Canberra Writers Festival 2026: 3, AI and All the Lonely People

Steve Toltz and Elaine Castillo with Beejay Silcox The program described the session as follows: Join internationally acclaimed authors Steve Toltz and Elaine Castillo for a conversation with Beejay Silcox about how setting out to explore loneliness led to the creation of two satirical, darkly funny and moving novels about human connection. In a world … Continue reading Canberra Writers Festival 2026: 3, AI and All the Lonely People

Steve Toltz, Quicksand (Review)

Aldo Benjamin, the anti-hero of Quicksand, accuses wannabe-writer-friend Liam of having "such little imagination". You could not, however, accuse the novel's author, Steve Toltz, of this. Quicksand reads a bit like a 19th century satirical novel transplanted into the 21st century. It is big in size (though not as big as his first, A fraction of the whole), broad in subject … Continue reading Steve Toltz, Quicksand (Review)

Monday musings on Australian literature: Five fascinating fictional fathers

This week's Monday musings has a personal, sentimental, genesis. Last Friday, my 91-year-old father underwent his third major abdominal surgery in 6 years. It's a big ask for an older body but he's hanging in there. My parents, not surprisingly I suppose, were instrumental in my becoming a reader. My mother introduced me to Jane … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Five fascinating fictional fathers