AustLit

'The global story unfolding is not only about microbes; it is also about culture, politics and history. The spread of disease is not without responsibility.'

'For one brief shining moment it seemed humanity’s inability to imagine much beyond our lived experience was irrelevant. Covid was coming for us all.' 

'‘Stop the world’ the musical hero said whenever things went wrong. I’ve been feeling this way for a few years now.'

'It seems that every problem that has rumbled beneath our feet for the past 60 years has hit crisis point, all at once.' 

'If there was a moment of true emergency in the fight to preserve our climate, it is now.'

'The overarching project of my life has been making myself safe. But what is the point if everyone else is drowning and burning and starving?' 

'A hole has opened up in the system that takes pride of place in the Australian identity – our ability to bring produce to market. But change is coming.'

'I try to make sense of her sudden absence but every hour, every minute, brings some new and usually terrifying development.'

'For most Australians, two events of biblical solemnity will define this year: fire and plague. How should we respond?' 

'We have a sense of what it means to live in disturbing times, to live under threat. We should not forget the many people who have known this all their lives.'

'In a world without coronavirus, there are conversations that might never have happened. Their nature, too, is different'