A luminous collection of essays on art, obsession and creativity from one of Australia's best critics.

Monash University Publishing and Drill Hall Gallery are delighted to invite you to a special event:

Please join Quentin in conversation with acclaimed writer and historian Mark McKenna to launch What Artists See - Essays, Wednesday 27 August, 6.00pm – 7.00pm at ANU Copland Lecture Theatre.

‘...Sprague both demystifies and recomplicates what artists see, the way they see and the things they do to manifest what they see…His is a vital voice.’
Kim Mahood

‘I love the clarity and wisdom of these essays. This collection is a brilliant and insightful page-turner.’ Jennifer Higgie

Read more about What Artists See here

Quentin Sprague is the inaugural Hassall Writers Fellow at the ANU Drill Hall Gallery. The now Canberra-based writer’s first book, The Stranger Artist, won the 2021 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for non-fiction. For his second book Sprague teamed up with Drill Hall Gallery Publishing to produce a landmark monograph Ken Whisson: Painting and Drawing published in 2023. You can find more details on the Fellowship here.

Mark McKenna is one of Australia’s leading historians. His most recent book, Return to Uluru (Black Inc. 2021) was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Prize for Australian History. From the Edge: Australia’s Lost Histories (MUP, 2016) won the NSW Premier’s Prize for Australian History. An Eye for Eternity: The life of Manning Clark (MUP 2011) won five national awards. McKenna’s essays, reviews and political commentary have appeared in The Monthly, Meanjin, ABR, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian. His Shortest History of Australia will be published by Black Inc. in November.