The Sydney Review of Books has published a long and engaging review of Ann Stephen's edited volume of Ian Burns writin, by the writer Victoria Perin.
The Australian art historian and critic Victoria Perin has penned an informed and careful review of our 2024 publication "Ian Burn Collected Writings 1966-1993" for the Sydney Review of Books. Drawing on Perin's own considerable knowledge (and love) for Burn's work and his artistic and political ambitions, the review is well worth the read.
An extract:
"Hiking through the 775 pages of Collected Writings, you will find yourself understanding Geoffrey Batchen’s characterisation of Burn as ‘an earnest and thoughtful teacher’, even if he was ‘without much entertainment’. If this sounds like criticism, it is not intended to be. Collected Writings is not a display of Burn’s genius, it is a record of his work. If he is occasionally awkward or overly complex, the solidity of his convictions and the intensity of his labour offer more than adequate compensation. How apt that Burn’s writing acts out this final honesty?"