For more than 40 years, rugby league has embodied all the hopes and dreams, contradictions and tensions of life in the Sunshine State. The game speaks to Queenslanders'' sense of being the underdog and the outsider - a powerful undercurrent that sweeps through politics, business, the arts, and sport. The enduring appeal of State of Origin is that it allows Queensland to balance the scales, at least for 80 minutes.In Heartland, journalist Joe Gorman chronicles a tale of loss and rebirth - from the decline of the Brisbane Rugby League competition and North Queensland''s Foley Shield to the extraordinary rise of the Broncos and the Cowboys in the NRL. Weaving together stories of diehard supporters and game-changing players, from Arthur Beetson to Johnathan Thurston, this is a revealing account of Queensland''s coming of age, both on and off the field.
This extraordinary story of courage and faith is based on the actual experiences of three girls who fled from the repressive life of Moore River Native Settlement, following along the rabbit-proof fence back to their homelands. Assimilationist policy dictated that these girls be taken from their kin and their homes in order to be made white. Settlement life was unbearable with its chains and padlocks, barred windows, hard cold beds, and horrible food. Solitary confinement was doled out as regular punishment. The girls were not even allowed to speak their language. Of all the journeys made since white people set foot on Australian soil, the journey made by these girls born of Aboriginal mothers and white fathers speaks something to everyone.
The first-ever anthology of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander speculative fiction – written, curated, edited and designed by blackfellas, for blackfellas and about blackfellas. In these stories, ‘this all come back': all those things that have been taken from us, that we collectively mourn the loss of, or attempt to recover and revive, as well as those that we thought we'd gotten rid of, that are always returning to haunt and hound us. Some writers summon ancestral spirits from the past, while others look straight down the barrel of potential futures, which always end up curving back around to hold us from behind. Dazzling, imaginative and unsettling, This All Come Back Now centres and celebrates communities and culture. It's a love letter to kin and country, to memory and future-thinking.
It sounded like a good idea at the time: A Hollywood spy thriller, starring, for the first time in history, an Asian male lead. With an estimated $350 million production budget and up-and-coming Hong Kong actor JK Jr, who, let''s be honest, is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but probably the hottest, Brood Empire was basically a sure thing. Until it wasn''t.So how did it all fall apart? There were smart guys involved. So smart, so woke. So woke it hurts. There was top-notch talent across the board and the financial backing of a heavyweight Chinese studio. And yet, Brood Empire is remembered now not as a historical landmark of Asian representation that smashed the bamboo ceiling in Hollywood, but rather as a fiasco of seismic proportions.The Whitewash is the definitive oral history of the whole sordid mess. Unofficial. Unasked for. Only intermittently fact-checked, and featuring a fool''s gallery of actors, producers, directors, film historians and scummy click-bait journalists, to answer the question of how it all went so horribly, horribly wrong.
let me tell youhow to lean gently onone another withoutrocking sideways.Rae White''s compelling second poetry collection Exactly As I Am rises from their lived experience as a non-binary transgender person. Their gloriously defiant, unruly poems dissect and scrutinise the spaces transgender people are both assigned and denied in society, through unflinching explorations of gender identity, gender discrimination and gender euphoria. These bracing poems lean towards you, hold out their hand and offer you: a connection, a community, an emboldened call to action.
As head of Australia''s consular service, Ian Kemish played a central role in the nation''s response to some of the most dramatic events of the early twenty-first century, including the September 11 attacks and the Bali bombings. He led the small band of Australian consuls as they confronted the new challenges of global jihadism, supporting families who lost loved ones, and negotiated the release of Australians unjustly detained abroad. In The Consul, Kemish offers a unique and personal perspective on Australia''s foreign affairs challenges of the last two decades, from hostage diplomacy to natural disasters and evacuations from war zones. This timely and engaging book also asks us to consider how world events have changed the way we travelnow and in the future.
