Cirrus@Austlit

'Welcome to our summer issue – the first of 2021. On our cover is Peter Porter, to complement the five poems shortlisted in the 2021 Porter Prize. This year’s shortlist is wonderfully diverse, with poets from Australia, Canada and the United States. Elsewhere, Jon Piccini reviews two very different readings of the Palace Letters. Timothy J. Lynch lauds Barack Obama’s memoirs as the best presidential memoirs since Ulysses S. Grant’s, but notes a certain elephant in the room – Donald Trump and the spectre of Trumpism. Louise Milligan is our Open Page guest this month, and Beejay Silcox reviews Milligan’s new book, Witness, a searing account of the brutal cost of seeking justice in this country – especially for witnesses. Tim Byrne considers the early, rambunctious years of Nick Cave. We also review new novels by Garry Disher, Ceridwen Dovey, Dennis Glover and Anna MacDonald.' (Publication abstract)