AustLit

'In February, Sydney Morning Herald’s Arts editor Nick Galvin announced a $150,000.00 grant to “significantly increase the depth and range of their arts criticism and reviews”. The initiative had been developed by the Copyright Agency and the Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas, and would see the publication of a hundred reviews of Australian literature, visual arts and theatre in The Herald and The Age. Executive editor of The Herald and The Age, James Chessell, stated that this announcement was in step with the expectation of “any serious newsroom” to include criticism in their coverage of the arts. While the announcement did not explicitly mention diversity or inclusion, it also did not articulate a preference for writers from any particular community. On first impressions, this initiative suggested a promising opportunity for emerging voices in arts criticism.' (Introduction)

'In 1956, describing the process of artistic creation, the French writer and dramatist Henry de Montherlant wrote that le bonheur écrit à l’encre blanche sur des pages blanches: ‘happiness writes in white ink on a white page.’ When we attempt to capture the visceral nature of happiness in words, it doesn’t show up.' (Introduction)