Latest news with #MichelledeKretser
Sydney Morning Herald
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Serious consequences for Australian democracy': Author uses prize speech to warn against censorship
Australian author Michelle de Kretser has described feeling afraid of speaking publicly about the conflict in Gaza and warned against the serious consequences of censorship as she accepted the 2025 Stella Prize for her book Theory & Practice. In her acceptance speech for the prestigious literary award, the Sri Lanka-born author said she believed truthful speech about what the Israeli government is doing in Gaza is being shut down and accused the Australian government of being complicit with 'material and diplomatic support'. 'That complicity has had serious consequences for Australian democracy. We've seen scholars, creatives and journalists silenced, their funding revoked and their contracts cancelled for expressing anti-genocide views ... We've seen our institutions and our media betray the principles they're supposed to uphold,' she said. 'We've seen language suffer Orwellian distortions. We've seen our leaders pander to the anti-Arab racism of that global bully the United States. And all of this damage has been done to prop up Israel: a brazenly cruel foreign power, whose leaders are internationally wanted criminals.' According to the Sydney-based author, the aim of this suppression is to intimidate. 'In Australia today it isn't those applauding mass murder who have cause to be afraid, but those speaking out against it. Principally targeted are Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, First Nations people, people of colour, queers,' she said. 'All the time I was writing these words, a voice in my head whispered, You will be punished. You will be smeared with labels as potent and ugly as they're false.' 'I'm still afraid. But I've just accepted a prize that is not about obedience. It's not about feel-good narratives, it's not about marketing, it's not even about creativity – Stella is about changing the world.'
The Age
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Age
‘Serious consequences for Australian democracy': Author uses prize speech to warn against censorship
Australian author Michelle de Kretser has described feeling afraid of speaking publicly about the conflict in Gaza and warned against the serious consequences of censorship as she accepted the 2025 Stella Prize for her book Theory & Practice. In her acceptance speech for the prestigious literary award, the Sri Lanka-born author said she believed truthful speech about what the Israeli government is doing in Gaza is being shut down and accused the Australian government of being complicit with 'material and diplomatic support'. 'That complicity has had serious consequences for Australian democracy. We've seen scholars, creatives and journalists silenced, their funding revoked and their contracts cancelled for expressing anti-genocide views ... We've seen our institutions and our media betray the principles they're supposed to uphold,' she said. 'We've seen language suffer Orwellian distortions. We've seen our leaders pander to the anti-Arab racism of that global bully the United States. And all of this damage has been done to prop up Israel: a brazenly cruel foreign power, whose leaders are internationally wanted criminals.' According to the Sydney-based author, the aim of this suppression is to intimidate. 'In Australia today it isn't those applauding mass murder who have cause to be afraid, but those speaking out against it. Principally targeted are Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, First Nations people, people of colour, queers,' she said. 'All the time I was writing these words, a voice in my head whispered, You will be punished. You will be smeared with labels as potent and ugly as they're false.' 'I'm still afraid. But I've just accepted a prize that is not about obedience. It's not about feel-good narratives, it's not about marketing, it's not even about creativity – Stella is about changing the world.'
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Take Your Book Outside
This is an edition of the Books Briefing, our editors' weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for it here. When I went outside to read yesterday, the first thing I noticed was the sun on my face. I welcomed it, then wondered, Do I have sunscreen? Then I asked myself if I should have used the bathroom before heading to the park. I made it to a bench and opened my book just as a bold, chittering group of sparrows swooped down from a nearby perch; I watched them jostle one another. Then I set myself to my task: I wanted to make progress on an advance copy of a new memoir, but Michelle de Kretser's Theory & Practice was also in my bag, and I had Sharon Kay Penman's When Christ and His Saints Slept loaded on my e-reader—plus I knew I had just a couple of chapters left in Adam Higginbotham's Midnight in Chernobyl. When I was a few pages into the memoir, a carpenter bee started making lazy laps around me. A leaf drifted onto my head; the light forced me to squint, then dig through my bag for my sunglasses. A cowbird joined the sparrows; the chirping competed with the hum of air-conditioning units. Chapter break: I looked up and a very happy dog was playing fetch in a park specifically marked as not a dog park, and I smiled to myself. A tiny red bug crawled across