Literature

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

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

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

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

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

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

Music and reading can help people living with dementia. Now an international trial is showing that specific programs can help carers deliver these benefits to their loved ones at home

In an age of pervasive surveillance and social media promotion, reading poetry matters more than ever as we try to come to terms with our technologically-led society

New research looks at how the human face is represented in writing from the medieval to contemporary eras, revealing how we have interpreted human emotion for centuries

Dr Laura Jean McKay, winner of the 2021 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for literature, discusses her astonishing first novel – The Animals in That Country