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Issue Details: First known date: 2023... 2023 Critic Swallows Book : Ten Years of the Sydney Review of Books
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'In 2023 the Sydney Review of Books celebrates a decade online and the publication of more than a thousand essays and longform reviews of Australian and international literature. Over these ten years the SRB has cleared a unique space for serious reflection on literature and for critical thinking about our culture more broadly. The journal has been shaped by the diverse aesthetic, political and critical dispositions of our contributors, each of whom has different questions to ask contemporary literature. As they’ve asked these questions, they’ve guided a bold and independent public conversation about literature, and especially about the many forms of Australian literature.

'Critic Swallows Book brings together twenty-two essays that together demonstrate the eclecticism of the Sydney Review of Books. It includes essays on decolonising Australian literature and revisiting the classics, on blockbuster fiction and book-length poetry, on modernism in the Antipodes and reading during the pandemic. Essays on Susan Sontag and Rita Felski sit alongside critical considerations of Murray Bail and Joan London, of Evelyn Araluen and Samia Khatun.

'Contributors: Timmah Ball, Paola Balla, Alix Beeston, Tegan Bennett Daylight, Andrew Brooks, Bonny Cassidy, Mridula Nath Chakraborty, Tom Clark, Ali Cobby Eckermann, Ben Etherington, Ross Gibson, Ivor Indyk, Yumna Kassab, Louis Klee, Jeanine Leane, James Ley, Catriona Menzies-Pike, Drusilla Modjeska, Alys Moody, Suneeta Peres da Costa, Oliver Reeson.' (Publication summary)

Contents

* Contents derived from the Penrith, Penrith area, Sydney Outer West, Sydney, New South Wales,:Giramondo Publishing , 2023 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
The Place of Terrorism in Australia, Ali Cobby Eckermann , single work
Flow Charts, Ross Gibson , single work review
Introduction, Catriona Menzies-Pike , single work essay
A Home in Ananda and the World, Suneeta Peres da Costa , single work essay
Vanishing Bolano, Yumna Kassab , single work review
Staring Back, Jeanine Leane , single work review
— Review of Dropbear Evelyn Araluen , 2021 selected work poetry essay ;

'Since the invasion of Australia in 1788, First Nations Peoples have been forced into the literary images of the colonisers. We have been described as noble savages, vermin, half-castes, temptresses, and problems, just to name a few. Our entrapment in the literary canon of the invading settlers is what constructed and maintained the colonial mythscape of the modern nation of Australia.' (Introduction)

The Time Police, Louis Klee , single work review
Untimely Modernism, Alys Moody , single work review
— Review of Dodge Rose Jack Cox , 2015 single work novel ;
The Provincial and the Princess, Ivor Indyk , single work review
— Review of The Voyage Murray Bail , 2012 single work novel ;
The Living and the Undead, Ben Etherington , single work essay

'The death of an author can be an awkward subject for critics. Death calls for empathy, goodwill (however retrospective), and mourning. The genres appropriate to it – elegy, eulogy, obituary – tend to be ones that burnish the subjective. Faults may be mentioned but only as part of a wholistic appraisal of a life whose worth is ultimately affirmed. This sits in tension with criticism’s objective register and the open-ended nature of interpretation and judgement. Affirmation can come across as sentimental, objective appraisal as heartless or ‘too soon’. Perhaps death is a moment when critics ought to keep their thoughts to themselves.' (Introduction)

Cryptic Cargo, Mridula Nath Chakraborty , single work review
Expert Textpert, James Ley , single work review
Speculative Philology, Tom Clark , single work review
Critic Swallows Book, Catriona Menzies-Pike , single work essay

'Picture Trent Dalton sitting on a Brisbane street corner. A typewriter on a folding table in front of him, a hand-made sign stuck to it, upon which is written the words, ‘sentimental writer seeks stories’. Here he is, the most bankable Australian writer of the decade: a storyteller on the street, a man on the tools, a displaced sentimental bloke trying to make sense of twenty-first century life. And this is how he wrote his latest book, a work of non-fiction called Love Stories, the title of which is self-explanatory. Dalton has kept the ecstasy and epiphany dials turned to eleven since the release of Boy Swallows Universe in 2018 – and Australian readers love him.' (Introduction)

Verisimilitude, Melinda Harvey , single work review
Between Night and Night, Bonny Cassidy , single work review
— Review of Enfolded in the Wings of a Great Darkness Peter Boyle , 2019 selected work poetry ;

