How did dinosaurs spend their last day on Earth?
2 May 2022
Riley Black, writing for the Smithsonian Magazine, depicts the last day in the life in of an Edmontosaurus, a dinosaur focussed on finding food and avoiding predators, while trying to divest itself of lice like creatures feeding on his flesh.
There was no impending sense of doom. There was no shift to the wind, or darkening of the clouds. No lightning, no thunder. In this little patch of Hell Creek, Montana, all is as it ever was as far as the dinosaurs are concerned. But more than two thousand miles away, a chunk of extraterrestrial stone more than seven miles across just slammed into the Earth.
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Sergiy Maidukov, Kyiv based Ukrainian illustrator
2 May 2022
Sergiy Maidukov is an illustrator based in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, whose work has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Guardian.
During the day he assists in defending his country from the Russian invasion, and at night, while confined to his apartment on account of curfews, draws what he sees from his windows, all too often sights no one should have to witness:
Sometimes, I see an explosion reflected on the glass surface of a skyscraper, or silent flares going up and then burning out in a shower of sparks. One week, I saw anti-aircraft guns firing tracer rounds into the night sky, where a hunt for a Russian drone was under way.
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Hello, Bookstore a documentary by A.b. Zax
30 April 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic was a challenging time for many people, particularly small businesses. Brick and mortar retailers, independent bookshops among them, struggled with lockdowns that kept customers away. Numerous operations were threatened with closure, and not all survived.
Hello, Bookstore, trailer, a documentary by American filmmaker A.b. Zax, looks at the impact of the pandemic on The Bookstore, in Lenox, a town in the American state of Massachusetts, which has been owned by Matthew Tannenbaum for over forty years.
In the shadow of the pandemic, a small town rallies to protect a beloved local bookstore in its hour of need. A landmark in Lenox, Massachusetts, The Bookstore is a magical, beatnik gem thanks to its owner, Matt Tannenbaum, whose passion for stories runs deep. Presiding at The Bookstore for over forty years, Matt is a true bard of the Berkshires and his shop is the kind of place to get lost in. This intimate portrait of The Bookstore and the family at its heart offers a journey through good times, hard times and the stories hidden on the shelves.
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Australian author survey 2022
30 April 2022
Australian writers are being invited to participate in the national author survey, an initiative of Macquarie University, the Australia Council for the Arts, and the Copyright Agency. It is seven years since the last such survey which found Australian authors earn on average less than — get ready for it — A$13,000 a year.
This survey will investigate the current experiences of Australian authors in the book industry, and follows on from an earlier survey conducted in 2015, which, among other findings, reported that Australian authors earn on average $12,900 per annum from their creative practice. Their key findings on author income have been instrumental, informing and strengthening the advocacy efforts of the ASA and book creators over the years. The ASA enthusiastically supports the effort to update this data and urges all members to participate.
The survey closes on Friday 27 May 2022.
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Dropbear by Evelyn Araluen wins the 2022 Stella Prize
28 April 2022
Dropbear, the debut collection of poetry by Melbourne based Australian writer Evelyn Araluen, has been named winner of the 2022 Stella Prize.
Melissa Lucashenko, chair of the 2022 Stella Prize judges, says Dropbear “announces the arrival of a stunning new talent to Australian literature.”
“When you read Evelyn Araluen’s Dropbear you’ll be taken on a wild ride. Like the namesake of its title, this collection is simultaneously comical and dangerous. If you live here and don’t acquire the necessary local knowledge, the drop bear might definitely getcha! But for those initiated in its mysteries, the drop bear is a playful beast, a prank, a riddle, a challenge and a game. Dropbear is remarkably assured for a debut poetry collection, and I think we can safely say it announces the arrival of a stunning new talent to Australian literature. Congratulations, Evelyn.”
At twenty-nine, Araluen is the youngest recipient of the literary prize that celebrates the writing of Australian women, and says she may never have become a poet had she not studied her great-grandfather’s language:
Araluen, a descendant of the Bundjalung Nation born in Dharug Country and now based in Naarm/Melbourne, began writing poetry while she was studying her great-grandfather’s language at TAFE, becoming attuned to poetic techniques like fragmentation and different sentence structures. “I honestly don’t think I would have become a poet if I hadn’t started learning that language,” she told ABC Arts in 2021.
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Australian literature, Evelyn Araluen, literary awards, Stella Prize
A sequel for The Batman has been announced
28 April 2022
No surprises there, news of a follow up to The Batman. Robert Pattinson will reprise his role as Batman/Bruce Wayne, and Matt Reeves will return to direct.
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2022 Women’s Prize shortlist announced
28 April 2022
Six titles have been named on the 2022 Women’s Prize shortlist:
- Great Circle, by Maggie Shipstead
- Sorrow and Bliss, by Meg Mason
- The Book of Form and Emptiness, by Ruth Ozeki
- The Bread the Devil Knead, by Lisa Allen-Agostini
- The Island of Missing Trees, by Elif Shafak
- The Sentence, by Louise Erdrich
The winning book will be announced on Wednesday 15 June 2022.
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Facebook doesn’t know what it does with your data
28 April 2022
Lorenzo Franceschi writing for Vice:
“We’ve built systems with open borders. The result of these open systems and open culture is well described with an analogy: Imagine you hold a bottle of ink in your hand. This bottle of ink is a mixture of all kinds of user data (3PD, 1PD, SCD, Europe, etc.) You pour that ink into a lake of water (our open data systems; our open culture) … and it flows … everywhere,” the document read. “How do you put that ink back in the bottle? How do you organize it again, such that it only flows to the allowed places in the lake?”
What are Facebook users meant to do here? Drain the lake?
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2022 ABA Booksellers Choice Awards shortlist
28 April 2022
Eighteen titles across three categories, adult fiction, non-fiction, and children’s books, have been named on the 2022 ABA Booksellers Choice Awards shortlist. After Story by Larissa Behrendt, Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy, and Love & Virtue by Diana Reid, are among contenders for the fiction prize. Winners will be announced on Sunday 12 June 2022.
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Australian literature, literary awards
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, by Jane Schoenbrun
27 April 2022
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, trailer, by American filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun, promises to take viewers down a couple of bottomless rabbit-holes…
Late on a cold night somewhere in the U.S., teenage Casey sits alone in her attic bedroom, scrolling the internet under the glow-in-the-dark stars and black-light posters that blanket the ceiling. She has finally decided to take the World’s Fair Challenge, an online role-playing horror game, and embrace the uncertainty it promises. After the initiation, she documents the changes that may or may not be happening to her, adding her experiences to the shuffle of online clips available for the world to see. As she begins to lose herself between dream and reality, a mysterious figure reaches out, claiming to see something special in her uploads.
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