my phone; boat horns from the nearby Potomac rang out; planes soared overhead. I admired the blooming wisteria, then violently sneezed. First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic's Books section: Dear James: A riddle about reading 'Guest House,' a poem by Issa Quincy A new book challenges the Church's reputation on sex. In the midst of the chattering and barking, the heat prickling my skin and the wind blowing my hair in my face, what did I gain? Certainly not an optimized reading experience. At the office, I could dispel distractions with a quick trip to the bathroom or water-bottle station; automatic curtains would block the bright sun. But I agree with Bekah Waalkes, who wrote for The Atlantic this week that some books just make 'a case for leaving your reading nook and getting out into the world.' It's important to savor pleasant days while they're here, she notes. Outdoor reading is not always idyllic; I was up against pollen, bugs, and the looming threat of bird poop. But it can be sublime. And, in fact, the many distractions forced me to marshal my attention. I pushed myself into a unique state of focus, actively choosing each paragraph over everything that was happening around me. Every page I finished was an achievement, and the author's words floated in my head, on top of the pleasant mix of noises, smells, and breeze. When my mind slipped off the page, I barely cared. My memories of the chapters I read are now tied together with images of the world's natural rhythms: unfurling irises, creeping spiders, the flowing river—and periodically, an unexpected, uncontrollable sneeze. Six Books You'll Want to Read Outdoors By Bekah Waalkes Reading has been unfairly maligned as an indoor activity for far too long. Read the full article. , by Nettie Jones 'You're not crazy to me,' one character tells the narrator of Fish Tales, a 30-something Black woman named Lewis Jones. 'You're daring. Most people cannot even imagine life the way you live it.' That life includes nights out on the town in 1970s Detroit and disco-fueled Manhattan, copious amounts of cocaine, and sexual encounters both outlandish and, at times, demoralizing. This frenetic novel, first acquired by Toni Morrison and published in 1983, has become something of a cult classic, and it's easy to understand why: It approaches relationships with raw and unvarnished honesty. A new edition forthcoming from Farrar, Straus and Giroux in April promises to bring additional audiences to Jones's sharp, fast-paced look at the highs and lows of the human heart. — Rhian Sasseen From our list: Six older books that deserve to be popular today 📚 Second Life, by Amanda Hess 📚 Little Bosses Everywhere, by Bridget Read 📚 Old School Indian, by Aaron John Curtis Does Anyone Still Hitchhike? By Andrew Fedorov But I also hitchhike because I love it. The rides I've caught across America have opened my sense of the country. Each was an encounter with someone whose perspective I could hardly have imagined, as someone who's spent much of his life on the East Coast and in politically siloed bubbles. Especially when politics feels intense, hitchhiking has kept me from forgetting that decent people are everywhere. It's a way of testing the tensile strength of the social safety net. It shows that when you're at your most vulnerable, whether by circumstance or choice, people will be willing to help. You hitchhike to know you're not alone. Read the full article. When you buy a book using a link in this newsletter, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic. Sign up for The Wonder Reader, a Saturday newsletter in which our editors recommend stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Explore all of our newsletters. Article originally published at The Atlantic
Atlantic
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Atlantic
Take Your Book Outside
This is an edition of the Books Briefing, our editors' weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for it here. When I went outside to read yesterday, the first thing I noticed was the sun on my face. I welcomed it, then wondered, Do I have sunscreen? Then I asked myself if I should have used the bathroom before heading to the park. I made it to a bench and opened my book just as a bold, chittering group of sparrows swooped down from a nearby perch; I watched them jostle one another. Then I set myself to my task: I wanted to make progress on an advance copy of a new memoir, but Michelle de Kretser's Theory & Practice was also in my bag, and I had Sharon Kay Penman's When Christ and His Saints Slept loaded on my e-reader—plus I knew I had just a couple of chapters left in Adam Higginbotham's Midnight in Chernobyl. When I was a few pages into the memoir, a carpenter bee started making lazy laps around me. A leaf drifted onto my head; the light forced me to squint, then dig through my bag for my sunglasses. A cowbird joined the sparrows; the chirping competed with the hum of air-conditioning units. Chapter break: I looked up and a very happy dog was playing fetch in a park specifically marked as not a dog park, and I smiled to myself. A tiny red bug crawled across my phone; boat horns from the nearby Potomac rang out; planes soared overhead. I admired the blooming wisteria, then violently sneezed. First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic 's Books section: In the midst of the chattering and barking, the heat prickling my