A new DVD and book tell stories about individuals. But in doing so, they unveil all our stories and highlight our reliance on narrative, writes James Rose.

The Emerging Writers Festival began as a one-day sine fair in 2004 and has progressed in leaps and bounds. Bethanie Blanchard talks with director Sam Twyford-Moore.

There’s an awkward, eloquent silence to Tom Holloway’s Forget Me Not. It’s one of the finest Belvoir St Theatre productions in quite some time, writes Lloyd Bradford Syke.

Crikey examines how media and culture organisations fared in this year’s budget. The ABC and SBS are smiling — and the ghost of Simon Crean lives on.

Joe Hockey described the federal budget as a ‘magical pudding’, becoming the latest in a long line of politicians to use the metaphor. Piers Kelly explores its literary origins.

After failing at Febfast, Stephanie Van Schilt decided — after reading Jill Stark’s High Society — that she was all out of excuses. Van Schilt describes Stark’s book and her relationship with “the demon drink.”

The Brisbane Arts Theatre revives Frankenstein in the best traditions of the Gothic horror tale. Brenna Lee-Cooney’s take is an intense but colourful adaptation, writes Alison Cotes.

An all-male production of Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange offers a terrifying performance from Martin McCreadie. But its dance beat is too West Side Story for the brutality of the story, writes Ginny Maine.

Blak intertwines stories of modern Aboriginal youth with traditional vistas to explore the life of boys and men. It’s arresting in its choreography and design, writes Sarah Braybrooke.

Sycophantic journos at anti-News Limited have fallen in line to praise their colleague Nick Cater’s new book to the skies. It’s a Culture clash that deserves greater scrutiny.

Two new books explore the notion that the internet isn’t the commercial or democratic force it’s touted to be. Are they worth your time? James Rose gives his verdict.

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is, by some measures, the largest cultural festival in the country. When did comedy became such big business?

Crikey’s new blog Truth to Tell, by former political and media advisor James Rose, explores the many issues spotlit by truth tellers of the entertainment world.

“Chook lit” and “chick lit” are being considered for inclusion in the Australian National Dictionary. Crikey’s linguistics blog Fully (sic) explains where the term comes from and how it evolved.

He’s 400kg and can’t leave the couch — it’s the drama around him that makes Melissa Bubnic’s Beached such a moving and timely journey, writes Corina Thorose.

The gender issue has been a persistent theme in the announcement of shortlists and longlists. For the first time in history an all-female Stella Prize shortlist has been announced, writes Bethanie Blanchard.

Female writers have stormed back into contention for the Miles Franklin — this year it’s the men left off the shortlist. So is it reactionism or simply a stellar year for women authors?

The man who sentenced Ned Kelly to death would be instrumental in creating the institution that educated Sidney Nolan in famously capturing the outlaw. John Kelly looks at the legacy from Ireland.

Australia is getting a new pavilion at the Venice Biennale, largely funded by private donors. But very few of us will ever see it. The rich are spending more on art, but do we really benefit?

Bob Gosford likes planes and likes light. And he really likes the light that planes make at night, which he has chronicled in photos over the last year. Just don’t ask him how he did it …

The winner of the architectural competition for Sydney’s new $40 million Green Square library has been announced. But in this day and age, asks Alan Davies, does it make sense to spend big money on branch libraries?

The relationship between publishers and readers has changed dramatically — and it’s all thanks to digital marketing technologies. Social media and video trailers are flogging more books.

Hobart’s wildly contemporary Museum of Old and New Art has become one of the most talked about attractions in the country. In an essay for GriffithREVIEW, founder David Walsh explains why he built MONA in his home town.

Downtown is dying, in America and and now in the UK with news of the collapse of retailers Jessops and HMV. Crikey’s man-at-large writes from London on why it’s time to rethink our city planning.

With the Big Day Out on the hunt for a new site, the economic impact of big festivals has never been more important. But are tourist dollars really the best way to measure the impact of cultural events?

Stunning works from Asian and Pacific artists are currently on display in Brisbane, writes Crikey’s Culture Mulcher W H Chong, who selects his favourite art of 2012.

Crikey has its very first Walkley Award for journalistic excellence — via our humble cartoonist First Dog On The Moon. Check out the cartoon judges called the best of 2012.

The power of social media has helped roll back funding cuts to two prominent regional arts organisations in NSW, HotHouse Theatre in Albury-Wodonga and the renowned Renew Newcastle project.

Fremantle Arts Centre’s current exhibition We Don’t Need A Map is an artistic journey into a unique part of Australia, giving local desert people the chance to tell their stories.

‘Capturing Flora: 300 years of Australian botanical art’ at Victoria’s Ballarat Gallery is a superb and enormous show, writes a spiritually nourished W H Chong.

