Elizabeth Oliver

Elizabeth Oliver is a doctor specialising in palliative medicine and general practice. Her essay ‘All These Little Deaths’ was shortlisted for the 2020 Calibre Essay Prize. She has written for ABC Religion and Ethics, Womankind, and The Medical Republic. Her article ‘What I Do for $37.05’ in the Sydney Morning Herald triggered a national debate on the defunding of health care in Australia. Her essential subject is the experience of the human body explored through disease, gender, and pilgrimage. She is currently working on an essay series on the nine catalysing events that bring us into contact with the health care system.

'"The nature of the race": My nomination for the Space Crone' by Elizabeth Oliver

September 2021, no. 435 • 19 August 2021

In her 1976 essay ‘The Space Crone’, Ursula K. Le Guin imagines the highly advanced aliens of Altair landing on Earth. Politely, they seek a human being to accompany them on their long journey home so that they may ‘learn from an exemplary person the nature of the race’. As a palliative care doctor, I often ponder what constitutes an exemplary life, so my choice of Space Crone may not be a ... (read more)