This month’s cover star is one of the brightest and a home-grown one – Brisbane’s own Trent Dalton.

After shooting to international fame with his debut novel Boy Swallows Universe, Dalton is about to take his poignant 2021 book Love Stories to the stage at this year’s Brisbane Festival. Limelight contributor Jane Albert discovers how the production came about and why readers and audiences are so moved by Dalton’s writing.

And while we’re talking about Brisbane … Queensland Ballet is preparing to unveil its Australian premiere production of Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Coco Chanel: the Life of a Fashion Icon. Deborah Jones talks to the Belgian-Colombian choreographer about her fascination with the legendary fashion designer, Coco’s complex life and what it took to turn it into a full-length narrative ballet that blends difficult truths with great beauty.

Like us, you probably feel pressed for time more often than not. It’s the 21st century way of things. In which case, Andrew Ford has the thing for you. In his new book, The Shortest History of Music, the broadcaster, writer and composer has condensed countless thousands of years of music (and decades...