For love or money : the future of the Australian essay

Abstract

Sometimes it looks like the best journalism; sometimes its style more closely resembles fiction. The modern essay can take many forms, but there is no doubt that these days it is a far cry from the stilted version of it we laboured over in school. Peter Craven, Amanda Lohrey and Hilary Mantel gathered to discuss the nature and future of the essay in a panel organized by the Media Department at Macquarie University for the 2004 Sydney Writers’ Festival