Why Miles Franklin never married
A new biography shines more light on the magnificent Stella Miles Franklin, author of My Brilliant Career.
Books
How Nimby politics make the neighbourhood worse
Abundance, a new book by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, says excessive regulation makes social problems like homelessness worse.
How the Soviets lost their souls
Lost Souls by Sheila Fitzpatrick explores the fate of ‘displaced persons’ after the Second World War
10 ways to turn your child into a devoted bookworm
Building a bookworm isn’t a finite process. Even with the best start, it takes ongoing work, effort and thought to keep our kids interested in books – especially in the era of devices.
Publisher’s fail on Israel’s existence
A chance discovery at a Wenona School grandparents’ day has revealed that a popular children’s dictionary claims Israel’s status as a country is ‘disputed’
White-out: Women of colour dominate shortlist for literature prize
The judges of the prestigious Stella Prize have announced a ‘consequential’ shortlist, featuring only writers who are women of colour.
Author of the Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries dies aged 70
Kerry Greenwood, the writer who created the famous Miss Phryne Fisher, a female sleuth with a pearl-handled pistol, has died.
AFL hero, father and author
On the death of Andrew Krakouer, and your feedback on writers’ festivals, in our weekly column by literary editor Caroline Overington
Writers seek government help in legal battle with Meta
Meta says it doesn’t have to ask permission or pay writers for sampling their works to train AI. They disagree.
How a boy from Egypt became one of Australia’s most senior police
Nick Kaldas’s new book is more than a cop’s memoir. It’s a story of a family’s courage.
What to read this week
From destination thrillers to a behind-the-scenes look at Formula 1, here are Review’s best new reading picks.
From boy to man-monster
Adolescence is a jaw-dropping depiction of a male child on the rickety suspension bridge to adulthood, buffeted by gaming, peer pressure, and social media. Into this storm arrives The Passenger Seat.
The bot ate my essay: how AI undermines writing
The age of AI is upon us, but how will students learn to write when a machine can now do it for them?
Visiting Persia, one delicious bite at a time
Patience will be rewarded as you try these new recipes from Phaidon’s Persian cookbook, writes Christopher Zinn
Why this radical approach to tackling the climate crisis will end in ruin
A new book, by one of Germany’s green-left darlings, argues that we, the capitalist West, need to revive the Blitz spirit of World War II England. Our contemporary emergency is not genocidal Nazism – it’s is climate change.
What becomes of two lovers when dementia starts to kick in?
They had been living together on the outskirts of town for almost 25 years when one of their children – a child of one of them, not both of them – decided to intervene.
Letting it all hang out: A bloke’s guide to love and intimacy
Oliver Freeman, a man with three marriages and seven children, had a ‘rather long adolescence’ before making the link between his affairs and the collapse of his relationships. His book reflects on his life in a way he hopes ‘other men find useful’.
Why do so many women (and boys) suddenly have ADHD?
In the age of identity politics we think labels clarify, but too often they freeze us. The truth? We are all in flux all the time.
The French spy who smuggled herself around in a mail bag
Marie-Madeleine Fourcade was one of the great heroes of World War II.
The dark questions a woman asks herself after turning 70
Seventy is an age that once seemed so far in the future as to not be worth worrying about. Yet suddenly, here we are. Most daunting of all is the prospect of ageing in a time and place that does not value old people.
Blue Poles: the painting that changed Australia
The $1.4m purchase of Jackson Pollock’s masterpiece in 1973 blew the art world’s brain, blasted the reputation of the artist into a whole new stratosphere and sent a powerful message on the international telegraph.
Blayney link to ‘problematic source’
The pages of an obscure frontier memoir provide rare insight into the potential groundwork for evidence critical to the closure of the Blayney gold mine.
New chapter for budding novelists
Is this your new chapter? The Australian Fiction Prize 2025 is now open for entries.
Writers’ festival has ‘no tolerance for racism or bigotry’
Sydney Writers’ Festival artistic director Ann Mossop says the program is aimed at readers, not activists.
Entries are open for The Australian Fiction Prize
Entries are now open for the $35,000 The Australian Fiction Prize 2025 – sign up now.
Bowe leaves readers a posthumous treat
The late Steph Bowe’s last book was found by her family on her computer. Its publisher says it is honoured to bring it to readers.
Outrageous tale untold for too long
I don’t read detective fiction or true crime, but this fascinating combination of both genres set in Australia’s seedy 1800s was impossible to put down.
Blurring the lines of fact and fiction
It’s hard to review a book when its themes are based on the author’s life. Let’s get those facts established first.
What to read this week
A memoir about growing up in New Zealand during WWII, a tribute to the Australian soldiers who volunteered to defend South Korea and a ‘non-academic, non-technical and non-religious’ book about God.
Who is woke again? The world’s fight against contradiction
The ‘woke’ professional classes claim to promote justice and equality, but deliver for one per cent.
Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/books