Funkytown – aka the suburb Frankston in Melbourne’s south – is the new memoir from the acclaimed ABC journalist Paul Kennedy. Covering the span of just one year, Funkytown is an evocative and entertaining coming of age story. Funkytown had it all in 1993: A Myer, two surf shops, double storey McDonalds, popcorn cinema, Brashs music store […]
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Questions Raised by Quolls, written by Harry Saddler, is aimed at educating us all about the plight of the quolls and the environmental situation in Australia. It is a book which raises important questions, and asks us all to reflect on the situation in this country. For example, did you know that Australia has the […]
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Lovebirds Elizabeth and Ray fight so hard to have a life they want; a life they both deserve. Elizabeth comes from a selfish family so when she meets Ray, her whole world changes. They fall in love and when fate intervenes, it changes the course of their marriage forever. Their love moved them to different […]
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Singer-songwriter, campaigner, and national treasure Archie Roach has re-packaged his acclaimed memoir Tell Me Why for a young adult readership. Whilst it’s an abridged version, it’s no less inspirational, and contained not only his voice and story, but the stories and voices of many other Elders, as well as young people. Roach was taken away from his family […]
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Author, John Kinsella, pushes many boundaries in his latest collection of short stories: Pushing Back. The collection is made up of thirty-five astute stories about love and loss, as well as stories about nature, birds and the Australia outback. You’ll learn about Goozi’s, Red Wattle birds and the thoughts of children and men. You’ll also read […]
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Tabitha Bird’s The Emporium of Imagination is a magical story set in Boonah, a small Australian town. One day a plot of land between shops is empty; and then the next day The Emporium of Imagination is there. None of the townspeople see any tradespeople, and are left scratching their heads at how the store […]
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Theatre was briefly back in Melbourne before another five day lockdown saw shows rescheduled. Before the enforced hiatus, I was fortunate enough to catch a performance of The Gang of Five at La Mama Mobile Theatre. The Gang of Five opened to a full house, based at Creative Spaces’ Studio 1. Repurposing a dance studio […]
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The Moroccan Daughter, the new novel from bestselling author Deborah Rodriguez, will take you on a journey through the streets of Morocco. Introducing you to the sights, smells and tastes of the culture, and the traditions and dynamics of family and country. Amina Bennis returns to Morocco and her childhood home for her sister’s wedding. […]
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Shore Leave centres around an American Naval vessel that docks in Fremantle in 1989. The drama that surrounds that vessel and the sailors onboard will be etched in the minds of many locals for years to come. Readers are introduced to a range of characters, a criminal with six months left on their prison sentence; […]
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Alexander Thorpe’s debut novel, Death Leaves The Station introduces a standard Australian farmhouse in Western Australia’s wheatbelt to a world of crime, homophobia and racism. Set on Halfwell Station, Mullewa, in 1927 Death Leaves The Station is also a coming-of-age novel. Ana, a young woman, starts encountering the world outside the seclusion of the family […]
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Reprehensible, from comedian and broadcaster Mikey Robins, is an informative and rollicking guide through the shameful behaviour of humanity’s most celebrated figures. As Robin notes, “We are under bombardment from all of our screens, all of the time, reminding us with just one click what a dreadful time we are living through. But, here is […]
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Reading The Hollow Ones you will be drawn into a crime spree, and find yourself sharing time with a killer who can’t be seen and a killer who has defied the ages. The perfect read for Halloween; reading this will leave you rattled and looking at your friends and colleagues with an extra hint of […]
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Wendy Williams’ new book The Language of Butterflies is an enchanting look at one of the world’s most beautiful and resilient animals and the role they play in our ecosystem. It’s a trove of facts and treasure and all things butterfly and moth. From evolution, survival, nature and existence, it’s all covered here in great […]
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The Safe Place, the debut novel from actor and author Anna Downes, takes lead protagonist Emily Proudman on a thrilling ride. She loses her apartment, her agent and her job; all in the space of one day. Before she has time to take it all in, her successful and handsome former boss comes to the […]
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Don’t be put off by the title! Butt Boy tells the story of Chip Gutchel (Tyler Cornack, also performing double duty in the director’s chair), a bored IT engineer, who has a reawakening after a routine prostrate exam. Some harmless anal pleasure grows into a dangerous addiction, as he becomes responsible for a missing child. […]
