The shortlists for the 2018 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards have been announced today, bringing together some of Australia’s most prominent and decorated writers. The Fiction shortlist, for example, features two former Man Booker winners, and two Miles Franklin winners. The Awards recognise Australia’s literary talent across six different categories: fiction, non-fiction, Australian history, young adult…
Next month, some of Australia’s leading feminist writers and thinkers will be heading to Sydney for the Feminist Writers Festival. Held in conjunction with the UTS Centre for Social Justice and Incusion, it will be the first time the festival has been held in Sydney. Over three days, thirteen sessions, and featuring over forty speakers,…
If you’ve stepped into any store over the last couple of weeks you’d probably have noticed that the countdown for Christmas is well and truly on. This also means there are no shortage of new books being released into the world. Earlier this month, on the so-called “Super Thursday” there were 544 new books released…
We are wrong about most things. That may be a bitter pill to swallow but as The Perils of Perception proves, it’s true. This non-fiction book is an intriguing study into just how ignorant our society is. It draws on 100,000 interviews from forty countries. The take home message? We should be afraid. Very afraid….
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,…
Stuart Coupe is part of the (black t-shirt) fabric of Australia’s music industry. In a career spanning four decades, he has worked as an author, journalist, promoter, artist manager, publicist and broadcaster. Coupe has written several books about Australian music. His latest one, Roadies, features stories from the hard-working men and women who toil behind-the-scenes…
I don’t normally read non-fiction or memoir, but something about the premise of Nell Stevens’ second book, Mrs Gaskell and Me (also known as The Victorian and the Romantic) appealed to me when I first started hearing about it on social media a few months back. On the surface, it has a simple premise; it is a literary memoir…
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…
Imagine actress Parker Posey is occupying the seat beside you on a plane, her beloved pooch Gracie on her lap. Imagine she’s feeling rather conversational. Parker Posey, that is, not Gracie. That’s the basic premise of You’re On An Airplane, the first memoir from the versatile performer and star of Dazed and Confused, the recent…
In Mira Robertson’s debut novel, her eponymous heroine, Emily Dean, is sent to stay with her grandmother and great uncle on their property while her mother recovers from what I can only presume is a nervous breakdown of sorts. It’s most definitely not a farm, as Emily is told by her family, though to the…
When actor and activist Harry Cook migrated to Australia at the age of ten homosexuality had only been recently decriminalised. A few years later he would struggle with coming-out to his parents. He says acceptance was hard, because there weren’t many queer-positive stories around at the time (in fact, homophobic propaganda was rife during the AIDs…
There’s no question that Australia’s roadies know their way around a microphone. A concert set-up doesn’t magically appear out of nowhere. It take tireless crew members toiling away to unpack, set-up, test and re-pack the staging and equipment; and repeating this process as they travel to different towns and venues. For too long, roadies may…
Today the shortlist for the Man Booker Prize has been unveiled, with the thirteen strong longest whittled down to just six. The six authors making the cut are Anna Burns, Esi Edugyan, Daisy Johnson, Rachel Kushner, Richard Powers and Robin Robertson. Although, still a strong shortlist, it is not without its surprises. There’s no room on the…
“Our house is a very, very, very fine house.” Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young might have been singing about the suburbs, but the same can be said about the Sydney Opera House. A building beloved by Sydneysiders and tourists alike, many people may not realise the project was a doomed one. It was almost thwarted…
In the early 90’s, a struggling writer is given what turns out to be a life changing opportunity. The daughter of Edna Cramner, a long forgotten war artist, wants to catalogue and share her mother’s work. Convinced there’s a real story there, the biographer ignores her agent’s concerns that it’s a go-nowhere vanity job and…
On the run from power mad King Arden and his armies, the unlikely companions of Heart of Mist find themselves scattered across the realms. Bleak has sailed through the mist in search of the mysterious land of Oremere; Henri has fled to the wintry landscape of Havennesse, hoping to secure allies; Swinton and Fi have…
