Us & Them: One Year After September 11 http://hdl.handle.net/2328/1602 2013-06-19T23:16:48Z 2013-06-19T23:16:48Z Thomson, Helen http://hdl.handle.net/2328/1643 2013-05-13T01:58:41Z 2002-09-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Exit Left. "See How It Runs: Nimrod and the New Wave", by Julian Meyrick. [review] Authors: Thomson, Helen Abstract: It is snatching some kind of victory out of defeat to write a PhD thesis about the rise and fall of a theatre company, and Julian Meyrick has successfully transformed thesis into book. This has been achieved mainly through very good writing; lively, intelligent and uncluttered by jargon. The formal paraphernalia of the thesis — notes, appendices, statistics, bibliography and index — are not only useful in themselves, but crucial evidence for the argument. "See How It Runs" provides a cool analysis of a complex process of entropy. Nevertheless, while it is the scholarly and frequently self-reflexive methodology that constrains, authorial opinion has a welcome presence in the form of refreshingly decided perspectives and vivid descriptive powers.

2002-09-01T00:00:00Z Blackford, Russell http://hdl.handle.net/2328/1642 2013-05-13T01:58:59Z 2002-09-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Post-Human Futures. "Transcension", by Damien Broderick and "Schild's Ladder", by Greg Egan. [review] Authors: Blackford, Russell Abstract: Since 1990 Australian science fiction (SF) has undergone an extraordinary renaissance. These new books by Broderick and Egan, "Transcension" and "Schild’s Ladder", are at the genre’s cutting edge. Both writers attempt to imagine worlds that have undergone truly radical change, as a result of which humanity itself has been superseded or deeply altered. Such post-human scenarios are now debated intensely within the genre, as its practitioners reflect upon the contemporary technological trajectory. Once the possibilities for powerful new technologies, such as nanotechnology and artificial intelligence (AI), become clearer, the debate will increasingly spill over into the intellectual mainstream, a process already underway. Today’s serious SF themes are tomorrow’s mainstream social and political issues.

2002-09-01T00:00:00Z McCooey, David http://hdl.handle.net/2328/1641 2013-05-13T01:59:04Z 2002-09-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Salty Pleasures. "Attempts at Being", by Alison Croggon and "The Long Moment", by Kate Fagan and "Screens Jets Heaven: New and Selected Poems", by Jill Jones and "Versary", by Kate Lilley. [review] Authors: McCooey, David Abstract: Aesthetic pleasure is immediately apparent in these new works from Salt, the Anglo-Australian publisher that has developed an exciting international poetry list ranging from Ron Silliman to Dennis Haskell. The pleasure of reading this list is partly bibliographic. Salt publishes some of the bestlooking (and most reasonably priced) poetry books in the country. The stock is excellent and the text well designed. At a time when the chances of getting a book of poetry published is as slim as a supermodel, it must be doubly pleasing to be published by a company like Salt. These new works continue Salt’s stylish, serious approach to poetry.

2002-09-01T00:00:00Z Middleton, Kate http://hdl.handle.net/2328/1640 2013-05-13T01:58:38Z 2002-09-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Young Adrian's Murky Fears. "Of a Boy", by Sonya Hartnett. [review] Authors: Middleton, Kate Abstract: Sonya Hartnett’s "Of a Boy", written for the adult market after her many successful young adult novels, begins with a kidnapping, which provides a counterpoint to the central story of nine-year-old Adrian. Hartnett’s style is well-suited to adult fiction, and "Of a Boy" is a rewarding novel. Full of the complexities of its characters’ perceptions and Adrian’s immobilising fears, it is a deeply moving story.

2002-09-01T00:00:00Z