Andrew Stafford lost a treasured collection of children’s books in the Queensland floods. But in this guest post for Liticism, he explains why he isn’t crying a river.
Culture / The Arts / Books
book reviews 
Michael Sala’s The Last Thread — touching dark places
The debut novel of Michael Sala, a semi-autobiographical account of his early life, is a book steeped in memory and the power of stories, writes Bethanie Blanchard.
book reviews Finding the people who sparked the Arab Spring: Johnny West’s Karama!
Karama! Journeys Through the Arab Spring, a travel book by former Reuters Cairo correspondent Johnny West, is a compelling book about the Arab Spring, writes Max Denton.
Revisiting The Death and Life of Great American Cities
The horrors of urban renewal and freeway building and the obsession with replacing “slums” with towers and “grass, grass, grass” are discussed in Jane Jacobs’ famous book The Death and Life of Great American Cities,” writes Alan Davies.
A place in which to write
The ways we write can be as important as what it is we write, says Bethanie Blanchard. The little rituals or habits, the strange superstitions we have about composing, the things that must occur if we are to have any success.
book reviews The Good, the Bad & the Unlikely by Mungo MacCallum
The names and personalities of Australian Prime Ministers are often forgotten, reduced to trivia questions or bronze busts. Mungo MacCallum’s new book is all about the lives of those who came to lead the nation, writes Bethanie Blanchard.
True blue books need a home: a call for a return to the Australian canon
Australia’s culture cringe still lingers, particularly in literary circles. Classic Australian novels risk being lost in the absence of reprints and a dearth of university courses makes matters worse. Bethanie Blanchard discusses.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Letters of Note
There’s a beautiful new letter by F. Scott Fitzgerald on Letters of Note, a website that provides tiny glimpses into writers’ lives and minds, writes Bethanie Blanchard.
The Great Gamble: Baz Luhrmann’s high stakes Gatsby punt
It was one thing for Australian director Baz Luhrmann to take on the almighty task of bringing F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby to the big screen. It was another to do it in 3D, writes Michael Cieply.
Returning to Roald Dahl’s Matilda
Returns To invites writers to return to their favourite childhood classics. Matilda, Roald Dahl’s enchanting story about a little girl with awful parents, fascinatingly addresses young readers at a very high level, writes Bethanie Blanchard.
A good, bad review: the ‘Hatchet Job of the Year’ Award
The Hatchet Job of the Year Award is a new prize awarded to the best — meaning the angriest, funniest and most trenchant — bad book review of the year. The nominees certainly hit their stride, writes Bethanie Blanchard.
Who was the first author to write a novel on a word processor?
The days of writing novels with pen and paper are long, long gone. There is always a transition period between old and new technologies, so who was the first author to write a novel on a word processor? asks Adam Clark Estes.
Come in Spinner: Come in Spinner: how the so-called experts always get it wrong
It’s that time of the year again — the time that pundits make predictably erroneous predictions about the coming year.
#lessambitiousbooks
Perhaps because writers and lit lovers are as ubiquitous on twitter as pictures of cats on the net, there are some pretty awesome literary hashtags doing the rounds and #lessambitiousbooks is one of them, writes Bethanie Blanchard.
Nobel committee on JRR Tolkien: great stories, poor prose
Secret discussions held by Nobel prize juries are released to the public half a century after awards are distributed. Fresh docs from the 1961 award reveal the judges were unimpressed with JRR Tolkien’s prose, reports Alison Flood.
D Publishing agreement: third time lucky?
A third version of a controversial author contract from self-publishing venture D Publishing has been released but it still has serious problems, writes Bethanie Blanchard.
On reading and re-reading and not reading
The dawning of a new year is an appropriate time to reflect upon our own reading goals – especially in this, the National Year of Reading. What will yours be — trash, the classics or something else? asks Crikey’s book aficionado Bethanie Blanchard.
The 2011 Crikeys: the best in film, music, books, TV and stage
We went searching for the most page-turning books, the funniest TV, the smartest theatre, the best books and music and film. After naming the best in politics, policy, media and business, we present the 2011 Cultural Crikeys.
Famous authors and their bookshelves
What do the personal libraries of famous authors look like? What lines their shelves, and how do they feel about the digitalisation of books? Maria Popova takes a look at ‘Unpacking My Library: Writers and their Books’.
‘Authors Beware’: an Interview with Steve Rossiter, editor of The Australian Literature Review
Dymocks Books have launched a new author driven self-publishing arm, the D Publishing Network. Criticism has been widespread and Australian Literature Review editor Steve Rossiter, who spoke with Bethanie Blanchard, has been at the forefront of it.
How writers can help other writers
Tis the season to be jolly — and generous — so if you’re a writer, why not help other writers? Chuck Wendig from Terrible Minds lists 25 ways wordsmiths can share the love.
Rundle's ruminations: The war decade, the Enlightenment armed, and 101 uses for a dead Hitchens
Christopher Hitchens was a well-known journalist, based in the US, and quite the bon vivant, or so I hear! He died last week. Perhaps some of you knew this already.
Pod and Prejudice: W H Chong’s favourite podcasts of 2011
W H Chong presents his favourite podcasts of the year, which include Crikey’s Canberra Calling, the BBC’s World Book Club and The Guardian’s Politics Weekly.
book reviews Women of Letters — beautifully nostalgic
Marieke Hardy and Michaela McGuire’s Women of Letters seeks to revive ‘the lost art of letter writing.’ There are some funny and beautiful pieces in this collection from writers who have spoken at Women of Letters events, writes Bethanie Blanchard.
Joan Didion’s Blue Nights — intensely personal exploration of grief
How does one write about grief? Joan Didion brings her own bad dreams to Blue Nights, a novel about her daughter’s death described with such close detail it makes you wince, writes Bethanie Blanchard.
