Lionel Shriver’s controversial speech about cultural appropriation has made headlines around the world. But the debate need not be a binary one – novelists might approach characters from other cultures as ‘thoughtful tourists’.
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Articles on Fiction
Displaying 241 - 260 of 273 articles
A war hero and a philanthropist, or a bully and a misogynist – there are many versions of the enigmatic author.
The debates surrounding the 9/11 novel have been as informative as the novels themselves.
The work of one legal thriller writer in particular shines a light on two of today’s most pressing dilemmas.
Two sociologists recommend their favourite thriller for your summer reading.
An unfinished crime novel was a strange portent of recent events in Dallas.
The president of the Thomas Wolfe Society explains why Law had his work cut out for him when he agreed to portray a man who was “a hydroelectric plant of emotion.”
A book about drug addiction and prostitution aimed at ‘young adults’ was a very daring thing 20 years ago.
Chernobyl’s liquidators have come up with some intriguing ways of dealing with what they’ve gone through – without directly confronting painful memories.
Characters with Down syndrome are extremely rare in novels and rarer still are stories written from their point of view. But people with disabilities have an equal right to belong in narrative fiction.
Some people love to pick holes in science fiction movies, such as Star Wars, especially when they stray from science fact. But does it really matter?
Some parents worry their teens’ obsession with dark fiction means they’ll grow up and overthrow the government – like Katniss Everdeen in Hunger Games. How real is this concern?
Jonathan Coe is under-read and underrated – in the UK. In France, his stinging social attacks on Britain are far more popular.
The distinctions between highbrow and middlebrow fiction are as old as literature itself. So does the current spat over such terms mean anything in the long term for works of literature? Unlikely.
An inspiration for Batman and Superman has faded into obscurity. Can he experience a revival?
Fanfiction is nebulous, confusing and often mocked. It’s also explosively popular. So what is it?
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.
You might have thought that the world’s most prestigious prize for fiction was a level playing field. In fact, rule changes have made it much easier for big publishers to dominate.
Is the line between truth and fiction clear when it comes to history? And if not, is there scope for historians and novelists to re-engage, with a view to learning from – rather than bludgeoning – each other?
Can history and fiction really be kept separate? A special edition of journal TEXT examines historical fictions and fictional histories. Here, the editors map out the contested territory.
Top contributors
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Executive Dean (interim) Faculty of Arts and Design, University of Canberra
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Professor of English Literature, University of Southern Queensland
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Associate Professor in Literary Studies, RMIT University
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Adjunct Lecturer, English and Creative Writing, UNSW Canberra, UNSW Sydney
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Dean of Research (Creative), University of South Australia
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Professor of English, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, ACU, Australian Catholic University
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IT Service Desk Coordinator, Swansea University
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Senior Lecturer, Writing, Department of Media and Communication, Swinburne University of Technology
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Associate Professor in Creative Writing, School of Culture & Communication, The University of Melbourne
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Professor, Chair of Australian Literature, The University of Western Australia
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Lecturer, Creative Writing, University of Adelaide
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Associate Editor, The Letters of Ernest Hemingway and Assistant Research Professor of English, Penn State
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Senior Lecturer — Writing, Editing, Publishing, University of Southern Queensland
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Professor of History, University of Warwick
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Associate Professor, Griffith University
