Stephen Downes

Stephen Downes is a Melbourne writer and journalist. His debut novel The Hands of Pianists was among five (of 105) shortlisted for the Prime Ministers Literary Awards in 2022. Several of his short stories have been shortlisted and longlisted in the best UK short-fiction prizes. Last Meal won the 2020 Fiction Factory award. He covered a Middle-East war for Agence France-Presse, and a Pacific insurrection for The Age.

Stephen Downess new novel Mural was published by Transit Lounge in September 2024. The criminal narrator of Mural wrestles with the knowledge that Australias most prominent public artist Napier Waller painted erotic watercolours years before the religious and military stained-glass windows for which he is best-known. [https://transitlounge.com.au/shop/mural/]

Recent articles by Stephen Downes

ABC News' death rattle

ABC News' death rattle

I’d like to think that ABC News’ revamped online iteration is like an ancient Aunty’s death rattle. Surely, its demise must follow.

Leslie landscape prize attracts superb pictures

Leslie landscape prize attracts superb pictures

It’s astonishing enough that 403 landscapes by Australian artists were entered in this year’s John Leslie Art Prize. Even more surprising is the superb quality and diversity of the 52 shortlisted, which are exhibited in Sale’s Gippsland Art Gallery until 24 November.

Country town showcases world-standard young pianists

Country town showcases world-standard young pianists

Every two years, a musical feat of world standard is achieved by a young Australian in an unlikely Victorian country town. Shepparton, home of irrigation and stone fruit, population almost 70,600, or an average AFL crowd, hosts it.

Are we missing out on the music of literature?

Are we missing out on the music of literature?

A reading survey of three years ago found that a quarter of Australians never read a book – or listen to one.

Book hero dies

Book hero dies

A hero of mine has died. Bernard Pivot, who did more than any other French journalist to get people to read, on Monday (6 May) joined the extinct writers he loved. A TV presenter and producer, he was 89.

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