Culture
Books
Britney Spears shows how much a woman can bend before she breaks
For years the world and Spears were told she was unfit, unwell, and unsafe. The voice that spills out of The Woman in Me is anything but.
- by Brodie Lancaster
Latest
What to read: A meditation on grief and Dawn French’s life of mistakes
Cameron Woodhead and Fiona Capp review recent fiction and non-friction releases
- by Cameron Woodhead and Fiona Capp
Was Bennelong Australia’s most misunderstood Indigenous man?
Kate Fullagar tells history in reverse in her innovative biography of both Captain Arthur Phillip and Woollarawarre Bennelong.
- by Phillip Deery
You’re a unicorn: Here’s why I don’t want to write about you
Your dreams, your dad, your sister’s drawings. They’re just not that interesting.
- by Anson Cameron
Bill the Bastard, a heroic rescue and a case of mistaken identity
In the leadup to the fabled charge at Beersheba, the crucial Battle of Romani saw the most famous exploit of the Australian Light Horse’s most famous steed.
- by Peter FitzSimons
Opinion
Literature
Should we force boys to read women authors?
The biggest problem with mandating female authors is the underlying assumption that they speak only to female experience.
- by Jacqueline Maley
What to read: the history of sex and Nick Cave-inspired short stories
Cameron Woodhead and Steven Carroll review new fiction and short fiction releases
- by Cameron Woodhead and Steven Carroll
Precision not pedantry: how to become a better writer
Two new how-to guides offer practical tips for writing well.
- by Simon Caterson
Is Gerald Murnane our most talented writer?
In this thoughtful Monograph, Emmet Stinson considers Gerald Murnane the best writer Australia has produced since Christina Stead.
- by Owen Richardson
Shrinkflation and beyond: the words we need to call out dodgy economics
For consumers, coining these terms and spreading them is necessary in avoiding industry spin.
- by David Astle
Julia Baird: Exactly how do you go about grieving the death of an ex?
When the man she almost married died in a plane crash, she was grief-stricken – and unsure of the place for her sorrow.
- by Julia Baird