AustLit

'The image of wild horses running free is exhilarating. It speaks to independence, to poetry, to an Australia invoked by the words of Banjo Paterson. But when the wild horses have run, what is left in their wake?' (Introduction)

'Like a sexy Miss Marple, the Australian series has a deft touch and a title character who would still count as a challenging woman today' 

'Sinéad Stubbins writes paragraphs the way some people write entire short stories. In the space of three or four lines she has sketched out a narrative, led you to believe you know where it’s going, and then, right near the end, turned off in another direction. From there she carries on talking about the bigger idea she’s dissecting as though nothing has happened. It’s remarkable how effortless she makes it seem. An anecdote about watching Jurassic Park morphs into a brief comment on hypocrisy. A description of trying to figure out what a cocktail dress is suddenly becomes a high-stakes reference to Icarus flying too close to the sun. The movie Point Break somehow becomes the perfect analogy for gastrointestinal upset.' (Introduction)

'With a Netflix show and a headline at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, the surreal troupe Aunty Donna has come a long way from their Ballarat days. By Elizabeth Flux.'

'Two minutes into our conversation, Ted Prior says a series of words that at first make no sense to me: “The police force sent me to art school.”' 

'I am obsessed with my own face, and think I always have been. It’s not a concern of beauty, at least not primarily. And I don’t think it’s narcissism, at least not in the traditional sense. Or perhaps it is.' (Introduction)