AustLit

'Abstract: The Australian comedy industry generates billions of dollars from film, television, theatre and standup. It employs hundreds of writers, actors and production personnel. Most of Australia's biggest box office earners have been comedy movies. Switch on any free-to-air network during evening primetime and you will see sitcoms, sketch shows and topical comedy shows, such as Shawn Micallef 's Mad As Hell. The nation's biggest comedy event, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, rivals all our arts festivals in terms of national profile, media attention and box office takings.' (Publication abstract)

'Robert is a writer, broadcaster, essayist, translator and, as of quite recently, a playwright. After teaching Russian Language and Literature at the ANU and the University of New South Wales, he moved into radio as the host of the ABC's Books and Writing program before taking up writing full-time. Since then, he has produced many books, essays, reviews and, more recently, a play (staged for the very first time last year in Launceston in the Earl Arts Centre). Robert's major publications include the autobiography, A Mother's Disgrace (1994); two novels, Night Letters: A Journey through Switzerland and Italy (1996) and Corfu: A Novel (2001); two travel memoirs, Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev (2004) and Arabesques: A Tale of Double Lives (2008); as well as two collections of essays, And So Forth (1998) and As I was Saying (2012). These books often focus on the question of self: the self or selves of the authors in whose footsteps Robert travels, and also the self of the narrating persona.' (Publication abstract)

'Abstract: Gerard Elson goes in search of Nick Cave's inner word nerd, and essays the influence of Vladimir Nabokov, Martin Amis and John Berryman.' (Publication abstract)

'At the State Library of Queensland on Friday 6 June 2014, David Malouf gave an address as a part of his SW Brooks visiting lectureship at the University of Queensland. The event was also part of Queensland Week and was one of a series of events honouring Malouf ’s contribution to Australia’s literary culture. Malouf opened his inspiring talk by reflecting on how recent public events associated with his 80th birthday had given him cause to think about the complex factors at play in the creation of what has become his ‘body of work’. The metaphor of the body in this phrase struck him as significant because of the sort of writer he is.' (Author's introduction)

'The launch of Trove by the National Library of Australia in 2008 has revolutionised the way researchers of Australian history and culture go about their work. Since the first digitised newspapers became public in 2009 the NLA and its numerous partners have published more than thirteen million pages from newspapers around the country. The speed at which this digitisation process is occurring is mind-boggling, if not a little worrisome, particularly for professional historians and academics. Why? Well let’s look at the benefits first. An accidental discovery made while I was investigating locally produced pantomimes for AustLit’s Australian Popular Theatre project exemplifies the immense value of Trove. During my search I noticed references to a performance by the Ethiopian Serenaders in Hobart in July 1848. The earliest date for a minstrel performance had been previously acknowledged as occurring in Melbourne in August 1849 (by the ‘Four Ethiopian Serenaders’). The source for this new information comes from the Colonial Times (1828-1857), a newspaper that was available only through a handful of Australian libraries prior to its digitisation.' (Author's introduction)

'At a truck stop just outside Newcastle he surprises me with flowers. I am sitting in a booth in a caf next to the petrol station, drinking a burnt coffee and looking over my last roll of photos when he slides into the seat opposite me, cradling a bunch of paper daisies wrapped in silver cellophane...' (Publication abstract)

'They sail across the Atlantic and through the Mediterranean. When the boat docks in Port Said people in dark robes climb on board with baskets of goods. There are smells that Henry does and does not recognise. Fish. Spices. It is night time when they pass through the Suez Canal. Later there is Ceylon and the family leave the boat. They go to a market and Henry shows them the fruit he used to eat as a boy: mango, custard apple, persimmon. He bites the tough skin off a lychee and holds the fruit out to Charlotte. She opens her mouth, and as the fruit releases its flavour she thinks back over the many Christmases that she has wrapped an orange in tissue paper and placed it carefully in the bottom of her husband's stocking. All of a sudden an orange no longer seems exotic, but plain and sour. Henry buys a watch from another stall, then they take a taxi through the streets and get lost, making it back to the boat just before it sails. Not long after this they cross the equator; there is a party and the captain of the ship dresses up as King Neptune. It is hot and everyone is sunburnt, at night the cabins are unbearable; some have taken to sleeping on the deck. One morning another ship, returning to England, passes at a distance. The groups of passengers call to one another but the signs are not good - the passengers on the returning ship wave their arms in the direction of Europe, some swinging their arms in a cross above their heads as if to say stop, go no further. But then the ships move away from one another, Charlotte forgets the encounter and a few days later they see land.' (Publication abstract)