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Stories to explore

Stories to explore

State Library is a home for readers and writers, literature and storytelling. Want to search the latest issue of a journal or magazine? Desperate to find your next favourite book or essay? Need a podcast to listen to while you write? Here, staff from Reading, Writing & Ideas and black&write! share the stories they love each month. You’ll also find our latest interviews with local writers and creatives.

Matilda poster, Commonwealth Games 1982

Read

Some of us (guilty!) have gone full-Matilda only recently. Others, like Dr Fiona Crawford from QUT, have studied the Australian women's side since the beginning.

Read on about the before-years when the Matildas fundraised with lamington drives and had to cover their own laundry fees.

Via The Conversation

Listen

Ever wondered why English speakers say "poultry" when we could say "chicken" or "mansion" when we could say "house"? Sociologist and linguist Valerie Fridland is passionate about how language evolves and she's great at communicating complex ideas in a simple way.

A fascinating deep dive via Armchair Expert

Read

What are Reading, Writing & Ideas staff reading now?

Kevin O'Brien at Venice Biennale

Cover of the body country by Susie Anderson which is white with blue and orange watercolour dots

Cover of Roseghetto by Kirsty Jagger. A teal and white illustration shows a girl reading a book under a street light.

Blog posts

Composite image of The Whitewash book cover showing a man in a white tuxedo, and a photo of Siang Lu who is in glasses and a black jacket

The turning point: Siang Lu

Siang Lu reflects on 3 turning points that have shaped him, offering us glimpses into his writing life.

A composite image of Kris Kneen and the cover of their book "Fat girl dancing"

Finders keepers: Kris Kneen

Kris Kneen find an item in our collections that inspires them to create a new, original creative piece of work.

Book cover of The Animals in that Country beside a photo of a girl and a horse

The turning point: Laura Jean McKay

Laura Jean McKay reflects on 3 turning points that have shaped her, offering us glimpses into her writing life.

Explore your favourite journals

Griffith Review

Griffith Review

Griffith Review is a literary and current affairs journal that offers fresh takes on big ideas.

Meanjin Quarterly

Meanjin Quarterly

Meanjin was founded in Brisbane by Clem Christesen (the name, pronounced Mee-an-jin, is the word in the Turrbal language for the finger of land on which central Brisbane sits) in 1940.

Overland

Overland – Australia’s premier radical literary magazine – has been showcasing brilliant and progressive fiction, poetry, nonfiction and art since 1954.

Australian Book Review

Australian Book Review

Australian Book Review (ABR), one of Australia’s major cultural magazines, presents high-quality journalism and new writing for the widest possible audience.