Hidden Author

Bronwyn Lea is Poet of the Month

March 2017, no. 389 • 26 February 2017

Which poets have most influenced you? I first fell for the British Romantics: Keats for his sensitivity, and Byron for his humour, both qualities I try to exercise in my own work. Otherwise it’s the Americans of last century: the Moderns, Stevens in particular, and later the West Coast poets. I like to find these poets thinking (and sometimes running) in my poems. Are poems chiefly ‘inspir ... (read more)

Markus Zusak

Reading Australia • 02 November 2016

Markus Zusak is an Australian writer of German and Austrian descent. He is the author of six books including a number of international best-sellers. He pursued a teaching degree at the University of Sydney before becoming a professional author. His first three books The Underdog (1999), Fighting Reuben Wolfe (2000), and When Dogs Cry (2001) formed a trilogy centred on two brothers of the working- ... (read more)

A.J. Betts

Reading Australia • 02 November 2016

A.J. Betts is a Perth-based author, teacher, and public speaker. Her published works include ShutterSpeed (2008), Wavelength (2010), and Zac and Mia (2013) which won the Text Prize for young Adult and Children’s Writing in 2012 and the Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature at the NSW Premier Literary Awards in 2014. Reading Australia Agnes Nieuwenhuizen has written on Zac and Mia (2 ... (read more)

News from the Editor's Desk - January-February 2017

January–February 2017, no. 388 • 23 November 2016

The Jolley Prize The ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize – one of the country’s major short story prizes – is once again open. Generous support from ABR Patron Ian Dickson has enabled us to maintain the total prize money at $12,500, of which the overall winner will receive $7,000. The runner-up receives $2,000, the third-placed author $1,000. In addition, there will be three commendation ... (read more)

2017 ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize

Competitions and programs • 18 December 2014

Australian Book Review is delighted to announce that Eliza Robertson has won the 2017 ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize for her story ‘Pheidippides’. Author David Malouf announced Eliza Robertson as the overall winner at a ceremony at Potts Point Bookshop, Sydney. Dominic Amerena placed second for his story ‘The Leaching Layer’ and Lauren Aimee Curtis came third for her story ‘ ... (read more)

Episode #11 Michael Halliwell in conversation with Brett Dean

The ABR Podcast • 02 December 2016

Michael Halliwell interviews Australian composer, violist, and conductor Brett Dean for the ABR Podcast. Dean composed the opera Bliss based on the Peter Carey novel, and was for many years a violist with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. He was the Artistic Director of the Australian National Academy of Music(ANAM) in Melbourne, and is now an artist in residence at the Sydney Symphony Orche ... (read more)

Letters to the Editor - January–February 2017

January–February 2017, no. 388 • 23 November 2016

Tissues on the sofa Dear Editor,I’m pleased that Peter Craven found so much to enjoy in The Boy behind the Curtain (ABR, December 2016). Winton always writes good – though somewhat deliberate, even mannered – prose. But in my view his work has become a kind of sacred cow in this country: no one seems willing to write a critical review of it. Craven’s is a case in point, fawning to a fault ... (read more)

The Update - December 13, 2016

ABR Arts • 13 December 2016

Tracey Moffatt at the Venice Biennale Tracey Moffat’s solo exhibition, MY HORIZON, will be launched at the fifty-seventh Venice Biennale in the Australia Pavillion. This new installation will include film and photography, and will encompass themes such as ‘the complexities of interpersonal relationships’, ‘the curiousness of popular culture’, and Moffat’s own ‘childhood memories and ... (read more)

Garry Disher

Reading Australia • 02 November 2016

Garry Disher is an author of crime fiction and children’s literature. He graduated with a Masters degree in Australian History at Monash University, and was awarded a creative writing fellowship to Stanford University in California. On his return to Melbourne, he taught creative writing. He has published over fifty books including novels, crime thrillers, fiction for children and young adults, ... (read more)

2017 Calibre Essay Prize Judges

Competitions and programs • 26 August 2014

Sheila Fitzpatrick, a professor at the University of Sydney specialising in the history of modern Russia, is one of the world’s most influential Soviet historians. She is the author of two memoirs, My Father’s Daughter (2010) and A Spy in the Archives (2013). Her most recent book, On Stalin’s Team: The years of living dangerously in Soviet politics (2015), shared the 2016 Prime Minister’s ... (read more)