Hidden Author
Thea Astley (25 August 1925–17 August 2004) was an Australian novelist and short story writer. Her first novel, Girl with a Monkey, was published in 1958. She was a prolific and multi-award-winning writer who published fifteen novels and two short story collections and won the Miles Franklin award four times (for The Well Dressed Explorer in 1962, for The Slow Natives in 1965, for The Acolyte in ... (read more)
Jessica Anderson (25 September 1916 – 9 July 2010) was an Australian novelist and short story writer. Anderson’s first novel, An Ordinary Lunacy was published in 1963. Since then she has received many awards for her work including winning the prestigious Miles Franklin award, twice (for Tirra Lirra By the River in 1978 and for The Impersonators in 1980).
Jessica Anderson 1986 (photograph ... (read more)
Applications for the 2019 ABR Patrons’ Fellowship have now closed. An announcement will be made in early 2019.
My year as an ABR fellow has been the most rewarding of my writing life. This year I've not only been encouraged, but supported, to press my ear against our culture's chest and listen to its heartbeat. I'm indebted to the ABR team, and its warm and generous community of readers ... (read more)
Reviews Index 2014
ABDEL-FATTAH, Randa, Jodie: This is the Book of You, Omnibus Books, 359/59, Ruth Starke ACTON, SARA, Poppy Cat, Scholastic, 363/362, Stephanie Owen Reeder ADELAIDE, Debra, Letter to George Clooney, Picador, 359/36, Amy Baillieu ADELMAN, Jeremy, Worldly Philosopher: The Odyssey of Albert O. Hirschman, Princeton University Press, 364/29, Adrian Walsh ADELMAN, Jeremy (ed.), The ... (read more)
Welcome to the ABR contributor list for the first series (1961–74). Here you will find a list of all the contributors who have written for ABR since 1961–74 and the issue numbers in which they were published. You can download the PDF of the list here:
Contributor_List_for_First_Series
Below is the list of issue numbers for that period. As you will see, the original series was organised into ... (read more)
Radiant Young Leaders
Dear Editor,
Are Richard Broinowski (and family) seeking to don the mantle of apologists for the rulers of North Korea (review of Paul French’s North Korea: State of Paranoia in ABR, October 2014)? At the end of his enthusiastic review, Broinowski tosses off this fulsome compliment: ‘It belongs, in rare company, on the same shelf as the enlightened works of the American ... (read more)
Vipers and whistleblowers
Much has been written about the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards (PMLAs), now in their seventh year. Advances was at the National Gallery of Victoria on 8 December when the winners were named. An opulent affair, it was televised by Sky News and SBS à la the Man Booker Prize. The Great Hall – deemed rather small by one distinguished literary editor from Sydney – wa ... (read more)
Australian Book Review is delighted to announce Rob Magnuson Smith has won the 2015 ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize for his story 'The Elector of Nossnearly'. Steven Carroll announced Rob as the overall winner at the 2015 Brisbane Writers Festival. Michelle Cahill placed second for her story 'Borges and I' and Harriet McKnight came third for her story 'Crest'. Subscribers can read all three ... (read more)
Which poets have most influenced you?
Shakespeare, Donne, Emily Brontë, Dickinson, Hopkins, Hardy, Rilke, Dylan Thomas, Roethke, Plath, Hughes, Heaney, Judith Wright.
Are poems ‘inspired’ or mainly the work of craft?
Both. Craft alone might produce what is called verse, but without an inspired element it would be dull. Inspiration alone might wing it, but can also be pretty dull for the re ... (read more)