AustLit

'I kept getting lost in Kolkata. North and south were somehow inverted in my head and I had to consciously avoid going the wrong way every time I stepped out of my hotel. But I want to start with Christopher Hitchens, a writer that I revere and a public figure whose death I continue to mourn. I loved his prose even when I didn't agree with him and I admired his honesty. He was, for me, a teacher who taught me to ignore the media's tired narratives and look at each situation on its own merits. Among his many subjects, some might say targets, was Mother Teresa. ' (Introduction)

'Last week I was rung to say my dog was missing. I finished at work as soon as I could, ringing the local council and neighbourhood vet on the way home. Neither had seen anything of him but suggested we post on social media. As my husband and I drove and walked the streets, the messages came in. People were concerned. He was missing from an enclosed yard. Some offered to look, others from further away, shared hope and the Facebook post. The post went everywhere, the last I saw was in Western Australia.' (Introduction)

'Was Harry Potter's 20th birthday to blame? Or the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen's death? Or merely the ageing process? It's hard to decide, but in a life quite possibly ruined by literature, I have started remembering some of the books I read in childhood.' (Introduction)