skin and the wind blowing my hair in my face, what did I gain? Certainly not an optimized reading experience. At the office, I could dispel distractions with a quick trip to the bathroom or water-bottle station; automatic curtains would block the bright sun. But I agree with Bekah Waalkes, who wrote for The Atlantic this week that some books just make 'a case for leaving your reading nook and getting out into the world.' It's important to savor pleasant days while they're here, she notes. Outdoor reading is not always idyllic; I was up against pollen, bugs, and the looming threat of bird poop. But it can be sublime. And, in fact, the many distractions forced me to marshal my attention. I pushed myself into a unique state of focus, actively choosing each paragraph over everything that was happening around me. Every page I finished was an achievement, and the author's words floated in my head, on top of the pleasant mix of noises, smells, and breeze. When my mind slipped off the page, I barely cared. My memories of the chapters I read are now tied together with images of the world's natural rhythms: unfurling irises, creeping spiders, the flowing river—and periodically, an unexpected, uncontrollable sneeze. Six Books You'll Want to Read Outdoors By Bekah Waalkes Reading has been unfairly maligned as an indoor activity for far too long. Read the full article. What to Read Fish Tales, by Nettie Jones 'You're not crazy to me,' one character tells the narrator of Fish Tales, a 30-something Black woman named Lewis Jones. 'You're daring. Most people cannot even imagine life the way you live it.' That life includes nights out on the town in 1970s Detroit and disco-fueled Manhattan, copious amounts of cocaine, and sexual encounters both outlandish and, at times, demoralizing. This frenetic novel, first acquired by Toni Morrison and published in 1983, has become something of a cult classic, and it's easy to understand why: It approaches relationships with raw and unvarnished honesty. A new edition forthcoming from Farrar, Straus and Giroux in April promises to bring additional audiences to Jones's sharp, fast-paced look at the highs and lows of the human heart. — Rhian Sasseen Out Next Week 📚 Second Life, by Amanda Hess 📚 Little Bosses Everywhere, by Bridget Read 📚 Old School Indian, by Aaron John Curtis Your Weekend Read Does Anyone Still Hitchhike? By Andrew Fedorov But I also hitchhike because I love it. The rides I've caught across America have opened my sense of the country. Each was an encounter with someone whose perspective I could hardly have imagined, as someone who's spent much of his life on the East Coast and in politically siloed bubbles. Especially when politics feels intense, hitchhiking has kept me from forgetting that decent people are everywhere. It's a way of testing the tensile strength of the social safety net. It shows that when you're at your most vulnerable, whether by circumstance or choice, people will be willing to help. You hitchhike to know you're not alone.
The Guardian
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Stella prize 2025: shortlist entirely women of colour for the first time in award's history
The Stella prize, Australia's award for women and non-binary authors, has made history this year with a shortlist featuring only works by women of colour, for the first time since the award was established in 2013. Announced on Tuesday morning, this year's shortlist includes Darumbal and South Sea Islander journalist Amy McQuire's essay collection, Black Witness (winner of the 2025 Victorian premier's award for Indigenous writing), about the failures of mainstream media and power of Indigenous journalism; two-time Miles Franklin-winner Michelle de Kretser's Theory & Practice, a reckoning with fiction, memoir and colonialism; and playwright, poet and author Samah Sabawi's family memoir, Cactus Pear For My Beloved, tracing her roots from British-occupied Palestine through to contemporary Queensland. Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Also on the shortlist are Santilla Chingaipe's Black Convicts, excavating the history of slavery in Australia; Melanie Cheng's novel The Burrow, about a grieving family who adopt a pet rabbit during Covid lockdown; and Jumaana Abdu's debut novel, Translations, about a woman who moves with her young daughter to rural New South Wales to build a new life. Sign up to Saved for Later Catch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia's culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tips after newsletter promotion The Stella prize celebrates 'original, excellent and engaging' fiction, nonfiction and poetry by Australian women and non-binary writers. The winner takes home $60,000, with each of the shortlisted writers receiving $4,000. This year's prize was judged by critic Astrid Edwards, Gudanji/Wakaja and Kalkadoon author Debra Dank, writer and critic Leah Jing McIntosh, author Yassmin Abdel-Magied, and journalist and author Rick Morton. 'These works showcase an incredible command of craft and understanding of our uncertain time,' Edwards, who chaired the panel, wrote in a statement. 'They stood out to the judging panel for their integrity, compassion and fearlessness.' The Stella prize winner will be awarded at a public ceremony at Carriageworks in Sydney on 23 May, as part of the Sydney writers' festival. Last year the prize was won by Alexis Wright for her novel Praiseworthy.
