Literature

Education

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Research

White, male, British authors still dominate school reading lists

Is Australia's literature curriculum still beholden to its colonial past? New research says it is, with a focus on class and privilege

Arts & Culture

The viral publishing sensation that may be BookTok’s last

As the US faces a potential ban on TikTok, the viral success of Rebecca Yarros’ Empyrean series shows just how influential the BookTok community has become

Arts & Culture

Australian books you might have missed in 2024

Three prize winners, two predictions and one tribute – this book list has your summer reading sorted

Arts & Culture

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Book extract

Bushrangers in their own words

Most bushrangers are best known from semi-fictional accounts written decades after their deaths, but a new book uncovers a few that told their own stories

Arts & Culture

The Decameron: Medieval lockdown project or ‘wine-soaked sex romp’?

Boccaccio’s fourteenth-century masterpiece, now a Netflix series, shows the universality of human responses to a pandemic (along with some sex)

Arts & Culture

After 50 years, why Stephen King is still relevant

Carrie, Pennywise and other Stephen King horrors endure because his stories are grounded in an authentic depiction of suburbia

Sciences & Technology

The spambots are coming for your job, Aldous Huxley

Robotic ‘Spam’ tins recreating dystopian fiction ask us to consider the role of AI, art and animals in society – and how they intersect

Arts & Culture

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Book extract

Why children’s stories are full of orphans, evil stepmothers and boarding schools

While ideas of family are changing, from Charles Dickens to Harry Potter, absent parents endure in children’s literature

Arts & Culture

Homicide on Hydra

A new book explores the more-or-less forgotten crime novels of one of Australia’s most successful authors, George Johnston

Arts & Culture

Did Charles Dickens invent Christmas?

While the Victorian author didn’t actually invent Christmas, he did renew – and redefine – its generous spirit