Countering the Contrarian - Richard Seymour’s ‘Unhitched’
Christopher Hitchens loomed large as a commentator on global politics and current affairs. More a polemical raconteur than a public intellectual, he carved out a role for himself as the pundit of choice for a broad and varied audience. Hitchens won allies and followers for his stances on various (and sometimes conflicting) issues, and any book stamped with his name and features is sure to arrest the browsing eye of a broad chunk of the book-buying public. As a figure who traded on style as much as substance, Hitchens also had a more loyal following of readers who would go along with him on religion as willingly as on politics or poetry. These were readers who relish the contra-line and who identified with Hitchens’ personal brand of intellectual argy-bargy. For this audience in particular, Unhitched is an opportunity to test the grounds of their esteem against Richard Seymour’s own contra-line on the Hitch.
Fearless - Jennifer Mills’ short fiction
Much was made of the astonishing range of Nam Le’s first story collection, 'The Boat', and with good reason. Jennifer Mills has a similarly fearless confidence in tackling other voices and places. 'The Rest Is Weight' is Mills’ first collection, and it arrives on the back of a growing reputation in Australian short fiction, distinguished by a steady application to her craft.
Read and digest - The Ember Publishing Pty Ltd
Regular visitors will have noticed The Ember has been on a go-slow over the last few months. We are preparing for phase two of Ember publishing. For the past four years we have published free essays and reviews that bridge the gap between mainstream journalism and academic writing. Starting in 2013, The Ember will also publish a regular e-magazine for sale through the site.
Let Us Be Terrible - Wahnich’s defence of the Terror
Terror is a means to excite or depress the political enthusiasms of a population. Terror can be a tool of revolt and also of reactionary retribution, and its ultimate ethical status will be dependent on the legitimacy of the cause it serves. This kind of legitimacy is rarely resolved conclusively, but in the case of the French Revolution, Wahnich sees a cause that cannot be sullied by the atrocities committed in its name.
