Some of our most loved stories centre on sisters, from fairytales like Snow White and Rose Red to Little Women. Edwina Preston reflects on why sisters matter so much.
- PhD Candidate, Creative Writing, The University of Melbourne
We asked 5 literary experts what they were reading in the 90s – and why their pick stayed with them.
We found out the favourite 2025 books of 35 expert readers – and the Books & Ideas team shares our own picks, too.
Literature is full of dysfunctional families. We asked critics to nominate their least favourite mothers.
Literature is full of dysfunctional families. We asked critics to nominate the most troublesome fathers.
Reading, writes Edwina Preston, is a way of journeying on the wings of others without moving from the armchair (or bed). Here are some books to transport us.
We’ve invited writers, from fields as diverse as wildlife ecology, politics and literature, to nominate their best books of 2024. And this year, the Books & Ideas team share their own picks, too.
We were dismayed to see no Australians on the New York Times Best Books of the 21st Century – so, with the help of 50 experts, we created our own, all-Australian list. You can have your say, too!
Edwina Preston approaches Nova Weetman’s ‘generous and open’ grief memoir from a place of shared loss.
The story of human evolution is inextricable from the story of gynaecology.
Plan your summer reading or catch up on what you missed with The Conversation’s selection of the best books of the year.
The Modern, a debut novel centred on an Australian researcher at New York’s MoMA, muses on modern art and relationships – riffing off MoMA artists like Grace Hartigan and Nan Goldin.
Nel Law’s voyage to Antarctica and back, through the choppy waters of a longstanding marriage, is the story of a woman’s right to be, to change, to grow and to love.
Edwina Preston reflects on the lost art of hanging out – which feeds creativity – and the need to reclaim time from the pressures of productivity. She draws on new books by Jenny Odell and Sheila Liming.
Edwina Preston pays tribute to the humble letter: from literary love letters to philosophical lessons to cherished family heirlooms. Letters impart lessons, reveal character – and are a form of art.
Edwina Preston tells why her favourite literary heroine is Seven Little Australians’ Judy Woolcot and her ‘bone-true authenticity of self’ – beating fellow tomboys Jo March and Anne Shirley.
In her new memoir, Stella Prize winner Heather Rose reflects on overcoming childhood trauma and adult pain with spiritual work. But our reviewer wishes it allowed moments of ‘pause or ambiguity’.
Katy Hessel’s ambitious, weighty corrective to an art history canon that sidelines (or erases) women is ‘impressive and overdue’, writes Edwina Preston.
Helen Garner is the pioneer of fearless self-revelation in Australian literature. Writer Sean O'Beirne examines his own literary fear and fearlessness: should he ‘give’ more, as Garner does?
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