Matilda Munro
, May 3rd, 2021 11:54
Matilda Munro reviews Mark Mordue s new book on the early life of a Bad Seed
Photo by Bleddyn Butcher
To write about Australianness is a contradiction in terms, as one of the country’s effects is to rob you of all will to put it into words. It tends to be only those who leave that get anywhere near laying out the truth of the place. It’s the case for many of its major wordsmiths over the past decades: Patrick White, Peter Carey, Clive James, David Malouf, Tim Winton, Robert Hughes, as well as for painters Brett Whiteley and Sidney Nolan. The bass notes of the place rumble out and away from the coastal cities, beneath the unforgiving sky, and through an eternal California of the intellect, where addiction is endemic, threat of violence constant, and the blood of all the convicts and all the natives lies in the dust. There is all the quiet horror of the Church, and the contradiction – through the sheer distance itself – that Australia enf
Big opera is back: Aida set to dazzle as high-tech meets Ancient Egypt
Weâre sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later.
Dismiss
By Patricia Maunder
Save
Normal text size
Advertisement
May 6 is a significant date in Melbourneâs COVID-era recovery. The State Theatre will come alive after a year in darkness, when Opera Australia performs here for the first time since December 2019. Unlike many other performing-arts organisations, which have cautiously approached this pandemic year with small casts and minimal sets, the company is returning to its southern port with all guns blazing.
Opera Australiaâs spectacular production of Aida.
Big opera is back: Aida set to dazzle as high-tech meets Ancient Egypt theage.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theage.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The 11 Australian books everyone should read now
We’re sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later.
Dismiss
April 23, 2021 7.23pm
Normal text size
Advertisement
From an Australian classic by Peter Carey to an urgent call to arms on domestic violence, these are the books our authors are turning to right now.
Melissa Lucashenko recommends
Credit:Renee Nowytarger
My favourite fiction of 2021 is a compelling short story collection from Tasmanian Pakana man Adam Thompson. When I encountered him at a First Nations Writing conference in Canberra in 2018, I felt like I was meeting a long-lost writerly brother. I was attracted by his vision for sculpting his Country in story, and his seriousness about that project. When
The 11 Australian books everyone should read now theage.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theage.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.