Burmese people have generally welcomed Barack Obama’s visit — but even the US President doesn’t get as much applause as Aung San Suu Kyi. Myanmar-based journalist Victoria Bruce talks to locals.

Community arts and cultural development is in transition. There might be a lack of policy direction, but grassroots organisations are getting on with the business of creating.

The federal government’s Asian white paper highlights the contribution the arts sector can make to engagement with the region. Local artists and institutions are already reaching out.

The consolidation of the Australian post-production industry — led by Animal Logic — is another symptom of the highly competitive nature of global creative industries.

The compassionless young dolts at the Sydney University Liberal Club described Alan Jones’ speech as “brilliant”. But we should not forget his shameless remarks.

At the Buku Larnggay Mulka art centre in north-east Arnhem land, Bob Gosford witnessed an inspiring confluence of art, culture and ethno-astronomy. Gosford shares the beauty of the Seven Sisters of Yirrkala.

Melbourne’s visual bard, Oslo Davis, has been relieved of his scribbling duties on the back page of The Age alongside Andrew Weldon and — apparently — Judy Horacek.

Should new buildings and streetscapes be made in historic styles? How important is the demand to look “modern”? Alan Davies argues there is still a place for new constructions to embrace old aesthetics.

A new DVD and book tell stories about individuals. But in doing so, they unveil all our stories and highlight our reliance on narrative, writes James Rose.

The Emerging Writers Festival began as a one-day sine fair in 2004 and has progressed in leaps and bounds. Bethanie Blanchard talks with director Sam Twyford-Moore.

Joe Hockey described the federal budget as a ‘magical pudding’, becoming the latest in a long line of politicians to use the metaphor. Piers Kelly explores its literary origins.

After failing at Febfast, Stephanie Van Schilt decided — after reading Jill Stark’s High Society — that she was all out of excuses. Van Schilt describes Stark’s book and her relationship with “the demon drink.”

Sycophantic journos at anti-News Limited have fallen in line to praise their colleague Nick Cater’s new book to the skies. It’s a Culture clash that deserves greater scrutiny.

Two new books explore the notion that the internet isn’t the commercial or democratic force it’s touted to be. Are they worth your time? James Rose gives his verdict.

“Chook lit” and “chick lit” are being considered for inclusion in the Australian National Dictionary. Crikey’s linguistics blog Fully (sic) explains where the term comes from and how it evolved.

The gender issue has been a persistent theme in the announcement of shortlists and longlists. For the first time in history an all-female Stella Prize shortlist has been announced, writes Bethanie Blanchard.

Female writers have stormed back into contention for the Miles Franklin — this year it’s the men left off the shortlist. So is it reactionism or simply a stellar year for women authors?

Celebrity chef website Eatlove has secured partnerships with some of the top foodies in Australia, yet publishers and a Murdoch, writes StartUp Smart reporter Michelle Hammond.

Last night the first winner of the Stella Prize, a new award for Australian women writers, was announced. How did the founders create a $50,000 award in just two years?

Why should women have their own, segregated writing prize? That was the questioned that hovered over the first Stella Prize, writes W H Chong.

This year’s Sydney Writers’ Festival program presents an impressive line up. Liticism blogger Bethanie Blanchard picks her highlights.

Why is The Australian Financial Review spruiking a book by one of its writers on the death of Fairfax? There’s a slew of such books coming out — it may test Fairfax’s tradition of openness.

Krissy Kneen’s new novel Steeplechase is a claustrophobic and unsettling story of two sisters linked by art and madness. She speaks with Bethanie Blanchard about making a departure from erotic literature.

Set exclusively in the Carolinas, Ron Rash’s thrilling collection of short stories show us people for whom all hope has been vanquished, writes Paul Donoughe.

Though Girls provokes debates about sex, relationships and friendship, it is Lena Dunham’s depiction of her female protagonist as writer that fascinates Bethanie Blanchard.

A former Labor MP from Adelaide has penned a novel about life in Parliament House in the 1980s. Keep an eye out for appearances by Bob Hawke, Paul Keating and John Howard …

This year’s female dominated Miles Franklin longlist was released via a slow literary striptease from the Trust Company – revealing, one twitpic at a time, the covers of the ten novels, reports Bethanie Blanchard.

Lonely Planet continues its global nomadism, with BBC selling up the travel giant to a reclusive US billionaire’s company. What next for the traveller’s bible?

Parade’s End is one of the most formidable shows to come out of Britain, writes arts critic and cultural commentator Peter Craven. So how did Channel Nine screw it up so badly?

Two Australian authors appear on the longlist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, reports Bethanie Blanchard.

They Might Be Giants would be pop kings except for one factor: their brains are too big. Needless to say, their concert in Melbourne rocked, writes W H Chong.

Chrissy Amphlett blasted the door open for women who didn’t want to be demure. Her legacy in Australian rock will live on long after her death from cancer yesterday, writes journalist (and fan) Andrew Stafford.

