Michael Winkler
@micwink.bsky.social
Writer, reader, swimwear model. Last book Grimmish. Next book Griefdogg. michaelwinkler.com.au
Wayne Marshall, hardest working man in Australian literature
So pleased to see the best book I encountered last year released in a stunning @textpublishing.bsky.social edition. If you haven't read Lara Pawson yet, start now.
Holy hell. ntindependent.com.au/scientist-sa...
Scientist says Minister’s pole-flip and earth axis-tilt water claims are false | NT Independent
Trade and Business Minister Robyn Cahill’s claim that the Earth’s poles can flip during periods of heavy rainfall in the Northern Territory and that the water causes the Earth’s axis to shift is incor...
ntindependent.com.au
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD TIMES
It’s the 508th anniversary today of a woman starting to dance spontaneously in the streets of Strasbourg. Soon, she was not alone, and by the middle of August, hundreds of people were dancing uncontrollably in public place, and starting to drop dead 🧵
This is happening at the same time the "affordable housing" thing, riding on a wave of imbecilic credulity thanks to the YIMBY movement, has been revealed as the sham it always was. People have nowhere to go. People have NOWHERE to go.
A crackdown on illegal camping in Noosa, prompted by hundreds of complaints, has sparked outrage locally, with many arguing fines will not solve the issue.
Hearing that Barry Dickins has died. A blazing talent, and 100% original.
Traces of Australian links to Atlantic slavery survive all around us, whether we realise it or not. Research by Prof @janelydon.bsky.social FAHA and Prof Zoë Laidlaw illuminates these connections and prompts us to seek new understandings of the past: lnkd.in/ebZ7dAUR
If you live in any of these places, or know anyone who does, we'd love to say gidday...
I like scrolling my bluesky feed because it’s the worst news imaginable and then occasionally a quote from moby dick
Had a lovely long chat with Don Watson about America on its 250th birthday, about its storied history and strange present. On @3rrrfm.bsky.social
Segments: Future Perfect: Don Watson on America’s Storied History And Strange Present — Triple R 102.7FM, Melbourne Independent Radio
On July 4, 1776, 250 years ago this week, the Continental Congress in America officially adopted the Declaration of Independence, which severed the 13 American colonies from Great Britain, and establi...
rrr.org.au
Meanwhile you can go full fash/Elongated Muskrat at the NRL and it's all good fun.
One Nation and Labor just voted together to double the visa fees for people come to Australia to study, to nearly $5,000. The politics of Labor and One Nation is clear, treating people who come here to be a part of the community as either cash cows or scapegoats.
Hooray for this, but it's a bit astonishing in 2026 that you would have three Australian writers spruiking an overseas OzLit festival and not one is First Nations. Nice flags though.
A new UK festival celebrating Australian literature and ideas will take place at @foylesforbooks.bsky.social Charing Cross Road, London, on 18th October 2026. 👇
Thinking about the lack of diversity in news rooms, prominent journalists of colour/migrant backgrounds who've been hounded out, and First Nations journalists who've left due to racism and lack of cultural safety and respect. All of this makes it easier for Hanson.
We can't do this thing again where we make racism an argument between white people. First Nations, people of colour, people from migrant backgrounds must be given space to lead & question, and must feel safe to do so. We've failed again and again on this, and it's a huge part of why Hanson is back.
Yasunari Kawabata certainly knew how to write a blurb (for Osamu Dazai).
On this ongoing, relentless nonsense about AI resistance being classist, excellence is one of the few, fragile weapons working class people can deploy against privilege. Destroy excellence, or cheapen it to the point of routine, and you reward access and wealth.
A last reup - if you are in Sydney and think that reading is better than deading, love to see you tomorrow night. www.betterreadevents.com/events/micha...
Michael Winkler In Conversation with Giacomo Bianchino | Better Read Events
betterreadevents.com
Hunting through old photos, found the other MCG - Marree - not a lot of turf maintenance required.
Classic novels simply aren't relatable. Even contemporary literature is often about things I have never personally experienced. My preferred genre is autobiographical fiction that I have written myself
The perpetrators of the 2004 spying on #TimorLeste’s maritime boundary negotiating team have asked Attorney-General Michelle Rowland to issue a ‘secrecy certificate’ over why they say they shouldn’t have to confess to the sordid gas theft crime everyone knows they facilitated. #auspol #NoTruth
Disciple of the #QuentinCrisp school of cleaning: "There is no need to do any housework at all. After the first four years, the dirt doesn't get any worse."
If you're in Sydney or you can get to Sydney or you've ever visited Sydney or you've heard of Sydney or you know someone who knows someone called Sidney, love to see you at the legendary Better Read than Dead on the 15th. www.betterreadevents.com/events/micha...
Michael Winkler In Conversation with Giacomo Bianchino | Better Read Events
betterreadevents.com
Have you, like me, spent the last 26 years worrying if the Canadian Potato Museum STILL has the display of various potato diseases with potatoes in little coffins? Stop worrying. I checked today. Still there.
Another quixotic Upswell title. Clara Brack's memoir of her parents takes risks and provides interest.