Author: Jodie Sloan

Los Angeles pop punks In Her Own Words are back with “Steady Glow”. Signed to InVogue Records, the band has been working with Grammy winner and longtime Motörhead producer Cameron Webb, crafting a more mature sound ahead of their sophomore album release next month. The album, also titled Steady Glow, will be available everywhere from…

Since 2008, the Indie Book Awards have been celebrating both the work of independent Aussie booksellers and the books they’ve raved about to customers over the previous year. Last night, the 2019 winners were announced, with Trent Dalton’s coming of age tale Boy Swallows Universe taking out the top honour of Book of the Year.Speaking…

Washed ashore on the island of Janda Baik, sisters Muni and Satki have no memory of their former lives. Mak Genggang, the region’s foremost witch, knows a curse when she sees it and in the mortal Muna and the magical Satki, it’s clear as day to her what has happened. Unable, or unwilling, to answer…

Melbourne based singer-songwriters Jade Alice and Ivoris have combined their talents for brand new single “Flower”, a gentle electro-pop song with echoes of the likes of Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey (though perhaps with a little less angst!). Friends since childhood, Jade Alice and Ivoris have blended their distinctive sounds together and “Flower” is…

Ever made a quick getaway from a party without saying goodbye? Skipped class without permission? Clicked attending on Facebook and never actually attended? Well, turns out there’s a word for that. It’s called a “French exit”, which also happens to be the name of the latest track from brass fuelled power pop quintet Maurice and the…

Underdog is a collection of short stories, collected from upcoming and unpublished Australian YA fiction writers. Edited by (and featuring contributions from) Tobias Madden and Sarah Taviana, Underdog celebrates a uniquely Australian genre, one as diverse and emotive as the country in which it is written. Featuring twelve short stories, Underdog is the first #LoveOzYA…

The Stella Prize judges have revealed the six authors who have made it to their 2019 shortlist. Timing the announcement with International Women’s Day, judging panel chair Louise Swinn described the chosen works as “an incredibly diverse knot of books. […] The books on this shortlist inform and entertain, and while they speak absolutely to our…

The Australian Book Industry Awards are back again for 2019! An initiative of the Australian Publishers Association, the ABIAs applaud the achievements of writer, illustrator, publicist and publisher alike. A 250 strong team, made up of representatives across the industry, came together to craft this latest longlist, celebrating the bookish best of 2018. The 2019…

Art dealer Alex Clayton is back, and conservator best friend John Porter and faithful hound Hogarth aren’t too far behind either. Invited to preview a new exhibition at the Melbourne International Museum of Art, they’re present to see museum staff unveil a supposedly cursed painting. But when one of the workers collapses and damages the…

1917. At Blackwater Abbey in Devon, a storm is brewing. Lord and Lady Highmount invite renowned mediums, bereaved parents, and one troubled young soldier into their home, all in the hopes of contacting their sons, lost to the war ravaging Europe – much of it powered by the Highmounts’ own armaments. Thrust unexpectedly into their…

Highway Bodies, the second novel from author Alison Evans, hit bookstore shelves earlier this month. AU Reviewer Jodie had the chance to chat to the writer about their latest work, a unique slice of Aussie YA fiction, which pits a diverse group of teens against seemingly impossible, zombie-riddled odds. First, can you tell us a…

Born and raised in Victoria’s Dandenong Ranges, TJ Patrick blends personal experiences with bluesy riffs and folk-like sounds, and we’re super stoked to bring you an exclusive stream (plus music video!) of the Melbourne singer-songwriter’s latest single “Falling” ahead of its offical release on February 22nd. Scroll down for the Soundcloud stream and the video! Recorded…

The year is 1936 and inside the Buckingham Hotel’s Grand Ballroom, the party is in full swing. But it’s more than dancing partners and waiters armed with fresh champagne doing the rounds here. With Britain keeping one eye firmly on the rising European fascists, the business of buying and selling secrets is booming – and…

The $50,000 Stella Prize celebrates literature penned by Australian women. First awarded in 2013, the Stella Prize is named for My Brilliant Career author Stella Maria Sarah ‘Miles’ Franklin, and has become a landmark prize in the Australian literary scene. This year, some 170 entries were narrowed down to just twelve, with every longlisted author…

No one is really sure how it started. Random attacks. Censored news reports. Curfews and evacuations. The internet stopping. And then there’s Rhea and Jojo’s mother going missing. Band members Dee, Poppy, Zufan, and Jack’s creative retreat cut short by power outages. And an unnamed teen facing down her own family, who are literally about…

