Margaret Atwood’s classic novel imagined a society where women had almost no power. Hundreds of people gathered in Sydney yesterday to hear Atwood speak about dystopias – fictional and otherwise.
Writing based on observation and empathy is one thing; but interviewing the people whose experiences you aim to depict - and showing them your work - is quite another.
The current debate about comparability would be more concerning if 2018 results showed radically different trends compared to previous years, but they don’t.
Australia’s rich tradition of crime fiction is little known – early tales told of bushrangers and convicts, one hero was a mining engineer turned amateur detective – but it reveals a range of national myths and fantasies.
What happens to motivated, determined and egotistical men when they are forced to abandon the White House? As John Quincy Adams once said, ‘There is nothing more pathetic in life than a former president.’
A new room will open at the NSW State LIbrary today, furnished with objects from Donald and Myfanwy Horne’s study. Their daughter, Julia, reflects here on a writing partnership and the room that fostered it.
As major publishers chase bestselling books, small ones are leading the way in publishing Australian literary fiction. And of late, they have been sweeping our major literary awards.