Readings.com.au: Griffith Review

Surviving: Griffith Review 35

Matthew Condon, Sophie Cunningham, David Francis, Michael Gawenda, Tom Griffiths, Ashley Hay, Lloyd Jones, Ian Lowe and Kathy Marks

At times it feels like we are unwilling participants in a never-ending disaster movie, buffeted by natural catastrophe, war, economic collapse, social implosion and private trauma. But behind the shocking headlines, official inquiries and memorial ceremonies there are many stories of renewal and hope, of survivors who pick up the pieces and rebuild their lives and their communities.

The brilliant writing in this edition of Griffith REVIEW takes you on a remarkable journey. The authors capture extraordinary battles and random brushes with fate—and live to tell the tale. And though surviving is a personal quest, there is also an opportunity to learn how to be better prepared: to adapt, survive, even thrive after disaster subsides.

Surviving features new pieces by some of Australia’s leading authors, including Matthew Condon, Sophie Cunningham, David Francis, Michael Gawenda, Tom Griffiths, Ashley Hay, Lloyd Jones, Ian Lowe and Kathy Marks.

Griffith Review 34: The Annual Fiction Edition

Griffith REVIEW's highly anticipated third annual new fiction collection explores islands, both geographical and personal.

This assortment of new fiction from the best emerging and established writers from Australia and the region promises a unique summer journey into localities of exclusivity, escape and enchantment.

Island mentalities can delineate points of difference, uniting communities or separating individuals.

The lure of islands has inspired and disappointed, from dreamy quests for utopia to the adventurers who reach new and troubling shores.

This edition will surprise and delight, and will include the announcement of the 2011 winners of the Griffith REVIEW Emerging Writers' Prize.

Griffith Review 33: Such Is Life

Carrie Tiffany, Frank Moorhouse, Debra Adelaide, Raimond Gaita, Lloyd Jones, Maria Tumarkin, Marion Halligan, Peter Bishop, Sheila Fitzpatrick, John Tranter and more

Whatever you call it—memoir, personal essay, biography, life stories—there is insatiable hunger for the stories of real people facing impossible odds, or dealing with the mundanity of life. Such is Life showcases many such tales, and explores the way these narratives help us make sense of the world, despite conflicts about privacy, truth and perspective.

Some of the hunger for these stories comes from social networking, which makes connection easier and constant. Is this a culture that welcomes difference, or one that threatens to reduce identity to formulaic ‘likes’ and consumer profiling? The best personal stories provide insights—but sometimes at considerable cost.

With contributions from Australia’s leading writers, this edition of Griffith REVIEW features memoir, essays and fiction that investigate how we understand ourselves, each other and the web of life surrounding us.

Griffith Review 32: Wicked Problems, Exquisite Dilemmas

Anyone who has attempted a crossword understands wicked problems. One letter wrong and the whole solution collapses, and what was elegant becomes a mess.

So too in life: as complexity increases, so does the number of variables. Sequential steps are not enough, but unlike a crossword puzzle a wicked problem has no absolutely right or wrong solution – there are many possibilities. And sometimes the problem can only be understood once the solution has been found.

Design-led thinking, marrying analysis with creative and practical solutions, is one way: a new paradigm for tackling intractable problems. But wicked problems can be small and human as well as the biggest challenges we face. This edition will range across the field, from the political to the personal.

Griffith Review 31: Ways Of Seeing

The big dilemmas of the day resist resolution. For decades we have relied on economics, science and the law for answers to pressing problems. But economics is not as rational as we hoped, science not as certain—even the law has shades of grey beyond the black letters.

Excluded from policy forums, belittled in public life, the humanities and social sciences have become defensive and reactive. It is time for them to come out of the shadows. Climate change, population, globalisation, health, international order: all demand new approaches grounded in human behaviour and history, that learn from literature and philosophy, and draw on the creative imagination. We need a human-centred approach to our understanding of the complexity of systems—the flow of materials through economies, the flow of data from lab to laptop, the flow of ideas. Ways of Seeing explores the gaps, reinvigorating our curiosity and our desire for exploration.

Philosopher John Armstrong examines the place of the humanities, arguing that this body of knowledge is too essential to be confi ned to academia. Other contributors include Peter Cochrane on the historical imagination, Robyn Williams on technology and complexity, Ian Lowe on certainty in science and Rod Tiffen on the perils of populism. Jane Goodall sees a new dawn in Bucharest; Robert Hillman faces a culture gap on a Melbourne tram; plus, there’s new fiction from Amanda Lohrey, and much more.

