José Borghino

José Borghino has managed government, media, and public relations for the Australian Publishers Association since 2005. He lectures in Literary Journalism at Sydney University, and is a regular book reviewer for The Australian, The Australian Literary Review, and the Sydney Morning Herald. He was the Editor of the online news and commentary site NewMatilda.com from 2005 to 2007. José Borghino was the Executive Director of the Australian Society of Authors from 1998 to 2004; and before that worked for the Literature Board of the Australia Council from 1990 to 1998. He was Chair of the Australian Coalition for Cultural Diversity from 2003 to 2004 and Chair of the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards Committee in 2000. He was the book reviews editor for marie claire magazine and the founding editor of both EDITIONS Review magazine and Education Australia magazine.

José Borghino reviews ‘A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies’ by John Murray

October 2003, no. 255 • 01 October 2003

Am I alone in becoming suspicious when a writer’s previous profession is the focus of a publicist’s blurb? To me, it smacks of desperation. ‘I can’t think of anything to say about this writing,’ such an approach confesses, ‘but let me tell you about the writer’s stellar career as a motor mechanic, or their prowess in tae kwon do, or their interest in growing orchids.’ Call me an ol ... (read more)

José Borghino reviews ‘Three Dog Night’ by Peter Goldsworthy

November 2003, no. 256 • 01 November 2003

It is difficult for non-Aboriginal novelists to deal adequately with Aboriginal experience in their work. There are many reasons for this, not the least of which is general ignorance about Aboriginal experience. But another, more insidious, reason is self-censorship. The politics of speaking in an Aboriginal voice, if you’re not Aboriginal, is at best fraught and at worst a nightmare. Thinking t ... (read more)

'Author! Author!' by José Borghino

September 2001, no. 234 • 01 September 2001

Back in April, when Peter Rose asked me to write an irregular column for ABR on the campaigns that the Australian Society of Authors runs on behalf of writers, it seemed perfectly clear what the subject of my first column should be. At that time, after years of hints and veiled threats, the Government had finally revealed its hand and introduced a Bill into Federal Parliament to allow the parallel ... (read more)

José Borghino reviews 'A Private Man' by Malcolm Knox

March 2004, no. 259 • 01 March 2004

Gabriel García Márquez once said that all of us lead three different lives simultaneously: public, private, and secret. In his second novel, A Private Man, Malcolm Knox explores two very secret recesses of the modern Australian male’s experience: porn and sport. That both these spheres also have a very public face merely allows for these secret experiences to be played out in front of a paying ... (read more)

José Borghino reviews 'Violin Lessons' by Arnold Zable

September 2011, no. 334 • 23 August 2011

The reception of SBS’s documentary Go Back to Where You Came From held out the promise that Australians’ antagonism towards asylum seekers was softening. But old certainties shift in unpredictable ways. In an essay in the September 2010 issue of The Monthly, Robert Manne, a long-standing critic of the Howard government’s asylum seeker policy, asked some uncomfortable questions of the left: D ... (read more)