MEGAN DAVIS Voice of Reason: On Recognition and Renewal; THOMAS MAYO and KERRY O’BRIEN The Voice to Parliament Handbook. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
Two new books explore the issues behind the forthcoming referendum to create a Voice to Parliament for First Nations Australians. Later this year we will be asked to participate in a referendum to alter the Australian Constitution to include the following (Section...
JENNIFER ACKERMAN What an Owl Knows. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Jennifer Ackerman provides insights into owl-human relations and what we know about these storied birds. The wise old owl lived in the oak The more he saw the less he spoke, The less he spoke the more he heard, Why can’t we be like that wise old bird? How wise is an...
STAN GRANT The Queen is Dead: The time has come for a reckoning. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
Stan Grant remains committed to responding with love as he interrogates Whiteness in Australia and around the world. In The Queen is Dead Stan Grant uses the death of the person he calls ‘The White Queen’ as a springboard to discuss not only fundamental questions...
DAVID HUNT Girt Nation: The unauthorised history of Australia volume 3. Reviewed by Bernard Whimpress
Like its predecessors Girt and True Girt, David Hunt’s third volume is a riotous romp through Australian history. Covering the late 19th century in the lead up to Federation, Girt Nation brings the makers and shapers of our country to not-so-glorious life as it notes...
DAVID SCRIMGEOUR Remote As Ever: The Aboriginal struggle for autonomy in the Western Desert. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
David Scrimgeour charts local successes and government failures for Aboriginal people in the Western Desert. While there has been a growing awareness over recent decades, it would still be reasonable to suggest that most non-Indigenous Australians have only limited...
DAMIEN LEWIS The Flame of Resistance: The untold story of Josephine Baker’s secret war. Reviewed by Suzanne Marks
Josephine Baker, the most glamorous and highly paid female entertainer of her time, was also an Allied spy in World War II. In The Flame of Resistance Damien Lewis has drawn on a profusion of new historical material, including previously undisclosed letters and...
ESTHER WOOLFSON Corvus: A life with birds. Reviewed by Ann Skea
First published in 2008, Esther Woolfson’s Corvus is part memoir, part natural history, and conveys her fascination with the birds living in her home. As I write, the bird is behind me on her branch. From time to time she mutters, a sound softly bearing the imprint of...
JULIANNE SCHULTZ The Idea of Australia: A search for the soul of the nation. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck
Julianne Schultz finds difficult truths – and some hope – in her examination of the Australian psyche. Is it a good thing to be racist? For one group of people to believe they are superior to others and to act accordingly in the name of creating a ‘perfect society’?...
FRANK BONGIORNO Dreamers and Schemers: A political history of Australia. Reviewed by Bernard Whimpress
Dreamers and Schemers provides an expert overview of Australia’s political history. There is always a place for big history such as this. Near the end of his introduction, author Frank Bongiorno outlines his approach: The book begins in deep time, among Indigenous...
COLM TOIBIN A Guest at the Feast. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
The author of The Magician is also a skilled essayist, ranging across the personal, religion, and literature. In the first essay in this collection, ‘Cancer: My Part in Its Downfall’, Colm Toibin describes being diagnosed with testicular cancer. At first he ignores...
DEBORAH LEVY The Cost of Living. Reviewed by Anna Verney
In this month’s Flashback Friday, Anna Verney assesses Deborah Levy’s 2018 memoir The Cost of Living. As readers of South African-born British writer Deborah Levy’s literary fiction will know, it always has an unsettlingly allusive quality. While grounded...
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