The Iron Lady found herself in the lyrics of many UK songs over the years, from Morrissey to raps about the 1981 anti-unemployment riot. Crikey chronicles the best of them.

Use of birds in Nick Cave’s writing runs the full spectrum, from pestilent purveyors of gloom to bright-winged messengers of love. Bob Gosford ponders Cave’s lyrical aviary.

Community radio broadcasters around Australia say government funding to make the digital transition will come up short. Musicians are worried about the consequences.

Terry Napilil Pascoe, bass player for Sunrize Band and a member of the Indigenous Music Hall of Fame, has passed away. Bob Gosford pays tribute.

With the Big Day Out on the hunt for a new site, the economic impact of big festivals has never been more important. But are tourist dollars really the best way to measure the impact of cultural events?

David Bowie’s re-emergence is sneaky, surprising and very exciting, as the artist has been very quiet since his worldwide tour a decade ago. Angela Meyer reviews his new album The Next Day.

What was the best film of 2012? The best TV show? The book you have to read, the video game you have to play, the album you have to download, the theatre you should have seen? Crikey picks the best.

As the inquiries into the Jimmy Savile scandal widen, the present is cannibalising the past, to general distress. The question is: how many other people will be drawn in?

Wally De Backer — AKA musician Gotye — provides star power to an NGO that supports wildlife rangers around the world. He speaks to Crikey on the ethics of celebrities getting involved in charities.

Weekly sex advice, fortnightly language discussions, fashion tips and yacking about movies. W H Chong writes on his favourite podcasts of 2012.

Community radio — which plays more Australian music than commercial rivals — relies on a government-funded project to put tracks to air. But will that money be there in 2013?

Terrible conditions inside Russian prison colonies and a bust-up with lawyers. Russian-born freelance journalist Sasha Petrova discovers that things aren’t looking so good for punk band Pussy Riot.

Ai Wei Wei is a great example of an artist being able to repurpose anything to his uses. Gangnam Style’s jangly unsettling quality suits perfectly Wei’s requirements, writes W H Chong.

Julia Winterflood attended the celebration for an iconic song about Aboriginal dispossession at Uluru — and found a sea of white people taking photos with their iPhones.

Patrick White’s sensational first novel Happy Valley is back in print, and W H Chong marks the occasion by drawing the acclaimed author — before the craggy face and glowering aura of Nobelhood.

New data released by the Australia Council confirms stagnating audiences for the nation’s largest performing arts organisations. But companies say it’s not as bad as it looks.

A major new analysis of public source attendance data for Australian performing arts companies published today by Crikey reveals stagnating audiences across the sector.

On the Great Barrier Reef’s most beautiful island, a feast of world-class music. It sounds like a fantasy, but the Australian Festival of Chamber Music has never been conventional, writes Alison Cotes.

There’s an awkward, eloquent silence to Tom Holloway’s Forget Me Not. It’s one of the finest Belvoir St Theatre productions in quite some time, writes Lloyd Bradford Syke.

The Brisbane Arts Theatre revives Frankenstein in the best traditions of the Gothic horror tale. Brenna Lee-Cooney’s take is an intense but colourful adaptation, writes Alison Cotes.

An all-male production of Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange offers a terrifying performance from Martin McCreadie. But its dance beat is too West Side Story for the brutality of the story, writes Ginny Maine.

Blak intertwines stories of modern Aboriginal youth with traditional vistas to explore the life of boys and men. It’s arresting in its choreography and design, writes Sarah Braybrooke.

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is, by some measures, the largest cultural festival in the country. When did comedy became such big business?

He’s 400kg and can’t leave the couch — it’s the drama around him that makes Melissa Bubnic’s Beached such a moving and timely journey, writes Corina Thorose.

Brisbane’s 77-year-old Arts Theatre has a new lease on life under energetic artistic director Ron Kelly and an open-house philosophy for the theatrical community, writes Alison Cotes.

Australia’s most prolific playwright serves up another relationship drama that still has plenty of things to say — by silver-tongued characters, writes Lloyd Bradford Syke.

Don Quixote emerges as about the most fun a dancer or dance devotee can have with tights on, or admiring them. It’s old and new from the Australian Ballet, writes Lloyd Bradford Syke.

In a show without his trademark puppets, Potentially still shows Sammy J can hold his own, writes Siobhan Argent.

Li Cunxin makes a splash as the new creative force of the Queensland Ballet with a joyous and touching production of Cinderella. Even for ballet novices it proves a magical hit, writes James Rose.

The new Melbourne production of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins has its problems, but with a stellar cast and faultless material it’s still worth a look, writes Byron Bache.

Shenoah Allen and Mark Chavez aka The Pajam Men impress with their assorted repertoire of characters, facial gymnastics and vocal abilities, writes Nicole Humphreys.