The winner of the Booker Prize for 2021 has been announced. It’s third time lucky for Damon Galgut as, after being shortlisted in 2003 and 2010, he finally wins the Booker Prize with The Promise. The announcement was made by Maya Jasanoff, chair of the 2021 judges, in a ceremony that was broadcast live to
Reviewed by Clare Brook Everything has changed except our way of thinking. Albert Einstein Thomas Hobbs wrote that human life without a central government would be ‘nasty, brutish and short!’ (Leviathan, 1651) Whereas, Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed Noble Savages lived free and equal having little to do with war. It turns out that neither philosopher got
Pictured is author Minette Walters at her home near Dorchester UK . Photo by Fabio De Paola Minette Walters was one of the most successful crime fiction writers in the world. Published to critical acclaim in over 34 countries, each new novel reached the top of the Australian bestseller lists. Her last crime novel was
Reviewed by Rod McLary Minette Walters is perhaps better known for her psychological novels most of which were written between 1992 and 2007. She has been awarded an Edgar Award and two Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger awards for The Ice House, The Scold’s Bridle and Fox Evil respectively. In recent years, however, she has
Reviewed by Richard Tutin Like many people, I enjoy listening to favourite pieces of music. The memories they invoke take me back to the time when I first listened to them. They are reminders of times past, good and not so good. Tom Gatti has brought together fifty authors who have had similar experiences through
Reviewed by Ian Lipke There is a slight chance that someone has come across Peter FitzSimons’ writing for the first time with the publication of his latest book The Incredible Life of Hubert Wilkins. This is part of the book’s title, the remainder “Australia’s Greatest Explorer” I find an unconscionable thing to write. FitzSimons is
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke The Book of Curious Birds is a 24x29cm hard covered beautifully presented book by Tasmanian author and artist, Jennifer Cossins. Promoted as being a book for children who have an enquiring mind and a thirst for knowledge, there is much to admire in the illustrations and information provided that would interest
Reviewed by Clare Brook Sasha is the hero of Katrina Nannestad’s latest novel – Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief. Sasha is a six-year-old Russian boy caught up in World War II. The German army burns his village to the ground and he runs like a rabbit into the forest. Sasha would have died of starvation or
Robert Wainwright has been a journalist for 25 years, rising from the grassroots of country journalism in Western Australia to a senior writer with The Sydney Morning Herald. His career has ranged from politics to crime, always focussing on the people behind the major news of the day. He is the author of Rose: The unauthorised biography
Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Robert Wainwright is a veteran journalist who has now written fourteen books. As has been his custom, he focusses on the people behind the major news of the day. In this case, it is a time over 140 years ago. There has been much written about the career of ‘the nightingale’,
Reviewed by Antonella Townsend “How on earth had I landed in bed with an elderly, loquacious blind man in a remote village in the Scottish Highlands?” A famous blind Argentinean writer, an American student, driving an old Morris Minor, touring the Scottish Highlands. Interesting plot. But this narrative is more biography than fiction. The student
For those readers who like to meet – or at least see on Zoom – their favourite authors, there are a number of events coming up in the next few days and weeks. Please see the list below: Michelle de Kretser – Scary Monsters Tuesday 26 October 2021 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM ZOOM Online
Reviewed by E. B. Heath ‘… all history is contemporary history … all serious study of the past is informed by the problems of the historian’s own time.’ Benedetto Croce On reading the prologue in Don Longo’s biography of Austin Gough, it occurred that Longo was being dramatic in an effort to incite readers’ curiosity.
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Tom Keneally – a man whose sallies have launched a thousand laughs, whose writing is read by multitudes with fascinated absorption, whose satire has seared the dignities of politicians uncounted – has written another book. Its name? A Bloody Good Rant! The eighty-five-year-old rooster is no Spring chicken, but his crowing
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Everybody knows what Julius Caesar, Caligula and Nero, to name just a few Roman emperors, looked like. We’ve all seen sculptures of them, some created by well-known artists. They’ve all been on television. Of course, we know what they look like. Mary Beard, variously a leading classicist and cultural commentator, a