Resilience is often presented as feats of bravery and endurance. But everyday practices like journaling, drafting a text or even writing a to-do list are manifestations of a capacity to adapt.
Articles on On Writing
Displaying 1 - 20 of 33 articles
Brittany Higgins’ forthcoming memoir will allow her to tell her story in her own words. She’ll join a group of strong women who’ve done just that.
English professor Frannie Thorstin gets tangled in a sticky web of male attention in the novel and film versions of In the Cut as she tries to sort the bad guys from the good.
The first French novelist wrote about an adulterous affair and moved to Paris after separating from her husband.
Created in response to Sherlock Holmes, detective Martin Hewitt is less operatic and more pragmatic.
Created by a prolific French author, Inspector Jules Maigret observes without judgement and moves like a chameleon between social classes.
He called them ‘stinkers’ and ‘nauseating little warts’, but author Roald Dahl’s characterisation of children as vulnerable is necessary for them to ultimately triumph.
Dear Diary, keeping a daily journal of these pandemic times can help us process them and follow in some great literary footsteps.
Poems sing to us that life really matters, now.
The objects we gather around us - from op shops, from roadsides, from the intimate spaces of lost loved ones - are far from inanimate. They carry wisdom, comfort and guidance.
From humble beginnings, poet Bruce Dawe became a genial voice, capturing everyday humanity with wry focus. For many Australians, he provided a first taste of verse.
Award-winning playwright Stephen House turned to poetry to capture glimpses of life. He writes verse until his composition ‘feels right’.
Sarah Krasnostein’s book is not only a provocative premise. It is beautifully written with power and precision.
The survival of the apostrophe is vital to the comprehensibility of our language. If those who have protected it are hanging up their red pens, it’s time we all do our bit.
Tales of heroic rescues and bush Christmases in Australian fiction of the 19th century describe a time when the fire season was confined to summer.
In The Town, by debut novelist Shaun Prescott, a white Australian male writer takes a non-heroic journey into a colonised landscape.
The road to three writers’ festivals in three weeks prompts reflection on authors liberated by road trips - and those sharing the journey now.
Have you ever read a novel in the second person? You probably found it strange.
Le Guin’s A Wizard of EarthSea and The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas are just two examples of her prolific and influential writing career in fantasy and science fiction.
A novelist who compared a man’s genitals to a billiard rack has won this year’s Bad Sex in Fiction Award. But not all entries were that silly.
Top contributors
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Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing, The University of Melbourne
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Professor in Politics and Journalism, University of Notre Dame Australia
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Dean of Research (Creative), Adelaide University
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Senior Lecturer in Literary & Narrative Journalism, School of the Arts & Media, UNSW
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Associate Professor in Creative Writing, Griffith University
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Honorary Fellow, RMIT University
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Theatre Maker; Author, Researcher; Sessional Tutor, Adelaide University
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Emeritus Professor in the Australian Centre, The University of Melbourne
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Associate Professor of English, University of Otago
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Professor of English Literature, University of Southern Queensland
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Peta Murray is a Friend of The Conversation.
Lecturer, School of Media and Communication, RMIT University
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Honorary Research Professor, The University of Melbourne
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Senior Lecturer in Humanities, University of Southern Queensland
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Boisbouvier Chair in Australian Literature, The University of Melbourne
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Senior Lecturer, Film & Television, Adelaide University