Cirrus@Austlit

'This month ABR sharpens its memory, looking back at Australia’s involvement in East Timor on the twenty-fifth anniversary of its liberation. We ask what the US invasion of Afghanistan revealed, how referendums have been lost and won, and if we’ve heeded the lessons of the pandemic. Bridget Griffen-Foley reviews a book on media moguls, Scott Stephens explains why 2024 looks a lot like 1939, and we consider ancient India’s transformation of the world. Shannon Burns, Michael Winkler, Heather Neilson and Alex Cothren review novels from Robbie Arnott, Brian Castro, Emily Maquire and Malcolm Knox. ABR Arts interviews pianist Angela Hewitt and reviews The Australian Ballet’s Oscar and MTC’s Topdog/Underdog. There’s Proust, Shakespeare, new poetry, poetry reviews and more.'  (Publication abstract)

'In ABR’s September issue, writers pick over the bones, stare into the cracks, weigh, measure, and search for the words. There’s Joel Deane on Peter Dutton, Ian Hall on Narendra Modi, and Kevil Bell on homelessness. Gabriella Coslovich sums up the case against Planet Art, the world’s wealthiest museums, and Dominic Kelly ponders two conservative lamentations for the Voice. Patrick Mullins asks if we need yet another Hawkie bio, and we review exhumations of extraordinary lives by Yves Rees, Penny Olsen and Aarti Betigeri as well as memoirs by Leslie Jamison, Kári Gíslason, Olivia Laing and Theodore Ell. There’s James Ley on Rodney Hall’s thirteenth novel, Vortex, and Geordie Williamson on Fiona McFarlane’s Highway 13, plus reviews of poetry, theatre, art, essays and technology.' (Publication summary)

'The August issue of ABR includes the 2024 ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize shortlist – three stories chosen from more than 1,300 entries worldwide. We celebrate James Baldwin’s centenary with an essay on his matchless legacy and Juno Gemes’s cover photograph, taken on a London rooftop in 1976. Robyn Arianrhod surveys the parlous state of Australian science writing and Peter Goldsworthy recounts his first encounter with film director Stanley Kubrick. Our non-fiction reviews include Marilyn Lake on Nuked, Zora Simic on Personal Politics, Nick Hordern on The Trial of Vladimir Putin, and Zoë Laidlaw on The Truth About Empire. We review novels by Jordan Prosser, Rachel Cusk, and Evie Wyld and poetry by Judith Beveridge. ABR’s arts reviews – on King Lear, Paul Gauguin, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? – are not to be missed.' (Publication summary)

'The July issue of ABR features journalist Nicole Hasham’s searing Calibre essay on the Pilbara’s pockmarked mining landscape. Historian Joan Beaumont travels to Ambon, asking whether the ever-growing number of Australian war pilgrims reflects a turn towards ‘postmemory’. Timothy J. Lynch considers America’s unending conflict with itself, Ben Wellings writes about another fractured union in the United Kingdom, and Jessica Lake examines the use of defamation in sexual assault cases. There is new poetry from John Kinsella, Julie Manning, and Andrew Sant, and we review Seamus Heaney’s letters, new poetry from Judith Bishop, fiction by Colm Tóibín, Francesca de Tores, Dylin Hardcastle, Percival Everett, theatre, music, television and more.' (Publication summary)

'The June issue goes subterranean with James Curran on AUKUS and the stark differences between US and Australian rhetoric about the submarine program. Miranda Johnson reports on the erosion of a bicultural consensus in Aotearoa New Zealand. Peter Rose reviews the letters of Shirley Hazzard and Elizabeth Harrower. Matthew Lamb tells of the covert actions involving Frank Moorhouse and a photocopier that strengthened Australia’s copyright laws. James Ley considers Salman Rushdie’s Knife, and Anna Krien a pioneering environmentalist in John Büsst. We review memoirs by Bruce Pascoe and Werner Herzog, and fiction from Shankari Chandran, Louise Milligan, Ceridwen Dovey, and more. And in ABR Arts, Neil Armfield is our guest on Backstage.' (Publication summary)

'This issue includes the winning essay in the Calibre Essay Prize. Scott Stephens considers clerical narcissism and brutality, and Patrick Mullins reviews a new profile of Peter Dutton, that former copper with a ‘suspicious instinct’. In her review of James Bradley’s Deep Water, Felicity Plunkett asks why we turn away from disaster’s proximity, Tony Hughes-d’Aeth explores an ‘inflexion point in Indigenous letters’, ex-ambassador Geoff Raby ponders ‘Chairman of everything’ Xi Jinping, and Alice Whitmore reviews the new-old Gabriel García Márquez. Essays from Heather Neilson and Maggie Nolan look at Gore Vidal’s posthumous life and the expansion of Australia’s storytelling database, AustLit. We review novels by Charmian Clift, Melanie Joosten, Liam Pieper, Siang Lu; poetry by David Brooks and Omar Sakr; film, music, memoir and more.' (Publication summary)

'This April ABR considers the importance of talk. In his cover essay, historian Frank Bongiorno argues that the Albanese government’s storytelling, not just its actions, directs the ‘possibilities of politics’. Sheila Fitzpatrick gives a moving portrait of her friendship with ‘recording angel’ Katerina Clark and G. Geltner pushes us to rethink our Middle-Ages chatter. Sascha Morrell comes around to the ‘winks and nudges’ in a major new biography of Frank Moorhouse and Frances Wilson insists Hilary Mantel will speak for herself in death. Glyn Davis tells us about a floating university and Morag Fraser puzzles over mothers. There’s Michael Hofmann on Nam Le’s 36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem, Stuart Kells on rogue corporations, and Robyn Arianrhod on the moon.' (Publication summary)