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Indie icons, The Dandy Warhol’s have released an unprecedented four-hour album titled Tafelmuzik Means More When You’re Alone, paying homage to the type of soundtrack that would typically score a mid-16th century banquet. On it, the stalwart band experiments with all kinds of instruments, presenting one of their most ambitious – and strangest – concept […]
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In historical measures Trivium means an introductory course at a medieval university involving the study of grammar, rhetoric and logic. In today’s age Trivium is an American heavy metal band that formed in 1999 and since then the band has released nine studio albums with over twenty singles. What the Dead Men Say is […]
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Melbourne musician Max Lawrence has a new single called “Gasoline” which is out now via online streaming. His music embodies passionate vocals infused with a smidge of electronic and dance music, but still maintaining those chamber pop credentials we’ve grown to love. I’m curious to watch and hear Max Lawrence’s music progression. I hope he […]
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The Melbourne Zoo Twilights happen every summer in the outdoor surrounds in the Royal Melbourne Zoo. Tonight is a sold-out show featuring Julia Jacklin with support from Weyes Blood. There are all ages here tonight although mainly younger guys and gals in their vintage threads. Hipsters, parents, lovers, friends and babies combine together to soak […]
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The year was 1977. The legend Jim Steinman wrote (along with Todd Rundgren) what would become the biggest debut album of all time. That album is called Bat Out Of Hell. Singer of Bat out of Hell, Meatloaf, became a sensation with his range of powerhouse vocals often coupled with female singers with such pizzazz […]
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Emerging Melbourne alternative-pop artist Max Lawrence has been gigging around town for a few years now and it was his performance at the 2019 Gaytimes Festival which led to a collaboration with Evan J Lawson and the Forest Collective orchestra for the Midsumma Festival. Forest Collective is a not for profit arts organisation focusing on […]
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Melbourne Zoo Twilights will be kicking off their amazing new season very soon. Whilst many shows have sold out, there are still tickets available for an eclectic range of performances to suit any musical tastebud. Get a group together because you’re all invited to spend summer nights watching favourite artists in the lush surrounds of […]
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Stoned, is a collection of images that have never been seen before by the general public. Consisting of over five hundred photographs, notes, artwork, newspaper clippings and other ephemera put together by Jo Wood documenting life behind the scenes of The Rolling Stones. Photographer and hoarder (thankfully) Jo Wood has kept thousands of polaroids and […]
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Elton John and photographer Terry O’Neill first collaborated in 1972. Since then, O’Neill has taken around five thousand photographs of the star across the decades that followed. Recently, when going through his collection, O’Neill recognised the special nature of these photographs and wanted to share them with Elton’s legion of fans. Elton John: The Definitive […]
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Practice. Journalism, Essays and Criticism collects and distills the writings of journalist Guy Rundle. An intricate, clever yet funny, and mostly convincing take on all the big politicians, and some sordid Americans along the way, Practice is compiled from his work for Crikey, and various magazines and newspapers, over the years. Opinions on topics ranging […]
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The Shining Wall, the gripping debut novel from author Melissa Ferguson, is an exploration of scientific possibility through the lens of feminism and fiction. The novel tells the frightening story of the orphaned Alida and her younger sister Graycie, who are left along following the death of their mother in the Demi-Settlements outside the wall. […]
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David Cullen, author of the definitive bestseller Columbine, returns with a second book, this time detailing the story of the events surrounding the Parkland, Florida school shooting in February 2018, the extraordinary teenage survivors and the March For Our Lives (MFOL) campaign that followed. In Parkland, Cullen takes the readers inside the school in the […]
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Relationship advisor Zoë Foster Blake takes us on an enthusiastic journey through matters of the heart and offers a fresh perspective in her new reference guide: Love! The book offers hints, solutions and ideas on how to deal with many of the issues us women experience when dating, whilst also giving some insight into why we […]
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Monica Tan’s first novel, Stranger Country, will take you on a 30,000km journey of discovery around selected parts of Australia. Tan is Chinese Australian, but at thirty-two, felt that she didn’t know as much about Australia’s history as she did about China’s. In a bid to change that, Tan embarked on a journey around parts […]
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When Cog announced they were touring again, the hairs on my neck stood up. Having taken a break from touring nearly ten years ago, they’re thankfully back doing what they do best – music. On this tour, they’re also bringing a new album, Drawn Together, with them, the band’s first new music in ten years. A wave of […]
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