This is me wearing a memento of my beloved Guardian, a silk scarf offer in 1979 when I first travelled to England. Since returning to Australia in 1981 I’ve been subscribing to the Guardian Weekly. It’s addictive, giving me a weekly fix of intellectual stimulation and laughter. Its facts, ideas and book recommendations have helped me through two degrees, three decades of vicissitudes, an editing career and a freelance writing career.
The news is often grim but written with a balance and nuance that has become increasingly rare anywhere else. (In my country, almost all media is marinated in rigid, xenophobic, rightwing bias.) I couldn’t live without the Guardian Weekly.
I usually go straight to Notes & Queries for a feeling of amused, relaxed camaraderie. I love Nicholas Lezard’s hilarious articles and reviews and also George Monbiot and What I’m really thinking. My favourite writer is Nick Davies for his integrity and courage and the ground-breaking journalism that led me to his riveting books, Flat Earth News and Hack Attack.
The Canberra public library system is crammed with fascinating books that I have requested after reading a review in the Guardian Weekly. After we’ve finished reading the papers they are read by friends who have retired down the coast, and then by all their friends there.
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