'ABR’s annual double issue is packed with summer-reading features. To complement our Books of the Year feature (December issue), Australia’s top arts critics nominate 2023’s outstanding productions. Kevin Foster doesn’t pull his punches on David McBride’s whistleblower memoir, Emma Dortins reviews Kate Fullagar’s innovative biography of Bennelong and Arthur Phillip, and Frank Bongiorno considers Raimond Gaita’s tangle with life’s big questions. Gordon Pentland takes on Theresa May and Stuart Kells eyes Qantas. Ebony Nilsson unearths ASIO files to reveal ordinary lives and Peter Edwards considers political interference in official military histories. We review new fiction from Lucy Treloar, Max Easton, and Sigrid Nunez. As always, the summer issue features the five poems shortlisted in this year’s Peter Porter Poetry Prize.' (Publication summary)

'As spring slowly turns to summer, the November issue of ABR addresses questions of memoir, biography, and autofiction. Catriona Menzies-Pike engages with Richard Flanagan’s new hybrid work Question 7 while Zora Simic assesses Naomi Klein’s journey into the ‘mirror world’ in Doppelganger and Marilyn Lake reviews Graeme Davison’s ‘uncommonly good family history’. Also, Susan Sheridan reviews a new literary biography of Dorothea Mackellar and Kerryn Goldsworthy reviews Catharine Lumby’s biography of Frank Moorhouse. Memoirist Shannon Burns reviews Christos Tsiolkas’s tangy new novel The In-Between, Felicity Plunkett looks at Amanda Lohrey’s The Conversion, and Jelena Dinić pays tribute to Charles Simic.' (Publication summary)

'Two weeks out from the historic Voice referendum, ABR’s Indigenous issue features our strongest-ever representation of First Nations reviewers, commentators, interviews, poems, books, and themes. Lynette Russell and Melissa Castan discuss the mechanics of the Voice, Alexis Wright describes Indigenous time as interlinked and unresolved, members of the Indigenous Australian Dictionary of Biography describe their project, and Zoë Laidlaw explores university Indigenous histories. We interview Anita Heiss, Jeanine Leane reviews Melissa Lucashenko’s Edenglassie, Mark McKenna grapples with David Marr’s Killing for Country, Tom Wright weighs a biography of Donald Horne, and Declan Fry endorses Indigenous economics. Reviews from Claire G. Coleman, Julie Janson, and Jacinta Walsh lead a stellar First Nations line-up.' (Publication summary)

'In September we explore the ripple effects of Trumpian politics in Australia with Joel Deane on Melbourne’s lockdown rage, Ben Wellings on populism, and Emma Shortis on a second Trump presidency. James Curran takes issue with Clare Wright’s call for historians to ‘hold their tongues’ on the Voice and Desmond Manderson considers the political impact of the 1963 Yirrkala Bark Petition. Also in the issue, we have Nick Hordern on two books about Russia and Ukraine, Kieran Pender on the Facebook whistleblower, Penny Russell on Kate Grenville’s new novel, and Sarah Ogilvie on Australian contributors to the first Oxford English Dictionary.' (Publication summary)

'Welcome to the August issue of ABR! This month we celebrate great short fiction with the announcement and publication of the shortlist for the 2023 ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize. The winner will be revealed at an online ceremony on 17 August. Also in the August issue, Dennis Altman explores some of the complexities facing Australian Jews regarding Australia’s relationship with Israel, James Ley reflects on J.M. Coetzee’s novel The Life and Times of Michael K forty years after its original publication, and Jonathan Green reviews a new biography of Rupert Murdoch. Elsewhere, Kevin Foster examines the first of two new books on the Ben Roberts-Smith case, Joan Beaumont reviews a new work of history from Robin Prior, and Shannon Burns considers a new book on Gerald Murnane.' (Publication summary)

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'Welcome to the June issue of ABR! This month ABR examines politics and influence from the media to federal and international politics. Major features include David Rolph on Lachlan Murdoch versus Crikey, Mark Kenny on the Albanese government’s first year in office, Patrick Mullins on a new book on Scott Morrison, and John Zubrzycki on Narendra Modi’s new strategy for India. Raelene Frances reviews Ross McMullin’s new group biography Life So Full of Promise and Joan Beaumont reflects on the 1943 bombing of Berlin. Also in the issue, Robyn Archer takes us behind the scenes in our new ‘Backstage’ interview series, Kate Lilley pays tribute to John Tranter, and we publish the runner-up in the 2023 Calibre Essay Prize ‘Child Adjacent’ by Bridget Vincent.' (Publication summary)

'Welcome to the May issue of ABR. This month’s powerful cover feature is David N. Myers on the troubled state of democracy in Israel in the light of the recent protests. Meanwhile Gordon Pentland explores the impact of nostalgia on British politics and Marilyn Lake examines a new book on Gough Whitlam and women. Barney Zwartz reviews Chrissie Foster’s new memoir and Michael Easson looks at the history of the Macquarie Bank. Anthony Lynch reflects on poet Jordie Albiston’s posthumous work, Frank, and we review new fiction from Margaret Atwood, Max Porter, Pip Williams, and J.R. Burgmann. Also in the issue, we reveal the 2023 Calibre Essay prize winner.' (Publication summary)

'Welcome to the March issue of ABR. We examine everything from the new National Cultural Policy to Volodymyr Zelensky, Shirley Hazzard, First Nations incarceration, infidelity, exciting new fiction, machines behaving badly, TÁR, the young Robert Menzies, women’s cricket and much more. And while Australia is now set to receive its own Poet Laureate, ABR continues its longstanding commitment to the form, publishing four new poems and reviewing four verse collections.' (Publication summary)