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'In the grim war of attrition waged by successive federal governments against the arts over recent decades, writers have sustained the sharpest losses. Apportioned a meagre 2.4 per cent of the entire 2021–22 budget of the Australia Council, literature has been an afterthought in federal arts policy – if any thought can be said to have been dedicated to it at all.' (Introduction)
'With a strong claim to be Australia’s biggest cultural export, Back to Back Theatre’s ensemble, their work and their philosophy have drawn international acclaim, and now theatre’s most prestigious prize. by Alison Croggon '
'NEARLY 30 YEARS have passed since I took my last class as a teacher of fiction-writing at tertiary level. I was employed as such a teacher for 16 years, and during that time I presided over more than 2000 classes. (I’m trying to avoid reporting that I actually taught fiction-writing. I certainly helped many people to write better fiction, but I doubt whether I taught anyone who had never attempted fiction how to write the stuff that we call by that name.)' (Introduction)
'I HEARD NEWS OF the death of my close friend and mentor, Jack Charles, while watching the inescapable coverage of Queen Elizabeth’s death. Wherever I surfed, from channel to channel, the Queen was there, riding a stallion across the expanse of one of her landholdings, waving to a crowd in front of Buckingham Palace from a horse-drawn carriage that resembled a giant pumpkin, and lying in state at one palace or another. Whatever my personal feelings about the Crown and its fading colonial empire, I was struck by the gross display of parading a dead body around the country. When an Aboriginal person dies, we are motivated to bring peace and rest to their spirit, as opposed to restlessness and noise.' (Introduction)
'A MEMOIR DOESN’T GET written and published in a vacuum. Still, one could be forgiven for thinking Grace Tame’s memoir had been finished five minutes before review copies were sent out. I say this not because of the writing itself – the book is well written and polished – but because of the recency of the references, and the climate into which it is being released.' (Introduction)
