AustLit

'Wintery rain slaps the window. I have the flu. I'm a linguist, a mechanic of language. I work with words and history. I'm lying in bed, reflecting on the word "sick." 'Old English'. Bringing me a cup of tea this morning before heading off to work, my wife Mia referred to me as "ill." 'Norse'. I shake free from the oblivion of fever momentarily to consider these two words, the cultures and wars behind them, the mystery of why I used one word and Mia used the other. I'm telling this story telepathically from a chamber of my mind unaffected by malaise and time...' (Publication abstract)

'Lourdes, more than any other pilgrimage spot, is associated with miraculous cures. Sixty-six have been officially documented by the Roman Catholic Church, which maintains a Medical Bureau at the shrine.'

 (Publication abstract)

'As though it were a competition, as though you could measure love, put it on a scale, graph it, draw charts and predict growth or recession. Calculable. Everything was measurable. He felt the need to quantify things. Everything had currency, as long as you knew where to look, how to decipher it in numerical components. That was how he saw the world and the world saw it fit to bend to his will. After experiencing the grief of losing a relationship with a man I loved, I came to understand, albeit over several years, what my father meant by this. I understood that he wanted to save me from the hurt of loving, of being the doer, not the receiver. The operator, the labourer. The less worthy. The Iove-er.'  (Publication abstract)

'The Palmer Papers are one of the largest collections of Australian literary manuscripts currently preserved in the National Library of Australia. While they have been consulted by many researchers over the years, no one perhaps knows their contents as well as Deborah Jordan. In Loving Words, she introduces us to a less well-known aspect of the lives of Nettie and Vance Palmer: their lengthy courtship by correspondence. Given the major role the Palmers were to play in the development of Australian literature from the 1920s to 1960s, it is fascinating to learn how their personal and professional partnership began.' (Introduction)