Extract: Nation, Memory, Myth by Steve Vizard
Posted on 11 Jun 2025
How does myth generate meaning for a nation and its citizens? How does a national myth transform into symbolic performances of cultural memory and kinship?
Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly is Editor-at-Large of The Australian. He was previously Editor-in-Chief of the paper and he writes on Australian politics, public policy and international affairs.
Paul has covered Australian governments from Gough Whitlam to Kevin Rudd and spent two decades in the Canberra Press Gallery. He is a regular commentator on ABC Television for the Insiders program.
Paul is the author of six books: The Unmaking of Gough, The Hawke Ascendancy, The End of Certainty, November 1975, Paradise Divided and 100 Years: The Australian Story.
In 2001 he presented a five-part documentary series for the ABC on Australia's first century. Paul was Graham Perkin Journalist of the Year (1990) and Weary Dunlop medallist for 2005. He has been a Fellow of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, a long-time participant in the Australia-America Leadership Dialogue, and is a former board member of the Australia-Indonesia Institute.
Books
Related News
Extract: The Southern Frontier by Rohan Howitt
Posted on 11 Jun 2025
Why has Antarctica long loomed large in Australian psyche? How did Australia come to see Antarctica as a natural extension of our territory and why…
Extract: Beyond Green by Lesley Head
Posted on 11 Jun 2025
Culture, society and human behaviour have forever been linked to nature. In her thought-provoking book, Lesley Head, geographer and Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor Emeritus at…
Letter From the Publisher
Posted on
We started the year by moving tens of thousands of physical books across state lines, swam through oceans of metadata and updated our back-end systems…
Related Events
Dymocks Luncheon with Chris Hammer (NSW)
Fri 27 June at 12:00PM
Four Seasons Hotel, 199 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Join Chris Hammer in conversation with ABC's Fran Kelly to discuss the updated edition of The River.
In Conversation: Steve Vizard on Nation, Memory, Myth (VIC)
Thu 26 June at 6:00PM
Readings Carlton, 309 Lygon St, Carlton VIC 3053
Join us to hear Steve Vizard in conversation about Nation, Memory, Myth.
In Conversation: Chris Hammer on The River (VIC)
Tue 08 July at 6:00PM
Readings Hawthorn, 687 Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn VIC 3122
Join us to hear Chris Hammer in conversation about his bestselling classic book, The River.
Author Talk: Chris Hammer on The River (SA)
Thu 10 July at 6:30PM
Burnside Library, 401 Greenhill Road Tusmore, SA 5065
Learn more about author Chris Hammer's prize-winning non-fiction book about the Murray Darling Basin.
