Australian legends get stamp of approval....

Australian literary legends are to become the latest figures to be immortalised in stamp form. The writers featured include Booker Prize winner Peter Carey, and Bryce Courtenay, author of 'Power in One'. Arguably the most famous of the 'Australian Legends of the Written Word' series, is Thomas Keneally, author of 'Schindler's Ark'. He commented that the honour 'reminds you of all the teachers who said "you'll never go anywhere, son"', adding  that he was 'glad they are self-adhesive because it prevents jokes about licking their backside'. Tim Winton, Coleen McCullough and David Malouf are also recognised for 'their outstanding contribution to the social and cultural life' of Australia.

On this day...

Celebrated film director Steven Spielberg was born in 1946. Named by 'Life' as the most influential person of his generation, Spielberg has transformed numerous literary works into major box office movies; often proving pivotal in reigniting interest in the original text. Two of his most famous, and successful, projects, 'Jurassic Park' and 'Jaws', were both based on novels of the same name by Michael Crichton and Peter Benchley respectively. The latter in its own right was a bestseller for forty four weeks, and both novels drew commercial success from the release of the film. Other literary adaptations by Spielberg have included, J.G. Ballard's 'Empire of the Sun' and Thomas Keneally's 'Schindler's Ark' (Schindler's List).