'Death’s intrusion upon love is an old complaint. Philosophically, in Western Europe, it may have emerged as a problem in response to ideas of human limitation in Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura. This was early materialist thinking intended to prepare the late Roman mind for the finitude of life, belief, control and pleasure. The poetry of death-in-love is another matter. It is characterised by rage, disbelief and helplessness. It is ancient and myriad.' (Introduction)

Probably Not Tomorrow, Drusilla Modjeska , single work review
Fully Present, Utterly Connected, Tegan Bennett Daylight , single work review
— Review of The Golden Age Joan London , 2014 single work novel ;
A History of Shapes, Alix Beeston , single work review
Wayward Revolutions, Andrew Brooks , single work review

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

The 17 Best Books of 2023 Geordie Williamson , Justine Hyde , 2024 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 22 January 2024;

— Review of The Sitter Angela O'Keeffe , 2023 single work novel ; Killing for Country : A Family Story David Marr , 2023 multi chapter work criticism ; The Conversion Amanda Lohrey , 2023 single work novel ; The Vitals Tracy Sorensen , 2023 single work prose ; Right Story, Wrong Story : Adventures in Indigenous Thinking Tyson Yunkaporta , 2023 multi chapter work criticism ; Praiseworthy Alexis Wright , 2023 single work novel ; Edenglassie Melissa Lucashenko , 2023 single work novel ; Women and Children Tony Birch , 2023 single work novel ; The Art of Breaking Ice Rachael Mead , 2023 single work novel ; I'd Rather Not Robert Skinner , 2023 single work autobiography ; On Peter Carey : Writers on Writers Sarah Krasnostein , 2023 single work biography ; New Australian Fiction 2023 2023 anthology short story ; Critic Swallows Book : Ten Years of the Sydney Review of Books 2023 anthology review essay
Book Review: Critic Swallows Book : Ten Years of the Sydney Review of Books, Edited by Catriona Menzies-Pike Ellie Fisher , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: ArtsHub , December 2023;

— Review of Critic Swallows Book : Ten Years of the Sydney Review of Books 2023 anthology review essay

'A selection of essays that bear witness to a diverse history of literary criticism in Australia.'

Brio, Style and Close Reading : A Collection of Essays Celebrates a Remarkable Publication Julian Novitz , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 13 December 2023;

— Review of Critic Swallows Book : Ten Years of the Sydney Review of Books 2023 anthology review essay

'Critic Swallows Book collects 22 diverse essays from the Sydney Review of Books (SRB) to celebrate its ten-year anniversary. Established in 2013, the SRB is devoted to long form criticism and is an open access, online-only publication.' (Introduction)

Brio, Style and Close Reading : A Collection of Essays Celebrates a Remarkable Publication Julian Novitz , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 13 December 2023;

— Review of Critic Swallows Book : Ten Years of the Sydney Review of Books 2023 anthology review essay

'Critic Swallows Book collects 22 diverse essays from the Sydney Review of Books (SRB) to celebrate its ten-year anniversary. Established in 2013, the SRB is devoted to long form criticism and is an open access, online-only publication.' (Introduction)

The 17 Best Books of 2023 Geordie Williamson , Justine Hyde , 2024 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 22 January 2024;

— Review of The Sitter Angela O'Keeffe , 2023 single work novel ; Killing for Country : A Family Story David Marr , 2023 multi chapter work criticism ; The Conversion Amanda Lohrey , 2023 single work novel ; The Vitals Tracy Sorensen , 2023 single work prose ; Right Story, Wrong Story : Adventures in Indigenous Thinking Tyson Yunkaporta , 2023 multi chapter work criticism ; Praiseworthy Alexis Wright , 2023 single work novel ; Edenglassie Melissa Lucashenko , 2023 single work novel ; Women and Children Tony Birch , 2023 single work novel ; The Art of Breaking Ice Rachael Mead , 2023 single work novel ; I'd Rather Not Robert Skinner , 2023 single work autobiography ; On Peter Carey : Writers on Writers Sarah Krasnostein , 2023 single work biography ; New Australian Fiction 2023 2023 anthology short story ; Critic Swallows Book : Ten Years of the Sydney Review of Books 2023 anthology review essay
Book Review: Critic Swallows Book : Ten Years of the Sydney Review of Books, Edited by Catriona Menzies-Pike Ellie Fisher , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: ArtsHub , December 2023;

— Review of Critic Swallows Book : Ten Years of the Sydney Review of Books 2023 anthology review essay

'A selection of essays that bear witness to a diverse history of literary criticism in Australia.'

Last amended 11 Mar 2024 13:25:31
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