The rebellious teen narrating J.D. Salinger’s classic novel of arrested development still speaks to us. But should we be listening?
Articles on Fiction
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In Mine, Adam Ouston reveals the contradictions between Tasmania’s conception of itself and its history of human and environmental devastation.
The catastrophic story is familiar, but the insight, and the ending, offer an opportunity, and perhaps motivation, for modern readers.
Life of M bleeds fact into fiction, but it requires much more of the reader than a simple guessing game of who’s who.
His latest – and possibly last – book tackles America’s foreign policy before and after 9/11. Could it also serve as an antidote to the fragmented attention and political duplicity of our current moment?
Read together, these very different books ask a question: do we have to choose between hope for the future and accepting life in all its bizarre banality?
A marriage ends unexpectedly and a woman realises that all she worked for meant denying her self and surpressing her true identity.
Toronto was both where Hemingway deepened his journalism and where he began honing the literary techniques that would shape his fiction.
The End of Romance is a relatable dystopia that amplifies humanity’s burning problems – but offers a glint of hope
Five books that take you all over the world
Kris Kneen’s Rite of Spring is a pulsing story that moves energetically across its terrain, delivering a sense of alien understanding.
East of Eden offers a melodramatic conflict between good and evil, but more remarkable is its sense of human relations evolving, shaped by destiny and choice.
Land reasserts the Gaelic language and culture in opposition to the culture of the British colonisers, but relies on simplistic characterisations.
These novels look inwards and backwards, explaining our failed liberation and saving what they can as the world hurtles to oblivion.
Six books that explore the various joys and challenges of womanhood.
Amanda Lohrey’s Capture takes place in weird shiny rooms, where humans are studied with curiosity and partial incomprehension.
Francesca de Tores’ Cast Away or, the Surprising Adventures of Alexander Selkirk is a timely consideration of human resilience and resourcefulness.
Douglas Stuart won the Booker Prize for Shuggie Bain. His third novel, John of John, continues his exploration of masculinity and sexuality in repressed families.
Taiwan is usually discussed in Australia through geopolitics, but Taiwan Travelogue makes it visible as a lived society.
Conversations about death emphasise choice, control or dignity. Circle of Wonders offers a quiet corrective, insisting that dying is relational.
Top contributors
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Distinguished Professor Emerita of Creative Practice, Faculty of Arts and Design, University of Canberra
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Professor of English Literature, University of Southern Queensland
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Professor, Chair of Australian Literature, The University of Western Australia
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Associate Professor in Literary Studies, RMIT University
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Lecturer in English Literature, Adelaide University
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Lecturer, Creative Writing, Adelaide University
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Professor of English, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, ACU, Australian Catholic University
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Senior Lecturer, Writing, Department of Media and Communication, Swinburne University of Technology
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Adjunct Lecturer, English and Creative Writing, UNSW Canberra, UNSW
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Senior Lecturer in Humanities, University of Southern Queensland
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Dean of Research (Creative), Adelaide University
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Director of Creative Writing, Macquarie University
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Senior Lecturer in Writing, Literature and Culture, Deakin University
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Professor, English and Creative Writing, Adelaide University
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Professor of Creative Writing, University of Technology Sydney