大象传媒

As the red dust settles in Sydney, Matthew Sweet talks to two of Australia's best known writers, Thomas Keneally and Richard Flanagan. He asks them what has shaped the Australian literary experience and if a new comprehensive anthology of Australian writing can offer a way out of literary crisis.

Which city is most representative of America in the 21st century? It may have been New York not so long ago but many now point to Barak Obama's Chicago, the subject of a new anthology of writing featuring Nobel laureates Wole Soyinka and Peter Carey, among others. Matthew discusses Chicago's claims with one of the city's best known reporters, Neil Steinberg, and literary historian Chris Bigsby, a long time observer of the city that's home to so many of Saul Bellow's heroes and to the Steppenwolf theatre company where John Malkovich cut his teeth.

Science writer Philip Ball reviews the Darwin biopic Creation, starring Paul Bettany, and asks what version of Darwin has emerged from Darwin year.