Welcome to the May issue! Highlights include:
- 'Once Again: Outside in the House of Art' by Kirsten Tranter
- Alan Atkinson on a new study of the Bible in Australia
- Morag Fraser on a new book of essays by Marilynne Robinson
- Billy Griffiths on Australia's overdue republic
- Shaun Crowe on a new book of essays by Robert Manne
- Pam Brown is Poet of the Month
- Justine Ettler is our Open Page guest
May 2018, no. 401
2018 Calibre Essay Prize (runner-up): 'Once Again: Outside in the House of Art'
The setting is a gorgeous, somewhat decayed, many-roomed Georgian mansion in upstate New York, near the Hudson, in 2012. Nine screens placed around a darkened gallery space each show a room of the house, most of them occupied by a person and a musical instrument: a willowy woman in a slip on a chaise longue, ...
Alan Atkinson reviews 'The Bible in Australia: A cultural history' by Meredith Lake
The Bible in Australia is an unpretentious title for a remarkable book, and yet it is accurate enough. The Bible has been an ever-present aspect of life in Australia for 230 years, but no one has ever thought through its profound importance before. By starting her argument in a place both strange and obvious, Meredith ...
Morag Fraser reviews 'What Are We Doing Here?: Essays' by Marilynne Robinson
At a recent Passover Seder in Melbourne, I caught the word ‘Gilead’. ‘My favourite book!’ exclaimed the woman opposite me. I was a Catholic guest at a gracious Jewish table, so I whispered my query: ‘Marilynne Robinson’s novel?’ ‘Of course!’ came the emphatic reply. The Seder ritual was suspended for ...
Chris Flynn reviews 'Property' by Lionel Shriver
The sadly departed Terry Pratchett once said, ‘Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one.’ While it is difficult to imagine anyone claiming that the great fantasist had no right to tell the stories of witches, orang-utans, and sentient luggage, authors of literary fiction have lately been held to a different standard ...