Established in 2008, the Indie Book Awards recognise and celebrate both best in Australian writing as well as the country’s most passionate independent booksellers. This year’s nominations include Markus Zusak‘s Bridge of Clay, his first novel since global phenomenon The Book Thief was published in 2005 and Jessica Townsend‘s Wundersmith, the sequel to last year’s Nevermoor, which…

When what appears to be the corpse of a mummified Viking is found, journalist Matthew Cave is first on the scene. But by the next day, the body is gone, and in its place lies the flayed corpse of the policeman left to keep watch. Silenced by the local constabulary as they investigate the crime,…

Janina Duszejko (though never call her Janina) lives just outside an isolated village. She spends her days tending to the empty holiday homes nearby, teaching at the local school, and mourning the disappearance of her two beloved dogs. But when prominent members of the local hunting club are found dead, Duszejko is on the case….

Aussie singer-songwriter and self-described “joyful warrior” Marét has arrived with her irreverent and irresistible brand of pop music. Described by The Eye Creative as “the next significant act in Australia”, we’re excited to premiere the video for Marét’s latest track, the feel-good “Perfectly Imperfect”. Of the track, Marét says: “Being imperfect is the one thing…

Walking away from both the Primetime Emmys and the Golden Globes with awards galore, including accolades for lead Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel has been a runaway hit for creator Amy Sherman-Palladino and streaming service Amazon Prime. Set in the late 1950’s, Brosnahan stars as Upper West Side housewife Midge Maisel, who discovers she…

On a stormy night in 1809, Captain John Lacroix returns home from a disastrous campaign on the Continent. Shaken by the events he witnessed in a little Spanish village while his army retreated, he cannot bring himself to report back to his regiment when the call comes. Instead, he deserts, making his way to the…

Crime writer Minette Walters once again turns her hand to historical fiction, picking up where last year’s The Last Hours left off. As the Black Death continues its march across Europe, the small demesne of Develish owes its survival to the policies of cleanliness and isolation, put in place by Lady Anne and her closest…

It’s been a century since Bertolt Brecht first wrote Baal, but there remains an undeniable timeliness to this tale of artistry, alcohol, and just how much of each excuses the fact that you’re an outrageous asshole. As a character, Baal embodies the romantic, tortured artist, trying vainly to remain frustratingly aloof from the consequences of…

Combining memoir, social science, and collected stories, author Sohaila Abdulali provides readers with a well-researched exploration of the many discursive threads surrounding rape and sexual assault. It is, quite simply, a vital piece of literature for the post #MeToo world and beyond. All around the world, definitions differ, and coping mechanisms vary, making the topic both…

After escaping Jackalfax for good, and discovering her powers as a Wundersmith, twelve-year-old Morrigan Crow is excited to finally be starting her training at the elite Wundrous Society. But, others within the Society are convinced Morrigan is dangerous, and with Wunsoc members going missing, her patron Jupiter North doesn’t have time to help her navigate…

McWhirters, a heritage listed building sitting on the corner of Brunswick and Wickham, is a Brisbane landmark, these days operating as a shopping centre, an apartment block, and a very obvious map marker for those lost in the depths of the Valley. But, in What Will Be Worn: A McWhirters Story, the name emblazoned on…

Twenty years ago, Helen Franklin did a terrible thing. Unable to forgive herself, she lives a life of self-imposed penance, scraping together a living as a translator in Prague and denying herself the simplest of pleasures. But when her friend Karel hands her a strange manuscript, detailing sightings of a tall woman in black haunting…

Best known as one sixth of legendary comedy troupe Monty Python, Eric Idle never rested on his laurels – though he was quite happy to make a bit of cash from them when the opportunity arose. Covering it all, from his working class childhood and the rise of the Pythons, to the creation of the…

Edinburgh 1847. Evie, a prostitute visited by apprentice doctor Will Raven, is dead. Raven is shaken by the discovery of her twisted corpse, and, as other victims began to appear across the city’s Old Town, he sets out to get to the bottom of the gruesome deaths. Teaming up with the fiercely determined Sarah Fisher,…

Clementine Ford is back with her trademark brand of no holds barred feminism, brandishing an outstandingly fierce follow-up to 2016’s Fight Like A Girl as her weapon of choice. Boys Will Be Boys sees the Aussie writer take on toxic masculinity, patriarchal power, and the harrowing effects they have on us and our society, regardless…