Alfred Tennyson’s passionate book-length elegy was once among the most popular poems in English. Today, it shows us how soulful art can stir us to life and stave off banality.
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Articles on Art for Trying Times
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This Netflix TV series following an ensemble of young hopefuls in the 1950s is sophisticated, juicy and eye-opening entertainment.
With his wonderful voice, fondness for strings and whistling and sad, beautiful stories, this American singer-songwriter lifts the spirits.
In this age of social distancing and lockdowns, communion is hard to find especially for more than two million Australians who live alone. A whipsmart feminist podcast can help.
The Munich-based record label ECM specialises in jazz and Western classical music. The artistry found in its catalogue allows a degree of abstraction that can be energising while enduring a pandemic.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s classic book, first published in 1941, is a story of isolation, and seeing things anew.
Contrived plots, two-dimensional characters, ridiculous resolutions: the master of comic novels takes these elements and spins them into gold, bringing consolation during these grim times.
It may seem counter-intuitive to turn to Leonard Cohen’s ‘depressing’ songs during times of grief and uncertainty. But he shows there is always a reason to keep on keeping on.
Published anonymously in 1811, the first of Jane Austen’s novels throws light on life under COVID-19. It is the perfect lockdown read.
If it’s escapism you’re looking for, watch Schitt’s Creek or The Good Place. But if you want a dirty dive that makes the real world look good by comparison, try It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
A somewhat obscure 2003 science-fiction film has a luminous soundtrack, which brings surprising solace to a locked down world.
Playing Red Dead Redemption 2 during a pandemic is a surprisingly moving experience. The game is a haunting meditation on time, death, and the persistence of the past.
Books are both solace and provocation during a pandemic. This novel set during Hurricane Sandy is a poignant, often hilarious, reckoning with catastrophe and mortality.
Disasters are inevitable. They should not make us give up on life, rather we should celebrate the preciousness of that life all the more.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor of Philosophy, Deakin University
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Emeritus professor, The University of Melbourne
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Adjunct Senior Lecturer, School of Creative Practice, Queensland University of Technology
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Executive Dean (interim) Faculty of Arts and Design, University of Canberra
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Honorary Fellow of the School of Languages and Linguistics, The University of Melbourne
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Paul Eliadis Chair of Classics and Ancient History, The University of Queensland
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Lecturer in History, La Trobe University
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Professor, Department of Classics and Ancient History, University of Sydney
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Research and Senior Lecturer, Media and Communication, RMIT University
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Professor of Writing and Literature, Deakin University
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Faculty of Arts, The University of Melbourne
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Doctoral Candidate, Comparative Literature, Religion and History of Philosophy, University of Sydney
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Associate Lecturer, Creative Writing, Flinders University
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Visiting Research Fellow, University of Adelaide