Griffith Review 30: The Annual Fiction Edition

Griffith REVIEW’s second annual fiction collection will focus on the Pacific region: from the Americas to Asia, the Pacific islands, New Zealand and Australia. What binds us? What pulls us apart?

As economic, political and cultural power moves from North America and Europe to the Asia-Pacific, Australia is enjoying a new relationship with its neighbours. The shift of individuals and ideas across borders is giving rise to new voices in literature.

Griffith REVIEW 30 will feature sparkling short fiction by those writers—emerging and established—who are engaging with the region. Packed with great summer reading, this edition will also include the announcement of the winners of the 2010 Griffith REVIEW Emerging Writers’ Prize (GREW).

Griffith Review 29: Prosper or Perish

If Australia’s population is to almost double by 2050, we face challenges of extraordinary dimensions—economic, social and environmental. Coping with this growth demands visionary planning and insights from the rich history of immigration. Griffith REVIEW 29: Prosper or Perish investigates ways to find a balance between growth, diversity and sustainability in a shrinking world.

A lead essay by journalist Peter Mares explores the tensions between humanitarian and environmental approaches to migration and population. He examines the emergence of an anti-growth movement and evaluates how we measure economic growth and quality of life.

The pressure of how to strike the right balance between environmental preservation, cultural diversity and a robust economy will make population and immigration policies a significant factor in the federal election.

Prosper or Perish explores what’s at stake in getting the mix right, and reports on the realities for a new generation of global citizens whose work, lives and relationships stretch across borders and blend traditional identities. It includes moving memoirs, reportage from the front line and insightful analysis of the competing perspectives.

Griffith Review 28: Still The Lucky Country?

Australia’s good fortune seems inexhaustible. Is it a product of luck, or of initiative and good governance? Is Australia still the lucky country? This edition of Griffith REVIEW explores Australia now—the sources of power, influence and fragility.

Since settlement Australia has responded with remarkable agility to changing patterns of global trade. As the economic balance of power shifts in the Asia Pacific region and world leaders consider the new carbonless economy, change is inevitable—what do we want Australia to be like in this new world? How will the relationship between the city and the country change when mining leases in remote areas are the unequivocal source of national wealth?

It is time to again learn from the past in plotting new ways of dealing with the future—in terms of governance, trade, social relations, population and the environment.

Griffith Review 27: Food Chain

We are what we eat—and in an era of climate change, food is the canary in the mine. Prices are rising, droughts and storms are affecting farmers, and the global model of food production is under challenge. Food Chain explores our complex relationship with the food we eat.

In the lead essay Margaret Simons examines the crisis in the Murray-Darling river system and its impact on Australia’s food bowl. Reframing sustainable food production, this piece will change the way you think about what you eat.

Food Chain features many of the best thinkers about sustainability, agriculture and the cultural importance of food. It ranges from farm gate to supermarket shelf, from the factory to the fridge, nationally and internationally—with a detour into the kitchens of celebrity chefs. It will be an agenda-setting contribution to the most urgent discussion in Australia at the beginning of 2010: how climate change affects us all.

Griffith Review 26: Stories For Today (The Fiction Issue)

A new world is taking shape, driven by globalisation and the increasing complexity of our era. We are at a point in history where the artists and story tellers are best placed to define us to ourselves.

Stories for Today, a special summer fiction edition, presents a fresh and candid reinterpretation of the Australian character, with stories from the writers who are making an impact at home and overseas.

Voices from home and the Australian diaspora explore the impact of migration, easy movement, pandemics, recession, connection with Asia, the service economy and more.

Just as fiction provided the enduring images and notions of Australia at other key points in our history so we need stories to do this today. Articulating the new values – sustainability, tolerance and accountability – shouldn't be left to the politicians and advertisers but is something artists and writers are equipped to explore and express.

This edition will also feature a series of short essays commissioned from leading writers who will engage with questions about why writing fiction matters, how it differs from other forms of communication and what it contributes to our culture and understanding of ourselves.

Griffith Review 25: After The Crisis

Recessions change countries. The global financial crisis will change the world.

Corruption at the heart of the banking system triggered this crisis. In an interconnected world it spread like a pandemic, with remarkable speed and destruction. As the dominoes fell the inequity of the global system and the limits to growth were starkly revealed.

