Cirrus@Austlit

'Author Siobhan McKenna’s debut novel takes a saucy look at the corporate world, writes Caroline Overington.'

'The kindest comment I can make about Paul Hogan’s new movie, The Very Excellent Mr Dundee, is that it includes John Cleese’s worst performance ever (and, yes, I have seen Fierce Creatures from 1997).' (Introduction)

'An autobiography of Arthur Upfield, creator of part-indigenous detective Bony, shows that sometimes outsiders have the clearest perspective, writes Geordie Williamson'

'Across a long career that includes 10 books of poems, short story and nonfiction collections, essays and librettos, Barry Hill has maintained a quiet, persistently influential place in Australian literature. His books have won numerous awards in this country and his eighth book, Naked Clay: Drawing From Lucian Freud, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize in Britain.' (Introduction)

'Nicholas Shakespeare has done everything and known everybody in his time. As a boy in Argentina, he read to Jorge Luis Borges­; as a literary editor in London in his early 20s, he published­ reviews by Dirk Bogarde; as a biographer, he wrote a reliable account of that starry bewilderment of a man Bruce Chatwin; as a novelist, his The Dancer Upstairs was turned into a film directed by John Malkovich.' (Introduction)

'Once, while travelling in Italy, I found myself in Siena for the Palio: Tuscany’s chaotic, treacherous bareback horserace that takes place in the city’s bakingly hot medieval square, the Piazza del Campo, twice yearly at the height of summer.' (Introduction)

'The second season of The Fitzroy Diaries follows up an excellent debut by pushing the show’s exceptional writing and colourful performances in a lot of new directions. This second season ran late last year, but I’ve been holding off listening for the right moment. Today, it’s a bittersweet, moving reminder of pre-lockdown life in Melbourne.' (Introduction)