In the 1957 worldwide bestseller, Australia is – briefly – the last habitable place on earth, following a nuclear world war. One character asks, as they wait to die: ‘Why did all this happen to us?’
Edwina Preston pays tribute to the humble letter: from literary love letters to philosophical lessons to cherished family heirlooms. Letters impart lessons, reveal character – and are a form of art.
The intimate connections between life and art are explored in the deeply satisfying conclusion to a quartet of novels about one of the greatest poets of the 20th century.
Demonstrators protest the awarding of the 2019 Nobel literature prize to Peter Handke in Stockholm, in December 2019.
Stina Stjernkvist/TT News Agency via AP
Controversy surrounding the awarding of the 2019 Nobel Prize in literature spurs a long-standing debate about the meaning of authorship and literature with new urgency.