John Marsden taught me how to have a big,brave life

John Marsden taught me how to have a big,brave life

Marsden had huge respect for young people and wrote for them with genuine authenticity. He also challenged the ways we might parent our children.

  • bySally Rippin

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Acclaimed Australian author John Marsden dies aged 74
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Acclaimed Australian author John Marsden dies aged 74

The bestselling author’s 1993 novel Tomorrow,When the War Began was a major hit that was adapted into a film and TV series.

  • byLachlan Abbott andDebbie Cuthbertson
Australian gothic,cat ladies and an elegy to oceans:eight new books

Australian gothic,cat ladies and an elegy to oceans:eight new books

Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction titles.

  • bycameron woodhead andFiona capp
I am baffled by Nikki Gemmell’s new ‘feminist’ novel

I am baffled by Nikki Gemmell’s new ‘feminist’ novel

Wing features a cast of truly awful,nasty people. What is Gemmell trying to achieve here?

  • byHelen Elliott
Woman who cried Woolf:contradictory voices bring us closer to truth

Woman who cried Woolf:contradictory voices bring us closer to truth

Michelle de Kretser’s seventh novel blends genres of essay,fiction and memoir.

  • byJo Case
Crime writer Jacqueline Bublitz gives a voice to forgotten women

Crime writer Jacqueline Bublitz gives a voice to forgotten women

The New Zealand-born author was warned off writing from a dead woman’s perspective but ignored the advice.

  • byKerrie O'Brien
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How R.E.M. became ‘the most improbably successful group in music’

How R.E.M. became ‘the most improbably successful group in music’

From sleeping on floors and a legendary first gig in a church,even from the beginning R.E.M. were determined to bend the mainstream to their will.

  • byDaniel Herborn
Stephen Fry’s retelling of The Odyssey is funny,thrilling and relatable

Stephen Fry’s retelling of The Odyssey is funny,thrilling and relatable

Don’t be put off by the dactylic hexameter,this reimagining of Homer’s epic poem is a breezy read.

  • byEddie Hampson
Louise Adler on fear,freedom and the appalling state of public discourse

Louise Adler on fear,freedom and the appalling state of public discourse

The head of Adelaide Writers’ Week does not step back from the tough issues – and nor should we,she says.

  • byKerrie O'Brien
From flimp to frop:The deliciously sneaky art of coining words
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WordPlay

From flimp to frop:The deliciously sneaky art of coining words

When words fall short,we have no choice but to fill the spaces left.

  • byDavid Astle
A moving insight into one Palestinian family’s generations of survival

A moving insight into one Palestinian family’s generations of survival

Award-winning author,playwright and poet Samah Sabawi’s memoir follows her family from Palestine under British rule to Redland Bay in Queensland.

  • bySarah Ayoub