Forty-eight years ago, a young and apprehensive Tony Kevin set off with his family on his first diplomatic posting, to Moscow at the height of the Cold War. In the Russian winter of 2016 he returns al
During the twentieth century, the southwestern corner of Australia was cleared for intensive agriculture. In the space of several decades, an arc from Esperance to Geraldton, an area of land larger th
"In Collie in 1929, a murder-suicide took place. The killer was identified as Andrew Straw. Dressed in war uniform and a slouch hat, a hauntingly familiar face stared out at me from the front page of
Joseph Brodsky, the Russian Nobel laureate, once remarked that memory and art have in common the 'ability to select, a taste for detail.' In the work of Nathanael O'Reilly, memory and art come togethe
"No longer knowing which is sweeter / the cherry or the feel of the word in my mouth" Fingertip of the Tongue explores the texture, tone, taste, and touch of language. These are poems that feel their
"Ross Gibson's poetry is marked by the numinous, then undercut by the quotidian, the earthy, a different way of seeing."--Jen Webb, Australian Book Review ***Here are scrummed gangs of criminals and p
Some plants have sustained empires and sparked wars. Some have ignited public outrage. Think tea, opium, tulips-and thistles. The word 'thistle' refers to a large and widespread group of plants. In 18
Believe and trust in your children. But most of all, be kind. Parents ask, 'Why are children so anxious?', 'Has my child got autism?' 'How do I calm a screaming baby, yelling child or angry teenager?'
'Just because you can't see the chains doesn't mean they don't exist.' In the Sanctuary, two robed men cut the hair of clients who have been called to pass through the White or Black Door. Along with
Rhythm and pattern follow with precision the rich tonality of Lucas's visual and aural perceptions, delivered with just enough tension to allow a line to run free or a word to drop and hang alone wher
Author Stephen Langford, a doctor in Australia’s Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), outlines the history of the RFDS and its work bringing medical care to people in remote Western Australia. Stories
Dan Disney's highly original either, Orpheus remakes the villanelle. The 'sound-swarms' in this contemporary 'orphic' work riff laterally on received poetic and philosophical ideas and incorporate fas
Aileen Palmer - poet, translator, political activist, adventurer - was the daughter of two writers prominent in Australian literature in the first half of the twentieth century. Vance and Nettie Palme
From inside her Toorak mansion, Margaret, matriarch, widow of Edmund Rice O'Day of O'Day Funerals, secretly surveys her family in the garden. Everyone, including Margaret herself, is oblivious to the
Help me, words - you always have. The directness and simplicity of these poems, beautifully arranged as stages in a recovery, carry the urgency, honesty and celebration of a life reclaimed. Joan Londo
Judith Wright (1915-2000) remains a giant figure within Australian art, culture and politics. Her 1946 collection of poetry, The Moving Image, revolutionised Australian poetry. She helped to establish
In an old house with 'too many windows and women', high in the Indian hills, young Hannah lives with her older sister Gloria; her two older brothers; her mother - the Magician; a colourful assortment
It is a little known fact that eleven African American convicts arrived in Australia on the First Fleet in 1788. Two of these ex-slaves were the author's ancestors. In extensively researched poems, aw
Anna Wickham (1883-1947) was one of the most important female poets writing in English during the first half of the twentieth century. A pioneer of Modernist poetry, she was also a fierce feminist, so
In the dying days of the Russian Empire, a Scottish sound recordist disappears into the Caucasus mountains; a former hero of the Algerian resistance experiments with traditional Chinese medicine; a Fr
