Books for Cooks: A Fitzroy Delight

There are few things I love more than food and books, and a remarkable shop on Gertrude St, Fitzroy combines the two. Read More

What’s On: Melbourne’s Emerging Writers’ Festival

It may be over a month away, but it’s time to start thinking about what you’re going to see at Melbourne’s Emerging Writers Festival. Read More

Therapeutic Writing with Sian Prior

She’s worked as a writer, an opera singer, a broadcaster for ABC, a journalist, a university lecturer, and an MC. Following the release of her memoir, Shy, Sian Prior is out to teach Australia how therapeutic writing can be. In preparation for her upcoming seminar at The School Of Life in Melbourne, The Creative Issue talked to Sian about her experiences with writing as therapy. Read More

Review: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, ‘This is what it is to be happy.’”

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Exciting Reads for 2015

As one month ends and a new one begins, I decided it was time to look at some of the most exciting book releases so far of 2015, and what’s left to come. Read More

Review: Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente

“Remember this when you are queen,” he whispered hoarsely. “I moved the earth and the water for you.” Read More

Review: Wolf In White Van

“People have ideas and theories about coping with catastrophic injury, but most of them are based in practicalities. They’re right in thinking that the practicalities – how will you live? what will you do? – are important, but these aren’t the main thing. The main thing is what happens to your vision, how you’re a little different after you’ve seen a few things, and as far as I know, nobody really gets this.”

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Interview: Abe Nouk, Slam Poet

Refugee turned national poet, Abe Nouk is one of the many brave new voices changing the face of Australian slam poetry. 
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Readings, Carlton: More than just your average bookstore

There’s a certain charm that encapsulates Lygon Street, though it doesn’t lie in the string of Italian restaurants and tourist traps. Read More

Review: The Strays by Emily Bitto

The Strays, the debut novel from Melbourne writer Emily Bitto, manages to strike the reader with its intensity, atmospheric writing, and occasional shock value. Read More

Audiobooks For Everyone

The soothing act of being read to is one we might forget as we grow older and live for Facebook and our Twitter feeds – plug yourself into one of our picks and get literary without even turning a page.

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Submissions Open For Queensland Poetry Festival

Queensland’s biggest weekend for poetry and the people who write it may still be many months away, but the deadline for submissions is fast approaching. If you’re a poet, spoken word artist or performer wanting to take your work to a larger audience, the Queensland Poetry Festival could be your chance.

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Book Review: Off Track Planet’s Travel Guide For The Young, Sexy And Broke

Reading, travelling and reading about travelling; these are joys that are shared by many, and there are endless travel guides available out there to satisfy any case of bookworm or wanderlust. Off Track Planet’s Travel Guide For The Young, Sexy And Broke offers something a little different, however. Perhaps a little unorthodox in comparison to your typical travel guides, it offers insight into globetrotting in an educational and entertaining manner that is relevant to our society of new-experience-addicts.

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Book Review: The Fictional Woman By Tara Moss

Tara Moss is the bestselling author of nine novels, an ambassador for several women and children’s rights institutes and a journalist and blogger of relevant social and political issues. She is a sought after public speaker, possesses a Certificate III in private investigator credentials, and has a motorcycle licence. She is also a beautiful fashion model, which sadly causes scepticism amongst some ignorant people of her credibility throughout her other successful fields. Read More