This crisis will mean an end to business as usual—if the resolution is successful, a new order will prevail. If not the consequences may be dire.

After the Crisis explores what is at stake, projects a new future, analyses historic parallels, examines the limits to growth and graphically reports from the front line around the world. In the lead essay, acclaimed author and business journalist Gideon Haigh goes beyond the clichés to reveal the inter-connected complexity of the financial system and recurring limits of human psychology.

The causes and consequences of the global financial crisis is a subject Griffith REVIEW is uniquely able to explore.

Griffith Review 24: Participation Society

Major changes of direction that affect whole societies occur very rarely. We are on the cusp of an epochal change which promises to transform the world as we have known it. The reaction to the global financial crisis and growing understanding of the impact of climate change are two of the triggers of a profound transformation. Combined with the new American president with roots in community activism and an energised population facing real challenges‚ business as usual will become a thing of the past.

The building blocks of this change have been put in place over the past decade −− with increasing awareness of the limits of the old economic models combined with the transformative power of access to information due to the rise of the internet. Participation‚ community engagement‚ interactivity‚ social capital‚ innovation and initiative are the new buzz words.

Australians had their first official taste of this experiment in the 2020 Summit‚ Americans explored its possibilities during their election campaign and Europeans have come to look for social entrepreneurship which changes the way they live their lives.

In the lead essay Cheryl Kernot explores what this may mean‚ in an essay that will provide a draft of a possible future. After a distinguished career in politics Cheryl Kernot left Australia to work with social entrepreneurs in Britain. The lessons she learned apply to government‚ business and the not−for−profit sector −− respect for people and the environment and faith in the ingenuity of people.

Other essays will explore the nature of a new world in which participation is possible and the old paradigms no longer apply −− in politics‚ government‚ health‚ social relations and education.

This will be an important agenda setting issue of GRIFFITH REVIEW −− responding to the emerging new world order and anticipating what it might mean.

Griffith Review 23: Essentially Creative

When the Prime Minister included the arts and creativity in the 2020 Summit in early 2008, it was more than political window-dressing with famous actors. It was a sign that after a decade artists, actors, writers and others engaged in the creative economy were being taken seriously.

This issue of Griffith Review draws on the talents of those attending the summit, including many of Australia's most high profile artists, to present a bold new agenda for the nation. It will explore the road blocks of the past and the future possibilities, informed by new thinking about the importance of the arts in economics, education, neuro-science and the creation of beautiful and challenging works.

The lead essay plots the way the arts have been institutionalised, but the spark of creativity still burns. Written by Helen O'Neil who has been closely involved in the arts all her life, it will propose a bold new agenda which learns from the past, from experiences and trends elsewhere to imagine a new Australia which truly values the arts and creativity.

Other essays, memoirs and reports by some of the best artists and writers in the country will bring this transformation to life. A list of authors will be available next month, but it will include big names, and others from the cutting edge of creative innovation.

This issue will precede the release of the government's response to the summit and will help develop the agenda for the year.

Features the essay 'Ratbags at the Gates' by Helen O'Neil which was shortlisted for the Alfred Deakin Prize for an Essay Advancing Public Debate as part of the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2009.

Griffith Review 22: Money Sex Power

Money makes the world go around, but when it stops the consequences are profound - from Masters of the Universe who lose their magical touch, to remote communities where the unwritten laws of money, sex and power are challenged power can disappear with astonishing speed.

A series of key essays explore the nexus between sex, money and power. Creed O'Hanlon writes for the first time about the delusions of power in a riveting essay. Marcia Langton dissects the abusive style of big bunga politics in Indigenous communities and its profound consequences.

All these issues and more are explored in a mix of essays, memoirs and stories that deal with the big issues in a way that is personal, political and unpredictable - but always engaging and readable.

This summer issue of Griffith REVIEW will provide new insights and showcase some of the finest writers in country.

Griffith Review 18: In The Neighbourhood

Australian engagement with Asia is the key to the future. Understanding how the region has changed and our place in it goes beyond business to questions of identity. Kevin Rudd's vision of Australia as a lynchpin in the geo-politics of America and China will provide a new frame. Keynote essays by Michael Wesley, Nicholas Jose and Geramie Barame examine how the relationship has changed and how it might evolve in future. In the Neighbourhood features leading thinkers and writers with a deep knowledge of Australia and the region proposing a new way proposes a new way of engaging with Asia as it assumes increasing importance.

