When most people think of book censorship, they imagine political regimes and potentially book burning in Nazi Germany. What is little considered is that most books that have been challenged or banned are books for young people.
The definition of ‘literature’ is changeable, and inextricably linked with fashion.
Pratchett image: EPA/Alessandro Della Bella. Austen image: Wikimedia Commons
Pratchett’s work is often classified as ‘genre fiction’ rather than literary fiction. Yet his relationship with genre is complex and adversarial. He sets genre stereotypes up to be deconstructed.
It’s important we learn to love books, not just learn to read them.
from www.shutterstock.com.au
Reading instruction in the classroom is a key concern for all teachers and there are many ways to go about it. However, is our determination for excellence in reading skills in our children killing their love and enjoyment of a good book?
What role does the philologist play in our ongoing engagement with great writing?
AAP image/Art Gallery NSW/ 'John Coetzee' by Archibald finalist Adam Chang, 2011.
David Attwell’s new book is the first extended investigation of the South African author composed since the recently-opened Coetzee archive at the University of Texas. So what does it teach us?
For publishers, Australian political memoir or biography is likely to pay its own way, at the very least.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
More than a dozen political memoirs were published in Australia last year. Does that make us a nation of political junkies? If not, why so many books and what do they contribute to cultural debate?
Just another pair of traditional romantics.
BBC Pictures/Hartswood Films
Italian novelist Elena Ferrante has been called “one of the great novelists of our time” and her Neapolitan novel cycle “an unconditional masterpiece”. But the author herself remains an intangible figure.
Julia Roberts in Eat Pray Love, the film adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-selling yoga memoir.
Sony Pictures
Yoga fiction is a burgeoning genre of books that tell tales of spiritual enlightenment through an ancient Indian practice. But what happens when such practices are severed from their cultural roots?
As individuals, we are driven by thoughts of success, so it makes sense that failure might make us feel slightly uneasy. And yet failure – and what that means in writing – is having a moment.
‘I once asked Terry why he hadn’t killed off a particular character. He looked at me askance.’
EPA/Alessandro Della Bella
‘I knew and counted Terry among my friends, and I watched Alzheimer’s slowly and insidiously strip him of attributes and faculty.’ So what can we make of his final Discworld novel, published posthumously?
A world beyond ‘total institution’.
Reading by Shutterstock
Debate about the lack of diversity in young adult literature isn’t new, but thanks to recent campaigns such as We Need Diverse Books, there’s renewed focus on why diversity in literature is crucial.
A woman visits the Scientific Institute in Cairo, Egypt. The role of libraries is changing but they are as relevant and important as ever.
REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
Lara Skelly, Cape Peninsula University of Technology
African libraries have more of an opportunity than ever before to bring the continent’s knowledge to the world. They just need to adapt their traditional roles and functions.
Politicians who cling to the past can view the scientist’s addiction to evidence as highly subversive.
Francisco Osorio
At events such as the Melbourne Writers Festival, it’s hard to avoid noticing that science, and scientists, are receiving special billing. The reading list of this Nobel Laureate is instructive.
Arab-Australian identity is not some singular, homogeneous label. Rather it exists as a spectrum and contains more complexity and diversity than the mainstream media allow.
Although the intention is to tell the story of Mushroom Records founder Michael Gudinski, rather than a business, the two are never far apart. So what do we learn from ‘the book Gudinski never wanted’?