Some may regard them as a necessary evil: the author headshot that’s affixed to most book back covers and press releases that are distributed to the media. As one writer tells ArtsHub, ‘I wish there were no author pics. I’d rather immerse myself in the book, whatever its merits. The experience is spoiled by marketing pap and other reminders of reality.’
‘We age while our author photos don’t,’ she adds. ‘Some authors bear only a passing resemblance to the real thing!’
Thuy On is the former Reviews and Literary Editor of ArtsHub and an arts journalist, critic and poet who’s written for a range of publications including The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Sydney Review of Books, The Australian, The Age/SMH and Australian Book Review. She was the Books Editor of The Big Issue for 8 years and a former Melbourne theatre critic correspondent for The Australian.
She has three collections of poetry published by the University of Western Australian Press (UWAP): Turbulence (2020), Decadence (2022) and Essence (2025).
Threads: @thuy_on123 Instagram: poemsbythuy