Griffith Review 20: Cities On The Edge

Most people now live in cities which are increasingly under stress. Making cities more liveable, more sustainable and more fun is the challenge of the next decade.

The lead essay is by the most outstanding young urban planner in Australia, Brendan Gleeson, winner of the inaugural John Ironmonger Award. In this important essay Brendan examines the points of stress, especially in areas of rapid growth and suggests solutions that will make our cities better places to live and work. His expansive essay will set the big picture agenda for a new generation of thinking about urban planning and touch the concerns of us all.

Getting the mix right in the supply of water, transport, jobs and housing, at the same time creating an inspiring place to live that allows creativity to blossom and provide the entertainment and nourishment of the best cities, is a challenge. It is also the key to a sustainability.

The drift to the cities is happening all around the world, and the implications of this are evoked in moving essays by some of the best writers in Australia, including Margaret Simons and Robyn Davidson.

Griffith Review 21: Hidden Queensland

The election of the Rudd Government signals a momentous change in Australia: real political power moved north for the first time. Modern Queensland is a product of its past as well as the profound transformation and rapid population increase of the past two decades and this issue explains how it happened and what it means.

Hidden Queensland will also tease out the state's secrets and the underlying issues that have shaped it and left an indelible legacy on the nation. Prime Minister Rudd said, 'You can take the boy out of Nambour, but not Nambour out of the boy.' This is a truism which is evident in the work of many of Australia's greatest writers and artists. Hidden Queensland features many of them.

All these issues and more are explored in a mix of essays, memoirs and stories that deal with the big issues in a way that is personal, political and (un)predictable but always engaging and readable.

Griffith Review 16: Unintended Consequences

Noel Pearson, Australia's most innovative and important Aboriginal leader, writes the lead essay which will break new ground and set the agenda for the next forty years of indigenous relations.

Some of the best writers and thinkers in Australia examine the unintended consequences that have shaped, and continue to influence, the most pressing issues we face. From indigenous relations, war and the nanny state, to media hysteria and the creation of heroes and anti heroes to outright blunders we are surrounded by unintended consequences.

Writers include: Murray Sayle, Margaret Simons, Noel Pearson, Glyn Davis, Georgia Blain, Christine Wallace, Bernie Matthews, Michael Wesley, Lee Tulloch, Ken Haley and more.

Griffith Review 8: People Like Us

People Like Us presents a completely new take on the nature of social divisions in Australia, with stories that take the reader inside particular communities. Packed with tales of colliding worlds, Griffith Review 8 confronts old stereotypes, to celebrate the rich tapestry of the Australian experience in the new century.

A decade of wedge politics has left many confused about the common ground, as they retreat into like-minded communities. The causes and consequences of this divided society can be affirming, but fear and envy can also flourish. Are these divisions necessary, or desirable? Can empathy be learnt? Is a civil civic conversation possible, or are we retreating into defensive ghetto groups? Is this a moral issue or an economic one? Is a new Australian ethos emerging - if so what is it? To what extent is the political environment responsible for these divisions - or a product of them?

This issue includes a long keynote essay from Margaret Simons. Other contributors include Robyn Williams, John Marsden, Jay Verney, Carmel Bird, Martin Krygier, Caroline Jones, David Dale, Ann Curthoys, Merle & Sigrid Thornton, Vincent Plush, David Burchill, Inez Baranay, Michael Wilding, Marian Halligan and more.

Griffith Review 13: The Next Big Thing

The Next Big Thing is a unique insight into the times, through the eyes of a new generation of writers and thinkers. Australia's leading agenda-setting journal, Griffith Review, showcases fresh, critical perspectives of what it means to be young today.

The Next Big Thing goes beyond the hype about generational difference and is devoted to exciting new and emerging writers and thinkers, with insightful perspectives on the most pressing issues of the day.

The opportunities and challenges presented by globalisation, rapid technological change and the politics of fear mean we live in challenging, unpredictable times. But if you believe the polls, today's youth are disengaged, conservative and materialistic.

The Next Big Thing shows that it is not so simple. It looks beyond the stereotypes of youth and unpacks what defines and distinguishes contemporary cultural and political movements, providing a platform for the stories of the times.

