To read broadly and deeply is a marvellous thing that can make us alert to the wide-ranging varieties of being. But no book will condemn or redeem us.
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Articles on Literary culture
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Romance fiction has a reputation for being conservative, but in reality it is an innovative and uncontrollable genre.
Government vetos of academic research reveal a worrying ignorance of the value of literature to Australia’s society, culture and economy.
Kylie Tennant’s hut is fondly remembered by locals, tourists and aspiring writers who have visited since the 1980s.
Unlike earlier lesbian and gay movements whose politics depended on visible identities, queer theory grew out of a critique of this – and perhaps that’s where Djuna Barnes sits.
Bob Dylan is now a literary celebrity. And next week, the Booker Prize judges will anoint another. The tag is still chiefly attached to men but women authors shouldn’t despair: fame and good writing can be uneasy bedfellows.
They should be our pre-eminent national writing prizes. Instead, these awards bob on the vast sea of daily politics, occasionally getting dumped by a breaker.
The literary magazine Meanjin was founded to ensure the nation did not ‘drop its mental life’ during World War Two. Given the decision to starve it of funding, will future Miles Franklin winners be generated by blogs?
Is there a place for Shakespeare in African schools, or is his time long past?
Centuries before the internet, Shakespeare became a global phenomenon.
Good book reviews are all alike while every bad review is bad in its own way. In Australia reviews are often bad in many different ways. Historically the trade has consisted of retired English academics…
Top contributors
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English Professor, George Washington University
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Associate professor, University of the Witwatersrand
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Associate Professor in Publishing and Communications, The University of Melbourne
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Senior Lecturer in American Studies/Literature, Northumbria University, Newcastle
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Scholar in Media and Cultural Studies, Macquarie University
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Visiting Professor, University of Technology Sydney
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Professor in Writing, Deputy Associate Dean (Research), Faculty of HASS, The University of Queensland, The University of Queensland
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Flinders University
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Honorary Fellow of the School of Languages and Linguistics, The University of Melbourne
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Adjunct Lecturer, University of Sydney
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Associate Professor in Literary Studies, RMIT University
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Associate Professor of English, Australian National University
