Stories
A selection of stories published online and in print
Award-winning author and translator Ken Liu on Invisible Planets: the first English language anthology of Chinese science fiction
There are rare moments in literary history where one can attribute the rise of an entire genre to just one author. Ken Liu is not just an author – he’s a translator who is opening the door to anglophone audiences to the huge growth in Chinese science fiction.
He has just overseen the publishing of Invisible Planets, a collection of stories which could well be the Chinese science fiction equivalent of Dangerous Visions, the anthology of science fiction released in 1967 which changed the way readers thought about the genre.
Take my husband - please
What is it that makes Hong Kong laugh? That’s the burning question on the minds of 30 people who will be standing in front of a microphone over three nights as part of the Hong Kong International Comedy Festival.
Comedians either raised or resident in Hong Kong will be competing for laughs in a field that includes African residents of mainland China, Singaporeans, Thais, Filipinos, Taiwanese, Cambodians, Europeans and Americans.
radio broadcasting history
Two blokes are told they can operate their radio station – as long it’s no more powerful than 25 watts and they operate outside the 50 kilometre radius of the existing regional broadcasters in the region. So begins the world’s first mobile radio broadcast, in Clunes in 1931. An Aussie journalist swaps a wire recorder for a bottle of whiskey with an American G.I. – thus Australia’s first mobile radio reporter was created.
In 1945 Bob O’Brien returned to Melbourne and sold his talents and his technology as an ‘on the spot reporter’ to 3AW – becoming the legendary Radio Roundsman, dominating the ratings.
The Titanic Memorial Band reforms: a tribute to all musicians who died on the job
One of Ballarat’s lesser known landmarks is its bandstand built by Victorian musicians in honour of bandleader Wallace Hartley and his band of musicians who played on while the RMS Titanic sank.
Hear about the small troupe of musicians who turn out each year on the Titanic sinking anniversary to honour their memory, and of the special event planned upon the centenary of the disaster.
Here comes a regular: Jack and Mary Nolan at the Meredith Music Festival
This weekend marks 30 festivals held on the Nolan family farm outside of Meredith. Meet Jack and Mary Nolan, who agreed to their son’s request to have a party in one of the paddocks over 21 years ago.
In a dressing room reserved for George Clinton, one of the world’s legendary proponents of funk, sits a sheep farmer and his wife who arguably command a greater love and respect from the thousands of music fans on the other side of the crowd barrier at this venue than the man who famously proclaimed “free your mind and your ass will follow”.
How the woman who was history’s greatest pirate became a children’s story
How do you explain to children that history’s greatest pirate was a woman, who not only commanded thousands of pirates aboard hundreds of ships and enforced a bloody and violent code of conduct upon her followers, but also managed to convince authorities to allow her to retire and run a gambling house?
For just over a decade, author Sarah Brennan and cartoonist Harry Harrison have been collaborating on the bestselling children’s series Chinese Calendar Tales, which take each sign of the Chinese zodiac as a starting point for telling a story about an aspect of Chinese culture and history.