Australian writers

The winner of Australia's richest literary prize did not attend the ceremony.

His absence was not by choice.

Behrouz Boochani, whose debut book won both the $25,000 non-fiction prize at the Victorian premier's literary awards and the $100,000 Victorian prize for literature on Thursday night, is not allowed into Australia.

When Hanya Yanagihara was 10 years old, her father let her visit a pathologist's lab. He was a doctor and an artist, twin interests his young daughter shared so that when the pathologist opened the cadaver, she whipped out a sketch pad and started to draw.  Read more

It may seem at the moment that the only thing that will save the Australian book industry is moving every publisher and writer into Christopher Pyne's electorate, and making them all wear hi-vis jackets and safety helmets.  Read more

Last week's announcement that Richard Flanagan had won the Man Booker prize for fiction has propelled the Tasmanian-born writer into the international literary orbit, but it also has the local publishing community seeing stars.  Read more