‘“One of our rarest gifts”: David Malouf in the pages of Australian Book Review’ by Carissa Chye

‘“One of our rarest gifts”: David Malouf in the pages of Australian Book Review’ by Carissa Chye

From The ABR Podcast by The ABR Podcast

June 11, 2026 · 11 min · Episode 279

About this episode

Carissa Chye discusses David Malouf's impact on the Australian Book Review and the literary community.

This week on The ABR Podcast, we feature Carissa Chye’s essay on David Malouf, titled ‘One of our rarest gifts’. A retrospective piece on ABR’s rich, generative relationship with Malouf, Chye’s essay recalls how Malouf’s ‘work and presence animated the literary life of the journal’. Taking us through the ABR archive, Chye observes that ‘the enduring singularity of Malouf’s literary vision is traceable through the convergent ways critics responded to the same defining impulses in his work’. Across decades of literary dialogue and imaginative essaying,’ she writes, ‘Malouf’s work was gently pedagogic of a particular mode of careful reading’.

People in this episode

Guest: Carissa Chye

Topics covered

  • literary analysis
  • David Malouf
  • Australian literature
  • critical response
  • literary dialogue

Keywords

  • David Malouf
  • Australian Book Review
  • literary criticism
  • Carissa Chye
  • literary vision
  • essay
  • archive

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Australian Book Review

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