‘There were many famous Callan Park patients from the 20th century who were writers: Michael Dransfield the poet, JF Archibald the editor of The Bulletin, and various members of Henry Lawson’s family — writers, too. But there were also some interesting, and far less-famous Victorian-era, writers who made up Callan Park’s first wards.’

‘For me, the collective writing of Monty Python is an exploration of the boundaries of the thing that connects us all – humanity – through humour. Their persistent and profound sense of bathos, delivered with a laugh, is deeply human, beautiful and useful.’

‘What always attracts me to Park’s books is her flair for storytelling. The drama! The pathos! The cacophony of life that surrounds the Darcy family in The Harp in the South and Poor Man’s Orange.’

‘There was always something special and luminous in the stripped back verse of Porter. She could make words dance across the mind and sear themselves into your cerebellum, she could lift you up, she could tear your heart out in a way that made you say ‘thank you’ then beg for more.’

‘Fahrenheit 451 both scared the bejesus out of me and encapsulated the ‘locked and loaded’ feeling of being seized, seduced and taken over by a piece of fiction, and the glimmering politicising awareness that reading itself is a subversive act.’

‘Page after page, I grew prouder to discover that the father of these words originated from the same cultural identity as my own — Kahlil Gibran became the embodiment to me of everything dignified and wise and literary in being Lebanese.’

‘It has become cool to be a sociopath. At least that’s what fiction is telling us. If the roaring success of  Benedict Cumberbatch’s portrayal of Sherlock Holmes is anything to go by, being a ‘high-functioning sociopath’ will not only get you the girls, the money and the international fame, but it’s a great way to solve crime, catch killers and save the world, all in time for biccies and tea.’

VERIFIABLE REALITY VS INVENTED NARRATIVES Science writing is a big church: the spectrum extends from the primary research papers and review articles that are the main product of professional scientists, to the stories and books of science fiction writers. My first research paper was published 50 years ago, and, though I’ve written and published five […]

‘It wasn’t all smoked kippers and ginger beer, there were smugglers, kidnappers and poison pen letters. Where were the parents in all this? Working, sick, away, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that those four children and Timmy the dog were in danger, and me along with them.’