The Latest Breaking News from Maggie Nelson

The American author of The Argonauts on her latest collection of essays, how the Purple Rain star shaped her sexual development and the risks she takes in her writing

Katie Mitchell directs and Ben Whishaw stars, while David Byrne’s new reign at the Royal Court gets off to a cool start. And Denise Gough is unmissable in a blazing revival of Duncan Macmillan’s addiction drama

When my 25-year marriage broke down in 2017, I did what I always do in my life, especially in times of crisis. I turned to books. Specifically, to books by women.

In 2015, I received a note: I am writing to pass on a couple pages of writing from a friend of mine who was murdered in the Yukon in 1992

I wanted to start this piece with the Laurie Anderson quote, “Talking about music is like dancing about architecture”, but it turns out that Laurie never said it. And the adage has been through so many versions and origin stories that the harder I think on it, the more my…

Life, relationships and art are filtered through sound in 16 essays by brilliant women

Most readers of Helen Garner will be able to pinpoint a first personal encounter with her work: a book, or even a sentence, that cut through like sharp light; a local landmark suddenly immortalised on the page; an unsayable bodily experience transformed into the unabashedly said.