Cirrus@Austlit

'Towards the end of last year I ended up in hospital. I want to write, I ended up in hospital again, but it was different this time – for the first time, it was an inpatient stay, instead of the day programs I’ve always checked in to instead. Day programs have always been a sensible option for me: they usually run over two or three, occasionally four, days in each week, and so rarely required me to step away entirely from my (freelance, casual) work – I’ve always been a ‘highly functional’ anorexic – and they’re also easier to access, because their size is not constrained by the number of beds available on the ward, unfailingly too few.'  (Introduction)

'As president of the Human Rights Commission, Gillian Triggs advocated for the disempowered, the disenfranchised, the marginalised. Speaking Up shares with readers the values that have guided Triggs’ convictions and the causes she has championed. She dares women to be a little vulgar and men to move beyond their comfort zones to achieve equity for all. And she will not rest until Australia has a Bill of Rights.'  (Introduction)

'When Chloe Hooper’s The Tall Man was published in 2008 it became an instant Australian classic. It was a compelling and confronting book about the worst of colonial Australia: police brutality, racial and judicial injustice, dispossession and the enduring trauma of colonialism. The Arsonist: A Mind on Fire (Hamish Hamilton) is Hooper’s first non-fiction book since then (she published a novel, The Engagement in 2012) and displays all the sensitivity, nuance and lyricism that readers found in The Tall Man. ' (Introduction)

'A surprising discovery sparks exciting plans for Bryant, but the no man’s land of hope and longing soon turns to obsession.'

'Kill Your Darlings’ First Book Club pick for October is Speaking Up by Gillian Triggs (Melbourne University Press), a passionate memoir and an irresistible call to everyone who yearns for a fairer world. Read an extract from the book, and Ellen Cregan’s review in this month’s Books Roundup. Ahead of appearances at last week’s Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, Triggs spoke to Chris Saliba about the book, Australia’s political climate and how our country is lagging on the world stage in regard to human rights.'  (Introduction)