Hidden Author
Peter Rose interviews ABR contributor Lee Christofis, who recently attended a number of exhibitions in Paris showcasing works by Léon Bakst, Cy Twombly, and Arnold Schoenberg among others. His visit coincided with the fortieth birthday of the Pompidou Centre. Lee's 'Letter from Paris' appears in ABR Arts.
The ABR Podcast is available via SoundCloud and iTunes.
ABR Podcast intro music by David ... (read more)
What was your pathway to publishing?
After university I knew I didn’t want to do deconstruction; I wanted to be involved with contemporary writing, so I looked for an editorial job and eventually found one, in Boston, which was no longer the Athens of America, in 1973.
... (read more)
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 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 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)
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)
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)
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)
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)