'Among the delights at the end of winter are the return of afternoons and the arrival of ABR’s fiction-laden August issue. This month we publish the three shortlisted stories for the ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize alongside reviews of a fresh harvest of fiction by Edwina Preston, Robert Drewe, Eleanor Limprecht, and Scott McCulloch. Julieanne Lamond and Brigid Magner look at new studies of Gail Jones and Joseph Furphy, respectively, while Gary Pearce writes on the Joyce centenary. In politics, Mark Kenny analyses the Albanese government’s first chapter as Paul Strangio forecasts the challenges awaiting Daniel Andrews at the ballot box and Patrick Mullins examines Aaron Patrick’s autopsy of the post-Turnbull Liberal party. Catharine Lumby reflects on the life of Frank Moorhouse, while Ian Dickson reviews the letters of poet Thom Gunn. There’s an interview with Michael Winkler, new poetry by Jennifer Harrison and Vidyan Ravinthiran, and much, much more!' (Publication summary)
'We tend not to panegyrise local writers and artists in this land, but the death of Frank Moorhouse on 26 June proved rather different, eliciting the sort of coverage normally reserved for sporting personalities and plutocrats.' (Introduction)
'The novels of Gail Jones present a challenge to would-be critics. Jones being a formidable scholar in her own right, her eight novels to date pose sophisticated philosophical questions within their elegantly structured narratives. Her novels canvass aspects of human experience that are murky and complex: these are often forms of familial or romantic relationship shaped by loss, both personal and historical. The challenge for critics is that the novels are themselves thinking about the potential of fiction to do this kind of philosophical or ethical work. In this sense, Jones might seem to be one step ahead of the scholar who takes her work as their subject. Inner and Outer Worlds, a collection of essays edited by Anthony Uhlmann, steps up to this challenge.' (Introduction)
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'At first glance, neither Marlo nor My Heart Is a Little Wild Thing seemed particularly appealing. Both focus on queer men pining for love in a homophobic world. Both appeared to recycle what Jay Carmichael (Marlo’s author) calls ‘the tradition of tragedy in queer literature’. Digging deeper, we find that the novels offer nuanced and even uplifting perspectives on gay male experience over the decades. There are moments of adversity, but it’s the resilience and emotional strength of the protagonists – their ability to find pleasure in even dire situations – that make both books so compelling.' (Introduction)
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'A child of nine is taken to Sydney for the first time to visit her mother, a patient at the Coast Hospital lazaret. Upon arrival, she learns that she, like her mother, has leprosy. Her fate is fixed from that day; she will live the remainder of her life in the lazaret. She takes the new name of ‘Alice’ to hide her former self, and the world closes in upon her. There will be no more school, no playing with her younger brothers and sisters, no friends of her own age, no prospect of romance, no hope of freedom.'(Introduction)
'Frank Moorhouse, one of Australia’s most prolific and loved authors, essayists, and public intellectuals, died aged eighty-three on 26 June. Moorhouse left a legacy of eighteen fiction and non-fiction books, a series of screenplays, and countless essays. He was also a tireless activist on a range of fronts, including opposing censorship and promoting copyright law reform.'(Introduction)
