Friday the 13th of May was a bad day for arts organisations in Australia. All over Twitter were bursts of emotion like fireworks – pledges of people subscribing for the first time to the likes of literary journals ‘Meanjin’ or ‘Voiceworks’, in a show of support after announcements of cuts to funding. If you aren’t…
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This is a review of a session held at the 2016 Sydney Writers’ Festival. * It’s not often that you’re able to sit in a room filled with proudly self-proclaimed feminists, listening to a panel of admirable and notable female authors, thinkers and activists describe exactly why you should have the right to rule the…
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This is a review of a session held at the 2016 Sydney Writers’ Festival. * Annabel Crabb and Leigh Sales’ Sydney Writers’ Festival event Our Reading Year was a delightful charm offensive from beginning to end. The two stalwarts of Australian political media had the sold-out crowd barking with laughter within minutes, and their meandering…
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We are beyond thrilled to officially announce, in no particular order, the shortlist for the 2016 Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction. Dive – Sophie Overett The Enigma of Desire – Victoria McGlynn Muscle Town – Cheryl Billman Premium Brand – Susi Fox The Tallest Girl in the World – Laura McPhee-Browne The Other Girl –…
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This is a review of a session held at the 2016 Sydney Writers’ Festival. * What is it that we find so fascinating about a reclusive novelist? There are plenty of writers who have attempted anonymity, with varying degrees of success: Harper Lee and Thomas Pynchon both spring to mind. These authors have chosen…
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This is a review of a session held at the 2016 Sydney Writers’ Festival. * When I first entered the room and upon seeing so many older women, I was unsure if I would feel comfortable as a member of the new generation of feminism. I wondered whether Gloria Steinem, a prominent 82-year-old American…
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The newly created Tallulah Theatre in Melbourne is putting on its second show, Old Wives’ Tales, from the 18th-21st of May. The show features six pieces, which are directed by six different women who are working towards making a name for themselves in the theatre scene. I caught up with three of the directors, Jean…
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Burnt Rotis, With Love is a bold collection of 54 poems by Prerna Bakshi. The collection deals with powerful themes of poverty, patriarchy, and oppression. Many of the poems focus on issues particular to India—Partition, the caste system, and the specific environment of Indian domestic life—but even these poems have roots in universally recognisable struggles…
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We have recently been hit with the difficult news that arts funding for small to medium arts organisations, especially ones that help young people and emerging creatives, has been slashed. The already lacklustre monetary distribution to the arts in Australia is now seriously dwindling and in danger. So, what are we to do? We keep…
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Internships have become a hot topic with the Coalition’s recent announcement of their plan to establish an $840 million PaTH interns program, deemed to be a centrepiece of Malcolm Turnbull’s re-election platform. It proposes to pay jobseekers under the age of 25 a $200 per fortnight top-up above the dole. Moreover, Mamamia’s current internship scandal…
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Artist Rani Pramesti is adamant about inspiring conversations, self-reflection and social change through intimate and insightful stories by and with culturally diverse women. She is also keen to create a safe space to discuss seemingly taboo subjects and brings this up frequently in the conversation about her new performance installation titled Sedih // Sunno (‘sadness’…
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What is the role of a mother? And how does the relationship between a mother and her child shape that child’s life and actions? What makes some children grow up to be like their mothers, while others are motivated to turn away and do something completely different? The new book Things My Mother Taught Me…
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Anton Chekhov is a well-known playwright in the theatre world because he has a knack for making you think outside the conventional box. Born in 1860 in Russia, Chekhov produced four infamously classic plays and a number of short stories. The Cherry Orchard is the last of his great works and has a heavy player…
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In 2000, Helen Garner was working on the story of Joe Cinque, a young civil engineer who was murdered by his girlfriend. She felt stuck—she had compiled long interviews with Cinque’s parents but had been refused any access to the two women charged with his murder. ‘I had no idea how to write the book,’…
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