to be heard in Australia’s male-dominated literary establishment
- by Morag Fraser
A searing tale of grief and social media addiction for the online generation
This debut introspective novel subverts the trope of healing from trauma in a bucolic location with insights into a world where we are all addicted to our phones.
- by Liam Pieper
Love reading or showing off your bookshelf? This fascinating book is a must
Emma Smith’s Portable Magic sparkles with gems of trivia about reading and publishing, including rejected authors, book burnings and masterpieces that failed at first.
- by Pat Sheil
Who’ll win the election? The clues are there if you can spot them
Some voters rely on exit polls, but David Astle sees election results in crossword clues.
- by David Astle
Why’s everyone hopping mad about kangaroo courts?
A Libs back-and-forth over a federal ICAC reignited interest in the term “kangaroo court”. Where does it come from?
- by David Astle