Culture
Books
A small book that tells the biggest story
David Baker tells the story of the world from when it was a fraction of an atom and speculates on its distant future.
- by Kurt Johnson
Latest
Opinion
Salman Rushdie
The knife of outrage finds its mark now, 33 years after The Satanic Verses
The reaction to Salman Rushdie’s novel in 1989 was a presentiment of our age in which words are ritually denounced as violence.
- by Christopher Richardson
How shutting shop opened a new chapter for Corrie Perkin and Sorrento
When lockdown cruelled her bookshop dream, she turned her mind to a different life involving books and authors.
- by Jason Steger
Stranger Things fans will get a kick from the time-travelling Bootstrap
Georgina Young’s remarkably entertaining and propulsive second novel captures the magic and dread of being 19.
- by Jessie Tu
We’re failing kids on sex education. Here’s what we can do about it
Katrina Marson’s Legitimate Sexpectations highlights the positive results of students armed with substantial information.
- by Louise Swinn
This ‘achingly beautiful’ crime novel may be Michael Robotham’s best yet
Lying Beside You is a cleverly constructed novel about trust, redemption and love that had me intermittently catching my breath.
- by Sue Turnbull
How the West got it all wrong about the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul
Australian photojournalist Andrew Quilty has spent years documenting the horrors in Afghanistan. His new book makes for uncomfortable reading.
- by Antony Loewenstein
Enclave packs a punch in its story of revolution and a divided Australia
A timid and controlled young woman is forced to fight for survival in a time of extreme surveillance in Claire G. Coleman suspenseful new novel.
- by Lucy Sussex
Cult author does it again with wild tales of corpses and cannibalism
Sayaka Murata’s story collection Life Ceremony leads our wrap of new fiction and non-fiction reviews.
- by Cameron Woodhead and Fiona Capp
The mission to save lost Australian treasures from extinction
Our literary legacy has been in danger of disappearing, but Untapped is bringing out-of-print titles out of obscurity.
- by Jane Sullivan
Opinion
Melbourne Writers Festival
Why a gender-fluid god can save religion from itself
The first step is to actively resist homophobia in religious communities, apologise for the violence of the past, and create a welcoming space.
- by Louise Omer