Griffith Review 3 Webs Of Power

The internet has changed the way we think. Elites are pass ; networks are the new webs of power. Griffith Review: Webs of Power explores the way networks exert influence. From the revolving door or politics to the junior cricket team, from nepotism in business to the experience of new migrants, from community building to friendship, networks of people with shared beliefs and expectations now shape outcomes more than ever. This is a fresh and unexpected perspective on power, friendship and community.

Weighty, cheeky, elegant, sceptical and readable, Sydney Morning Herald.

Lively and serious...really interesting pieces of writing, The Reader.

So substantial, so rich in the unexpected, and with such eloquent visual text Ken Inglis. In Webs of Power Frank Moorhouse explores the new networking and the enduring influence of the old school tie, Mungo MacCullum looks through the revolving door of politics and considers the advice given to new Prime Ministers, "stay in power long enough to change the top 500 people who really run the country", Quentin Dempster looks at the media rules that shapes NSW politics, Gerard Henderson explores elites and the limits to power, Charles Firth offers a satirical guide to successful mateship, Gideon Haigh discusses the reasons nepotism is back in favour around the world and Sandman observes the power plays in junior cricket.

Griffith Review 14 The Trouble With Paradise

The paradise myth has shaped civilisations for centuries.

The quest for paradise on earth knows no bounds – repeated over and over, until it is now little more than an advertising slogan.

When Christopher Columbus first "discovered" America, it was considered a new Garden of Eden. Later it became a secular paradise in which rights and freedoms were enshrined. In this current time of terror, however, many of these rights are being questioned – there is trouble in paradise.

In Australia, freedom of expression is also under assault. In an important new essay, Frank Moorhouse considers the threat, documents the attack, explores its consequences and challenges us to respond. The freshness, originality and scope of his essay will stimulate and provoke. It is a must-read article.

Martin Amis, Chalmers Johnson, John Kinsella, Kirsty Sword Gusmão and others explore the lure of paradise and its shortcomings. Other writers include:

Paul Brennan, Patrick Allington, Allan Gyngell, John Kane, Chalmers Johnson, Brendon O'Connor, Wayne Macauley, Rosaleen Love, Doug Hendrie, Paul Hetherington, Bronwyn Lea, Mark Juddery, Oren Siedler and Sally Breen. Poems by John Kinsella. Photo essay, "Heaven must wait" by Will Robb.

Griffith Review 12 Hot Air Fossil Fuels

Climate change is the greatest challenge confronting the world.

Extreme weather events and battles over resources increase a sense of foreboding and highlight the urgent need to find sustainable solutions.

In a remarkable new essay, veteran journalist Murray Sayle provides a new way of thinking about the causes and consequences of climate change. Sayle travels from the monitoring station at Cape Grim through the Tasmanian wilderness and back in time to the Dutch Republic, the creation of capitalism and the origins of the hydrocarbon civilisation. He puts the problem we now face in sharp focus: how to sustain a globally expanding population with finite resources.

Hot Air showcases the key flashpoints in this global debate with erudite essays, insightful analysis and personal reflection. It will challenge the way you think about what is happening and what can be done.

Other writers include:

Robyn Williams, James Woodford, John Kinsella, Phil Brown, Graeme Dobell, Michael Heazle, Chip Rolley, Stephen Muecke, Geoffrey Blainey, Peter Doherty, Ian Lowe, Andrew Belk, Mark Hayes, Creed O'Hanlon, Rosaleen Love, Patrick Holland, Ian Lilley, George Seddon, Robert Milliken, Melissa Lucashenko, Matthew Condon, Heather Kirkpatrick, Peter Meredith. Jocelyn Carlin's photo essay Legacy captures life on Tuvalu as a record high tide hits.

Griffith Review 19: Re-imagining Australia

Irrespective of the outcome of the election, Australia in 2008 will be a different place, more open to new ways of thinking. Essays in Reimagining Australia predict the big trends that will shape this country in the future and reflect on the way things have changed in the past. The lead essay by the most outstanding young legal thinker in Australia, George Williams, addresses the dynamic nature of the nation, its stories, history and legal framework, and considers how this could change. His expansive essay will set the big picture agenda for a new era. Ideas of nation are under challenge throughout the world, as globalisation blurs the boundaries of belonging and identity. Australia will change in the next year and the essays and stories will explore topics for the new century and the way things have changed in the past. The importance of the imagination in defining place will have a central place in the issue.