Review by Tristan Foster LinkLock, a technology company based in Canberra, has developed a method of encrypting and securing data feeds in a way that makes them theoretically impossible to …
Preaching to the Converted: Garry Disher's Play Abandoned
Review by Robert Goodman Garry Disher has written across a range of genres but is best known for his award-winning crime series – the Wyatt books about a roguish thief, …
A Story Somewhere in the Distance: Anthony J. Langford's Bottomless River
Review by Tristan Foster It’s summertime in an Australian east-coast country town, school is done for the year and, to three bored friends, a night of riverside drinking sounds like …
Exercises in the Experimental: Ryan O'Neill's The Weight of a Human Heart
Review by Robert Goodman Ryan O’Neill is a lover of words, and he knows how to use them. The Weight of a Human Heart, his new collection of short stories, …
Infused in Words: Emilie Collyer's Your Looking Eyes
Review by Mark William Jackson I’m not sure how I feel about the Australian Poetry Café Poet Program. On the one hand any publicity that poets and poetry receives is …
Untruths Sculpted into Truths: Merlinda Bobis' Fish-Hair Woman
Review by Tristan Foster In a recent interview with Amitava Kumar, Michael Ondaatje spoke about the need for multiple voices and various narratives in stories of political or social consequence. …
An Element of Wish Fulfilment: Chris Flynn's A Tiger in Eden
Review by Robert Goodman The start of A Tiger in Eden feels like a cross between Trainspotting and The Beach. Nevertheless, it is a promising beginning – Billy, a Northern …
The Playful Provocation of a Complex Tapestry: Susan Hawthorne’s Cow
Review by Robyn Cadwallader The cover of Susan Hawthorne’s Cow, both back and front, is an Indian-style patchwork featuring cows in paintings, photos, carvings, bas relief, even street signs (‘Beware …
The Remembered, the Haunted, and the Differing: Patricia Sykes’ The Abbotsford Mysteries
Review by Robyn Cadwallader The Abbotsford Mysteries is Patricia Sykes’ third poetry collection. A surprising title, perhaps, for a book about the girls who were cared for at the Abbotsford …
Hard Notes of War: Susan Hawthorne's Valence
Review by Lesley Lebkowicz War has always been a subject for poetry – for all forms of literature – in every culture, in every time. It’s been examined, glorified, abhorred. …