Alexis Wright’s work expresses a sovereign Aboriginal worldview, but owes a debt to a pantheon of authors from around the globe.

$60m to pay for a fancy library. No word yet on hiring librarians or purchasing books. The fact that they decided to open their "library" without the latter two is a joke. www.smh.com.au/cbd/scots-co...

Meanjin has (had 😭) two - TWO - part time staff members. I'd be willing to bet my dinner that the cost of supporting Meanjin is less than what a single top 15 executive at Uni Melb makes in a year

This week on the ABR Podcast, Lynda Ng reviews To Save and To Destroy: Writing as an Other by @vietthanhnguyen.bsky.social. ‘Other Orientalisms: Refusing to be spectacle’ by @lyndang.bsky.social | @harvardpress.bsky.social www.australianbookreview.com.au/podcast/760-...

1/2 Sally Rooney: “I want to be clear that I intend to use these proceeds of my work, as well as my public platform generally, to go on supporting Palestine Action and direct action against genocide in whatever way I can.

Although the festival have not replied to my email I can confirm that this article is correct and I am one of the authors who has pulled out of the Bendigo Writers Festival. I will not comply to any code of conduct that censors my speech on genocide.

A response from Bendigo Writers Festival:

Albanese won his mandate. Now I want to see Labor be bold and do something with it. #ItsTime

The lone long-lost MingKwai typewriter, invented by Lin Yutang in 1947, has resurfaced in a NY basement. How did it get there? Where might it go next? The journey of the groundbreaking invention embodies the search for modernity and Chinese identity. My latest: madeinchinajournal.com/2025/05/02/l...

#auspol #election2025 #dutton #welcometocountry

This is a guy who just doesn't quit. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

On the Welcome to Country: "It is not a political statement, and it is not about exclusion. It is actually an inclusive protocol, as simple and profound as removing a hat in respect, standing silently for an anthem or lowering one’s voice in a place of sacredness." www.smh.com.au/national/sto...

List of countries not subjected to tariffs: Russia Belarus North Korea Cuba They apparently took the time to impose tariffs on several uninhabited islands, so the omissions are extra noteworthy. If you spot others please flag!

For those of you who were interested, the recording of the GHA roundtable on decolonising knowledge has now been posted online: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBcC... We had a very interesting discussion. I'm looking forward to the second roundtable (part 2) that GHA is planning for later in the year.

I'm speaking this Thursday on a roundtable about decolonising knowledge. It's Webinar format (panellists in 4 different countries) so this should be an interesting transnational conversation. Registration link: ugm.id/GHADecolonizingRoundtable1

Matt Kean, former NSW minister for energy, says: "Nuclear energy like ‘building a Blockbuster video’ store in the age of Netflix." What an apt metaphor.

What a disgusting and chilling attack on academic freedom by the Australian Research Council Dr Abdel-Fattah is completely undeserving of this appalling political interference As a Macquarie academic, I hope my university fights this tooth and nail

NEW: Members of an Independent panel involved in the selection of Khaled Sabsabi have broken their silence. They say they’re deeply concerned about the decision to rescind his appointment, and have called for transparency from Creative Australia’s Board. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

In Crikey, Catri Menzies-Pike and I wrote about Creative Australia's decision to drop Khaled Sabsabi from the Venice Biennale. If conservative media is going to dictate cultural policy, Creative Australia might as well pack up and call it a day www.crikey.com.au/2025/02/17/k...

"Would Sidney Nolan be cancelled for painting Ned Kelly today?" theconversation.com/would-sidney...

"Beavers finish seven-year dam project in two days." www.smh.com.au/world/europe...

Kung hei fat choi! Wishing everyone good health and fortune in the Year of the Snake.

An aborted attempt to go smell Putricia. When we rocked up at 5:40pm the queue time was 2 hrs.

I'm going to be doing Chat with an Editor this Friday at #MLA2025. Sign up for a session with me if you're interested in publishing with Journal of the Society for Asian Humanities (JOSAH) - the oldest journal in Australasia focused on the Asian region. josah.org

“Merry Chrismukkah.”

My piece from 2021 on Leunig’s politics before the pandemic and after meanjin.com.au/latest/leuni...

I have been thinking about this a lot lately: that the “phasing out” of humanities scholarship as part of popular education is an effort to prevent people from being able to interpret their political reality.

6 hours under martial law: a drunk scene report from Seoul www.theverge.com/24312920/mar...

Wheeler Centre tonight. Santilla Chingaipe’s book Black Convicts sounds great - can’t wait to read it.

Such a simple cartoon that really speaks volumes.

Business as usual. www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...

It’s very good to hear Wendy Brown say that the Left really needs to think much more seriously about the state. For far too long many of us have very lazily rejected the state while also not understanding it as a terrain of struggle. Who are the best Leftist organizers & thinkers on the state now?

Shame on you Albanese. Climate catastrophe is around the corner but Labor is committed to business as usual. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

With Brian Castro at the launch of Chinese Postman last week. Sneaky candid shot by Leah McIntosh from @liminalmag.bsky.social.

'Perhaps that’s what the self is: a never-ending tunnel hoping to find a non-existent home. And behind you the train of time is coming.' This in @liminalmag.bsky.social is so damn good. www.liminalmag.com/5-questions/...

Gould’s is all boarded up but still here, after all this time.

With university departmental closures are we seeing the emergence of geographical 'cold spots' for social science/humanities/arts (SHAPE) subjects? We've developed a new beta mapping tool using HESA data to enable you to explore the situation by subject www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/policy-and-r...

Tomorrow is Go Home On Time Day! We use this day to show the extent of unpaid overtime in Australia. Visit gohomeontimeday.org.au and use our unpaid overtime calculator to see how much of your time is stolen. #auspol

Mina Roces is delivering the A. R. Davis Lecture this Thursday, 21st November, 5pm AEST. Come hear about the Italian villas built by Filipino domestic workers back home. On-line registration here: bit.ly/onlineARDavi... In-person registration for the event at USyd here: bit.ly/ARDavis24

Hey #academicsky, there's a great opportunity for a visiting fellowship for someone from the Global South in Arts and Humanities, to spend time at Cambridge. Do pass on! www.cai.cam.ac.uk/vacancies/vi...

Māori MPs briefly suspended the Aotearoa parliament’s attempts to reinterpret their founding treaty in the most bad ass use of the Haka I’ve ever seen.

Entries are open for ASAH's Emerging Scholar Award. First prize is $200 and publication in The Journal of the Society for Asian Humanities (JOSAH). Every entry receives feedback. It's open to Australian/NZ uni students or recent grads. Please spread word. josah.org/emerging-sch...

Why @guardianaustralia.bsky.social is no longer posting on X

It's exciting to see the recent influx of literary souls here on Bluesky. Some of you may be interested in this - Brian Castro's latest novel, Chinese Postman, is getting officially launched this Thursday down in Melbourne. Hope to see some of you there. events.humanitix.com/book-launch-...

Really jarring to hear University of Wollongong podcast ads about enrolling in 2025 when staff still do not know if their entire disciplines will be disestablished on 20 December this year.

One of the world's strangest ruined places is the American town of Centralia, in Central Pennsylvania. Its residents were forced to leave by an underground fire that has been burning beneath the town for more than 60 years, and now the whole place stands abandoned.

Somewhat grateful I decided to fly back to Sydney last night, not this morning. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Chihuly in Adelaide and also, the world in general right now.