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ABR Subscriber Spotlight


Wendy Sutherland

ABR was very much a part of my life as a publisher’s editor, and became almost more important when I went freelance. Initially I wanted to read it to keep up with what others were publishing, but it has become a monthly ‘fix’.

It seems to me that ABR has gone from strength to strength over the years and I feel privileged to be able to pick up any issue and know that I shall have mind and soul nourished by some of Australia’s best writers. John Carmody (Letters, June 2009) has already highlighted the brilliant collection of articles and reviews in the May issue, but that issue encapsulated the perennial virtues of such a publication: the sheer delight of being able to savour the wit and erudition of Humphrey McQueen on the National Portrait Gallery; the felicitous simultaneous inclusion of Gillian Dooley’s discussion of David Pearson’s Books as History with Rosaleen Love’s heart-warming account of her exploration of her late husband’s book collection; Brian McFarlane’s take on the Bigsby biography of Arthur Miller: and, as bonus reading, the editor on David Malouf’s latest offering.

Thank you, ABR, for all that has been and all that is to come.



Sandra Burt

When did you first begin subscribing to ABR
I can’t remember but probably at least ten years ago – my issues are all in storage at present.

What drew you to the publication?
As a librarian working with Australiana, I found it a useful tool for keeping in touch with new publications.

How do you think has the magazine changed over the years?
Physically, a more attractive appearance and layout; greater variety of material covered.

What do you most like about ABR?
The variety of reviews – including poetry, journals, young adult, etc. It keeps me up to date with key publications
that I may never get around to reading. At least I will know something about them.

What directions do you hope to see ABR go in the future?
Just keep on keeping on!

 


 

 




 

Current Reviews


'Subterranean passion': John Brack and the search for order
To coincide with the current exhibition at the NGV, Chris Wallace-Crabbe
discusses the art of John Brack. He recounts his first encounter with the
artist's work, whose odd austerity he found arresting, and recalls their
robust lunches in Italianate Carlton.
Click here to read the full review.

'Daydream believer': M.J. Hyland's new novel
Rebecca Starford finds M.J. Hyland's third novel, This Is How, to contain
the same warped and introverted narrator typical of her fiction. In spite of this
familiarity, Hyland has created a novel of discomfiting human truths.
Click here to read the full review.

'Lost between hemispheres': Shirley Walker's family memoir
Brenda Niall praises Shirley Walker's The Ghost at the Wedding, which
returns to the material of her 2001 autobiography, Roundabout at Bangalow,
focusing on the poignant memories of the young men in her family who
served in two world wars.
Click here to read the full review.

'Indon blitz': Tony Maniaty's Shooting Balibo
Jill Jolliffe reviews Shooting Balibo, which concerns the making of the
new film and Tony Maniaty's stint in East Timor in 1975. Jolliffe remembers
her time as a freelance correspondent for the AAP. She and Maniaty were
the only foreign journalists in Dili when the 'Balibo Five' perished during an
Indonesian onslaught.
Click here to read the full review.

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

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