Did you know Pamela Des Barres inspired the Penny Lane character in Almost Famous? Rock’s original groupie, Des Barres released her first-kiss-and-tell memoir I’m With the Band back in 1987. Earlier this year the book was re-released with additional chapters, and a new introduction by music journalist Roisin O’Connor. The result is one warm and rollicking read,…
Somehow it’s September already, and the quick descent into the holiday season has begun. September also sees the announcement of the 2018 Man Booker Prize, which is pretty exciting for us literary types. Indeed, this month two of our five titles were included on the longlist back announced back in July, so we’ll be eagerly…
Tomorrow, September 5th, marks the 12th annual Indigenous Literacy Day, “a celebration of Indigenous culture, stories, language and literacy” hosted by the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF), with events kicking off in Sydney, Melbourne and nationwide. This year, the ILF are launching a range of moving new books with big events in the major cities, alongside…
Next week, The Brisbane Writers Festival will be welcomed by the city, taking over the State Library of Queensland precinct from September 6-9th. As always there is a smorgasbord of literary treats to choose from. But fear not! We are here to help you avoid that age old problem of the festival goer with too many…
Making herself the third woman in history to be awarded the top literary prize more than once, Michelle de Kretser has taken home the prestigious Miles Franklin Literary Award for 2018. Divulging the complexities that dance around the world of writer Pippa, Michelle de Kretser’s sophisticated novel The Life to Come blends the sharp satire…
Earlier this month, bestselling author Matt Haig was in Australia for the Byron Bay and Bendigo Writers Festivals. Whilst he was in the county we caught up with him to discuss his new non-fiction release Notes on a Nervous Planet, how he manages to juggle so many diverse projects, and whether there are any updates on the…
Tomorrow the 2018 instalment of the Melbourne Writers Festival will kick off. Naturally there are so many panels, conversations and workshops to choose from, so we’ve unpacked the assortment of irresistible and noteworthy guests taking part in this action packed program and come up with these hot tips on what not to miss! Sally Seltmann: Lovesome…
Adam Hills is the nicest guy in comedy. Thanks to his memoir, Best Foot Forward, he can also claim to be a “top bloke” in the world of publishing. In this book he reflects on both his personal life and his career, offering up lots of funny anecdotes and inspirational stories. As with his stand-up,…
When Claudia Carter returns home to the small town of Winston for her wedding, she is expecting chaos. She is expecting that her estranged parents won’t get along, that her sister Poppy will be a brat, and that her Aunt Mary will be a pain in the arse. But she’s put all of that aside…
Drawing together musings on feminism, race, and religion, Canberra writer Zoya Patel’s debut No Country Woman explores her experiences as a Fijian-Indian migrant. From the stereotypes that followed her family, to her attempts to rebel against her heritage, and to the months she spent in Scotland examining things from afar. No Country Woman is a well…
After a two-month semi-self-imposed hiatus (life got in the way a bit there!) we’re back with another month of recommended reads. Now, the absence of these articles in June and July is not to suggest there was nothing of note published. On the contrary, there were many great books released in those intervening months. If…
A Coveted Possession documents the popularity of the piano in Australia. Once a treasured member of the household, the piano fell out of favour once people became switched on to the likes of radio and television. Michael Atherton’s highly readable and intriguing book explores the rich cultural history behind this, at times, beloved instrument. Atherton, a professor,…
Reign of Mist, the second in Sydney based author Helen Scheuerer’s Oremere Chronicles, is set for release next month. Ahead of Bleak and Henri’s return, Helen chatted to Jodie about her self-publishing journey and what readers can expect from the next installment of the YA fantasy series. What can you tell us about Reign of…
Fans of Robert Drewe are in for a treat, with his newest collection, The True Colour of the Sea, published late last month by Hamish Hamilton. The eleven stories, all themed around coastal living, the ocean and the Australian fascination with it are all written in Drewe’s signature style. Each one showcases that Robert Drewe…
