Hidden Author

Gig Ryan is Poet of the Month

December 2014, no. 367 • 24 November 2014

Which poets have most influenced you? Many. I admire Jeremy Prynne, Clark Coolidge, Mina Loy, and Lyn Hejinian, but I don’t know whether they have influenced my work. To limit this list in time somewhat: Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Eliot, Auden, Berryman, Ashbery, O’Hara. Among the Australians: Kenneth Slessor, Francis Webb, Michael Dransfield, John Tranter, Jennifer Maiden, Martin Johnston, John Fo ... (read more)

Critic of the Month: Interview with Geordie Williamson

November 2014, no. 366 • 01 November 2014

When did you first write for ABR? It was 2001. A dual review of Malcolm Knox’s début novel, Summerland, and Steven Carroll’s The Art of the Engine Driver. Luckily, I was generous about these relatively unknown authors and their books, since both went on to become significant figures in Australian letters. Which critics most impress you? There are so many. Elizabeth Hardwick, the doyenne o ... (read more)

Open Page with Peter Carey

November 2014, no. 366 • 01 November 2014

What is your favourite music? Once again I am pleading 'no favourites', although I am always moved and astonished by Gavin Bryars’s 'Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet'. No, I’m not a Christian. Also, generally speaking, I am forbidden to sing. What is your favourite book? The longer I live, the harder it is to have a favourite anything. I admire the work of Thomas Bernhardt, Jean Rhys, Iris ... (read more)

News from the Editor's Desk

October 2014, no. 365 • 24 September 2014

Calibre Prize The Calibre Prize for an Outstanding Essay is open again. The winner will receive $5,000. This year, for the first time, Calibre is open to writers around the world. We also have a quick, inexpensive online entry system. Guidelines and the entry form are available on our website. Entries close on 19 January 2015. The judges on this occasion are Delia Falconer and Peter Rose, our Edi ... (read more)

Letters to the Editor – October 2014

October 2014, no. 365 • 24 September 2014

Mikhail Khodorkovsky Dear Editor, I was very disappointed that the review ‘Putin and the Kleptocrats’ gave such a misleading impression of Mikhail Khodorkovsky (August 2014). Nick Hordern seemed to have no idea of Khodorkovsky’s Damascene moments when he began to understand and adhere to the (small l) liberal underpinnings of a civil society, working on many fronts, and of course against t ... (read more)

Robert Adamson is Poet of the Month

October 2014, no. 365 • 01 October 2014

Which poets have most influenced you? First encounters sink deep: Shelley, Blake, Hopkins, Yeats. The Revelators in my youth: Rimbaud, Lorca, Hart Crane. The Golden Codgers of middle age: Mallarmé, Emily Dickinson, Lorine Niedecker, Robert Creeley, Robert Duncan, and David Malouf. Life Support: Wallace Stevens and Thomas Traherne. The Diamond-headed hard men of technique: Ezra Pound, Louis Zukof ... (read more)

News from the Editor's Desk

September 2014, no. 364 • 01 September 2014

Flipping over fiction Welcome to our annual Fiction issue! In this issue you will find the three shortlisted stories from the ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize, as well as other features on fiction, including ten writers nominating their favourite story collections, and Maria Takolander and Mary Cunnane on short fiction and the art of pitching, respectively. Enjoy those cupcakes! You will a ... (read more)

Short story survey | Ten authors on their favourite short story collections

September 2014, no. 364 • 01 September 2014

In the spirit of our annual ‘Books of the Year’ feature, in which we ask a range of writers and critics to nominate their favourite new fiction and non-fiction titles, we asked ten Australian short story writers to nominate their favourite short story collections and individual stories. As this is the first time we have run a short-story themed feature of this nature, our ten writers were free ... (read more)

Open Page with Christine Piper

September 2014, no. 364 • 01 September 2014

Why do you write? When all the parts of a story successfully converge it is very satisfying, much like solving a maths problem. Are you a vivid dreamer? I seem to dream more awake than I do asleep. As a child, I often acted out imaginary scenarios, speaking the various parts aloud. Every so often I’ll catch myself doing it again. Where are you happiest? Somewhere with sunlight, a mild wind, ... (read more)

ABR Arts

ABR Arts • 05 August 2014

Welcome to ABR Arts, home to some of Australia's finest arts journalism. We review film, theatre, opera, dance, music, television, art exhibitions – and more. We have writers around Australia, and we are actively looking for more. Reviews remain open for one week before being paywalled.  Read our most recent reviews. Film Opera Theatre     ... (read more)