‘A Couple of Things Before the End’ by Sean O’Beirne
The Australian author’s debut story collection confidently converts the linguistic detritus of our era into something of lasting value
In light of recent events
Pope Francis’s Guide to Avoiding Physical Contact
Oslo Davis is an illustrator and artist.
Intelligence branch
Bernard Collaery eagerly awaits his national security trial, energised by the prospect of highlighting the government’s misdeeds
Planting hope
A community gardening program is bringing hope to asylum seekers
Living hell
Caught up in the chaos of the catastrophic bushfires on the NSW South Coast, the author experienced the terror of those whose homes and loved ones are threatened, as the failures of leadership became all too real
‘Girl from the North Country’
Weaving Bob Dylan songs into a story of Depression-era hardship, Conor McPherson’s musical speaks to the broken America of today
‘The Worst Person in the World’
Renate Reinsve is exceptional in Joachim Trier’s satisfying Nordic rom-com
Family’s grief compounded by WA’s hard border
The awful predicament of a Melbourne family unable to bring home their son’s body shows the callousness of WA’s border policy
The best of 2021 on screen
This year may have been difficult to live through, but it produced an extraordinary crop of films
