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Keywords: Reading

  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    The contours of exile: The poetry of Derek Walcott

    • Peter Steele
    • 29 August 2024
    1 Comment

      Good poetry stops us in our tracks, visited as we are by whatever it is that has stopped the poet in his tracks. This agency may properly be, as in Walcott's case, something stemming from cultural marginality, from a fascination with the dramatic, from an equipoise between the lyrical and the epical, or from the interweaving of all these. (From the Eureka Street archives)

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  • AUSTRALIA

    A history of violence

    • Barry Gittins
    • 20 August 2024
    3 Comments

    Emma's story offers an unflinching glimpse into the brutality of colonial Australia. While it’s worth celebrating the undeniable social progress made since Emma braved the voyage to Australia, we must resist the temptation to see our history of violence as consigned to the past.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Wasting time with poetry

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 15 August 2024
    4 Comments

    In a world driven by profit and speed, poetry stands as a quiet rebellion. It honours and explores what is distinctive about human beings – communication through words. And if we dismiss as a waste of time the slower rhythms involved in the writing and reading of poetry, we are likely to discover how time spent unreflectively wastes us.

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  • EDUCATION

    Poorer students priced out of $50,000 arts degrees

    • Erica Cervini
    • 14 August 2024

    University fee hikes have disproportionately affected humanities students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Despite promises of affordability, many arts degrees now cost more than $50,000, a significant barrier to access for many talented students.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    The Desert Knows Her Name

    • Gillian Bouras
    • 02 August 2024

    Conforming and belonging to a genre, in this case, ‘post-colonial, outback noir eco-fiction’, does not mean that a novel is not worthy. With rich symbolism and lyrical prose, Hills challenges readers to confront uncomfortable truths about Australian history, land ownership, and the inescapable consequences of past actions.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    The past is prologue: Lewis Lapham’s enduring editorial vision

    • Warwick McFadyen
    • 30 July 2024
    2 Comments

    Lewis Lapham's work was a rigorous autopsy of American culture, exposing the chasm between our pretensions and our realities. With a historian’s depth and a satirist’s wit, he illuminated the follies that sustain our collective delusions. 

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  • AUSTRALIA

    The Productivity Commission's magical thinking

    • Michael McVeigh
    • 25 July 2024
    2 Comments

    While proposing broader access to tax deductibility for some charities, the Productivity Commission's new report on charitable giving suggests removing benefits for religious entities. This raises serious questions about the role of religion in fostering charitable giving and the potential consequences of these reforms for Australia's charitable landscape.

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  • MEDIA

    Where the media vultures gather

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 25 July 2024
    1 Comment

    Recent media pressure led to two high profile resignations. Joe Biden, after resisting pressure to do so, has abandoned his re-election bid and English professional football manager Gareth Southgate resigned. The part played by the media merits reflection on the human vulnerability of persons in public life and of those involved in reporting on it. 

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Finding memory and magic in the ‘lost’ novel of Gabriel García Márquez

    • Michael McGirr
    • 19 July 2024
    1 Comment

    Published ten years after his death, Gabriel García Márquez's final novella Until August emerges as a testament to the enduring power of an author's voice. This unexpected gift from the master of magical realism raises provocative questions about authenticity, how we view dementia, and what exactly defines an act of creation.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Spiralling into understanding

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 19 July 2024

    The spiral metaphor ties together 800+ pages of lyrical meditations, environmental rage, and historical reflections from Australia’s most celebrated and prolific poets. With powerful social critiques that blur poetry's lines, Kinsella's work rewards close reading with its deep exploration of our connection to a changing world.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    On reading electoral entrails

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 18 July 2024
    2 Comments

    In the wake of recent elections in Britain and France, global democracies are seeing voters reject established parties amidst a deepening cycle of disillusionment. But can a return to honesty and integrity in politics break this downward spiral? 

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  • ENVIRONMENT

    Burning truths

    • Julie Perrin
    • 12 July 2024
    1 Comment

    In her new Quarterly Essay Highway to Hell, Australian climate scientist Joëlle Gergis pleads in language beyond the careful neutrality of traditional science-speak: ‘We need you to stare into the abyss with us and not turn away.’

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