'In early 2007, Sydney PEN commissioned The 3 Writers Project', a series of essays and public lectures in which three of our leading and acclaimed writers Christos Tsiolkas, Gideon Haigh and Alexis Wright tackled topics of vital importance to contemporary Australia: tolerance, prejudice and fear. Christos Tsiolkas questions why the notion of tolerance has replaced the language of justice, equality and rights in recent political vocabulary. He asks why the liberal left has failed to counter the rhetoric of the clash of civilisations', and argues that in this new globalised world we need to create a set of ethics that goes beyond tolerance. Gideon Haigh traces the phenomenon of nationalism, from its enlightenment origins through to its fascist excesses, and examines how Australia has arrived at its present sense of nationhood. He looks at what underlies our latest incarnation, and how the process of arriving at it has reduced the liberal left to mute onlookers. Alexis Wright asserts that Australia's lack of tolerance and adoption of prejudice as patriotism has led to a fear that has paralysed both Aboriginal and white Australians. She wonders whether fear can rob hope, and argues passionately that we must resist personal and collective fear and trust literature to tell the truth about the darkness inside'. This impassioned and provocative trinity of essays, introduced by Nobel Laureate J.M. Coetzee, is testament to the linguistic power and fierce intellect of these significant writers.' --Back cover.
