News & Reviews Magazine April Edition
BriLeeRama is here, so the giveaway is any two of my books, signed!
Editor’s Letter
Good Evening Dear Reader,
I’m finishing and scheduling this email from the beautiful town of Castlemaine in regional Victoria. Touring this book is so much more fun than all three of my other books! Something I realised while answering a particularly good moderator’s question last week was that I think this book—The Work—has unlocked a way I can work with the rigour but without the pain and dread of my non-fiction… I see a real direction forwards and it’s exhilarating.
Thank you to those of you I’m meeting in the signing lines. I love it when you tell me you love News & Reviews, or that you miss Cool Story already! A lot of my events are selling out, so I’ve updated the listings here.
I’m so thrilled with all six pieces in this month’s edition. You already know Astrid and Divya, but our four other contributors are probably new to you. The thing I love most about each of these essays is how individual they are. That may seem an obvious thing to say, but actually, there’s a slight same-ness to a lot of traditional ‘reviews’ these days. In professionalising book discussions often idiocyncracy gets sacrificed. I asked people to pitch me things that were more about their unique chemical reaction with a book, rather than a review, and the result has been grounding for me to edit and publish in the last few weeks. We’ve got mothers and lawyers and teachers and a farmer-slash-Swiftie here. It’s not about these people ‘liking’ my books, it’s about what thoughts and feelings these books catalysed in them.
When I first met and got to know Emma Dower I knew instinctively that she was one of those teachers who had changed her students’ lives. We all remember the name of our favourite teacher—the one who showed us another way forwards. Emma works in a lower SES school and for us here she’s written about how tough her students have to be to graduate, and how Who Gets to Be Smart made her wonder what she a) had to do, and b) was even capable of doing, for them. It’s a shocking and infuriating read, only swerving back into positivity for the sheer force of love and goodwill clearly emanating from Emma herself.
Astrid really called ‘shotgun’ on writing about Eggshell Skull because it was actually the first ever book she chose to cover as a critic. But here she’s also identified a few through-lines in the works that came after, and made a few incisive notes about how this idea and public-facing image of ‘Bri Lee’ has changed over the last six years. I tried editing down some of the more flattering stuff but she put it back in. (Thanks, Astrid. LOL.) And
From the moment I read Samantha Rosenfeld’s pitch I knew I was going to get a solid gold submission. Her father ran his own art gallery (like one of the characters in The Work does) but his was in Philadelphia, a so-called ‘second-tier’ art scene compared to New York. Samantha also told me that she, like the characters in my book, moved across the world for love, but that after 19 years her marriage was ending. Here her writing is deeply reflective without lazing into passivity or nostalgia. She is critical of people—both real and imagined—while appreciating that context is everything. It’s a great piece that barely needed editing.
I like that Divya’s reflections on Beauty are about the process rather than the result. That was a huge focus of the essay and something that people who didn’t read it (but presumed to understand its purpose) couldn’t have appreciated. ‘Because what else does our modern world tell us to do but to always be better, always be improving?’ And in this, Divya writes, she found ‘a truer reflection of the endless chatter that occupied my own mind in my own phases of food obsession, than anything I’d read before’.
I’m going to be really honest and say I still don’t know how I feel about being compared to Taylor Swift! Sam’s pitch was so clearly heartfelt though, and her description of being at the 80,000-person-strong concert with her daughter really moved me. Do you think a billionaire can be kind? Regardless of your answer, read this piece for the way in which Sam reflects on the changing attitudes towards women’s performed kindness between her generation and her children’s: ‘I was taught to only say things that I thought other people wanted to hear, and that what I wanted was not important. If I did want something I had to wait to be offered it.’ How can a woman be kind while speaking uncomfortable truths? That’s the tension I found fascinating to sit inside, and I think Sam makes a great argument about truth-telling being a requisite for genuine kindness.
I’m so grateful to Ruimin for pitching this essay. It takes the idea of the ‘highly ornamental pots’ from Who Gets to Be Smart (which was an image taken from Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own) and points out how these pots—the awards and certificates and things from institutions—aren’t just silly accoutrements if you’re a migrant student being made to feel as though your citizenship is conditional upon your performance. ‘Failure was never an option. Not only did the weight of my parents’ high expectations sit heavy on my shoulders, but there was also a deeper internalised fear that if I failed, I would have nothing to justify my belonging in my own country.’ This essay is full of clear-eyed intellectual engagement, and a lot of feeling. I’m proud to run it.
See how good this edition is!
I want to thank these six brilliant women for showing us what it sounds like when a single human encounters a single book, and it somehow changes them. It’s a special thing and I still believe in it. Feel free to share your own responses—either to the books or these pieces—in the comments on the posts, because the contributors will get a notification when you do.
