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Kevin John Brophy

Kevin John Brophy

The Conversation

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Friday essay: I was enthralled by Crime and Punishment at 14. Rereading it after 60 years, I’m still awed

Friday essay: I was enthralled by Crime and Punishment at 14. Rereading it after 60 years, I’m still awed

Revisiting Fyodor Dostoevsky’s compelling, original and scandalous novel – after a 60-year hiatus – is a profoundly affecting experience.

04.12.2025 8

The Conversation

Kevin John Brophy

Andrew Pippos’ The Transformations: a touching story of love, loss and newspapers

Andrew Pippos’ The Transformations: a touching story of love, loss and newspapers

At the centre of this novel is a lonely man, the son of a Greek migrant cafe-owning family, who finds a home in a newsroom at a time of turbulence.

04.12.2025 20

The Conversation

Kevin John Brophy

Ian McEwan’s new novel explores resentment and vengeance in a fractured world

08.10.2025 6

Pearls and Irritations

Kevin John Brophy

Ian McEwan’s new novel explores resentment and vengeance in a fractured world

A missing poem is at the centre of What We Can Know, a sprawling, surprising novel set in a time of climate catastrophe.

06.10.2025 7

The Conversation

Kevin John Brophy

Could a river sue a corporation? Robert Macfarlane’s books change the world – now he’s advocating for the world’s waterways

The revered nature writer asks ambitious questions in his latest work, written at a tipping point for the world’s climate.

02.06.2025 20

The Conversation

Kevin John Brophy

A serial killer blames his ‘monstrous’ mother – but misogyny is the real culprit

Mandy Beaumont’s new novel, The Thrill of It, takes us inside a killer’s mind.

13.03.2025 10

The Conversation

Kevin John Brophy

In her charming ‘nanna’s book about footy’, Helen Garner writes with candour, vigilance and insight

There are a number of good reasons you might want to read this little “nanna’s book about footy” from Helen Garner over the summer. Maybe you are...

27.11.2024 4

The Conversation

Kevin John Brophy

‘Let go dad, I’m gone’: a father charts the anguish of losing a son too young

Death comes at us, unswerving, immense, pressing on us its only gift, infinite absence. Mostly we face away from it. Too often we are faintly...

27.08.2024 2

The Conversation

Kevin John Brophy