David Malouf asks: what is experience, and how do we come by it?

This is an extract from David Malouf's essay On Experience, which appears in The ON-nibus, published by Melbourne University Press, RRP $29.99; available now.

Cycle of dissent can drag Iran either way

Afresh wave of protests is sweeping Iran in the wake of the death of the dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri. Opposition sentiment that had been dormant since the violent post-election clashes in June has reignited in recent days.

School still top of class

JAMES RUSE has topped the HSC performance list for the 14th consecutive year, but private schools in the eastern suburbs have pushed two other government selective high schools out of the top 10.