Also, do you like hearing from other News & Reviews readers who aren’t necessarily professional writers (yet)? Maybe one or two spots in the next deep-dive editions are just for more like this? Let me know.
Best wishes and happy reading,
Bri Lee
Tour Looks
Some of the highlights. More to come!
Sydney: I scrolled through Camilla & Marc’s entire ‘coming soon’ section in March and reached out to them, specifically asking for this red three-piece. I was told it was ‘currently in Paris for internal shoots and events’ and there was a slim chance we could get it for Sydney in time. It came through in the final 48 hours and, frankly, it’s the greatest thing I’ve ever worn, and I got to wear it on a beautiful day, on one of the most momentous occasions of my professional life. It’s the ‘Majorelle Bodysuit’ ($350; loaned), with the ‘Parker Blazer’ ($750; loaned) and ‘Parker Trouser’ ($450; loaned).
Canberra: My friend Lucianne put me onto Esse Studios and holy smokes am I grateful—just the chicest motherfuckers. I asked for the ‘Lumiere Off Shoulder Dress’ ($850) which is absolutely lush and divine, but alas, the sample size would not zip over my tits. Boo! Fortunately the four-piece black suit was good-to-go: the ‘Aire Top’ ($340; loaned) is sold out on the Esse site but one in a size 12 is available here, the bralette is also nowhere to be found. No matter, the real heroes are the ‘Modus Band Trousers’ ($750; loaned) with their gorgeous side-tied detail, and the matching ‘Modus Stripe Blazer’ ($1,100; loaned) with it’s committed wide lapels. These are such timeless pieces and they sing IRL.
ABC Breakfast and Regional Victoria: The lovely team at RIISE let me choose a look for tour, and I chose this Hyde & Stone two-piece of the ‘Audrey Trouser’ ($580; gift) and ‘Marcel Bodice’ ($380; gift). It is somehow simultaneously structured and soft, and this blue-stone colour is infinitely team-able with other pieces as separates. All of the brands stocked on RIISE meet their strict environmental responsibility requirements. For example, ‘the Marcel Bodice is made from premium Japanese wool blend suiting. A deadstock fabric, it’s been sourced from end-of-the-line designer materials.’ How good! RIISE have a shop in Sydney you can pop into IRL now too, which is beautiful. I recommend checking out their beauty selection to find new, responsible beauty brands.
Melbourne: At the time you get this in your inbox, I’ll be backstage preparing for my big show. The story behind my Melbourne look is that once, about three months ago, Em Nolan shared a photo on her Instagram stories of one of her ‘Tux Shirts’ ($350; gift) worn as a dress with 100 denier stockings and patent black stilettos. In other words: arooga-meets-intellectual. I sent her a message, we set up a time for me to visit her Melbourne studio, and I chose a larger size—I think around an AU20, to cover my arse—and Em then customised it by adding buttons lower and something else I forget. I’ll be wearing it with my Proenza Schouler ‘Glove Over-the-Knee Boots’ ($820 on sale here; I bought mine elsewhere) and either red or black stockings, and my Dries Van Noten leopard print coat which is sold out everywhere.
Other stuff: I have been wearing my Wynn Hamyln ‘Andie Jeans’ ($580; bought) multiple times a week since I got them! Same goes for my Simone Rocha ‘White Rose Long Sleeve T-Shirt’. I got mine from Camargue but they sold out fast. Get yours from the men’s section of Ssense here ($325; bought).
Giveaways and Next Editions
The winner of last week’s giveaway, a copy of The Alternatives by Caoilinn Hughes, is #41 out of 253. I’ve emailed you, Rosie Cho!
This month, choose any two of my books and I’ll sign them (presuming you want me to, lol) and post them out to you! Enter with your name and email address here and I’ll draw the winner at random next week.
I’m actually not completely sure what the next special edition will be, to be honest. I’m on the road for the rest of this month, and I have a strong desire to do a whole newsletter—Rama-Style—about Rachel Cusk, and one about Caoilinn Hughes, and also one about Leila Slimani… please drop a comment if you’ve got any requests for -Rama editions.
Love you Bri. Thankyou for being so accessible and kind.
Astrid's piece was delightful. Emma's is heartbreaking of course. I went to a public school and something that strikes me still is my schoolmates' belief in their own choices. I don't mean to sound condescending but I think that we're conditioned to believe that we get what we deserve, and the studious, intelligent few who break ranks to go on and 'succeed' by societal measures are held up as more deserving. But most of my high school friends who work in 'unskilled' jobs are just as capable as my lawyer colleagues at a top tier firm, they just have no idea (why would they?).
Ps. Saw your Melbourne show Bri you absolutely ATE in that Em Nolan and thigh-high boots situation. I thought the moderator's question about sex and consent was a little misguided or confused but you handled it excellently, we could've listened to you talk for hours.