A collection of funny, brilliant, boundary-pushing stories from the bestselling author of Mammoth. A grizzly bear goes on the run after eating a teenager. A hotel room participates in an unlikely conception. A genetically altered platypus colony puts on an art show. A sabretooth tiger falls for the new addition to his theme park. An airline seat laments its last useful day. A Shakespearean monkey test pilot launches into space. The stories in Here Be Leviathans take us from the storm drains under Las Vegas to the Alaskan wilderness; the rainforests of Queensland to the Chilean coastline. Narrated in Chris Flynn's unique and hilarious style by animals, places, objects and even the (very) odd human, these short fictions push the boundaries of the form by examining human behaviour from the perspective of the outsider.
An outstanding collection of fresh, zesty poems about identity, sexuality, self-perception and relationships, with a futuristic narrative pulse.
This important anthology, curated by Gomeroi poet and academic Alison Whittaker, showcases many respected First Nations poets from this continent alongside some of its rising stars. Featured poets include Oodgeroo Noonuccal, Jack Davis, Ruby Langford Ginibi, Kevin Gilbert, Lisa Bellear, Lionel Fogarty, Kerry Reed-Gilbert, Archie Roach, Alexis Wright, Sam Wagan Watson, Ellen van Neerven, Briggs, Claire G. Coleman and Tony Birch. Divided into five thematic sections, each is introduced by an essay from a leading Aboriginal writer and thinker – Bruce Pascoe, Ali Cobby Eckermann, Steven Oliver, Chelsea Bond and Evelyn Araluen Corr – who reflects on the power of First Nations poetry in their own inimitable way. This incredible book is a testament to the renaissance of First Nations poetry happening in Australia right now.
A scorching psychological drama about family, betrayal and the limits of forgiveness.Adrian Pomeroy teaches English at an all-boys school ‘full of bullshit artists in blazers'. When he finds himself at the centre of an allegation that might end his career, his life starts to unravel in spectacular fashion. With a police investigation underway, Adrian turns to his detective brother for help, but Noel is battling crippling demons of his own. As the repercussions of this one accusation lead to the implosion of Adrian's family, he can no longer ignore the secrets buried in his own past. The Apology is an explosive and shocking portrait of the lies we tell ourselves and each other in order to survive.
Solid Air showcases the work of more than 100 spoken word artists from Australia and New Zealand - combining elements of slam, hip hop and performance poetry - to deliver an unforgettable reading experience that is both literary and loud. This groundbreaking collection welcomes a new generation of poets - often young, diverse and politically active - whose focus on performance has become increasingly popular over the past decade. Transporting the energy of their words from the stage to the page, Solid Air celebrates the most vibrant and talented voices from our region.Contributors include: Evelyn Araluen, Courtney Barnett, Hera Lindsay Bird, Behrouz Boochani, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Candy Royalle, Ali Cobby Eckermann, Michelle Law, Omar Musa, Sara Saleh, Taika Waititi, Te Kahu Rolleston, Claire G. Coleman, Selina Tusitala Marsh, PiO, Tayi Tibble and many, many more.
When trust is destroyed in the workplace, how do you restore it?
As university student Olivia Wells sets out on her quest to find an unpublished manuscript by Gloria Graham – a now obscure mid-twentieth century feminist and writer – she unwittingly uncovers details about a young woman found murdered. Strangled with a nylon stocking in the mangroves on the banks of the river in wartime Brisbane, the case soon became known as the river girl murder. Olivia's detective work exposes the sinister side of that city in 1943, flush with greenbacks and nylons, jealousy and violence brewing between the Australian and US soldiers, which eventually boiled over into the infamous Battle of Brisbane. Olivia soon discovers that the diggers didn't just reserve their anger for the US forces – they also took it out on the women they perceived as traitors, the ones who dared to consort with US soldiers.Can Olivia rewrite history to bring justice to the river girl whose life was so brutally taken? Even if the past can't be changed, is it possible to undo history's erasure?
When floods devastated South East Queensland in 2011, who was to blame? Despite the inherent risk of living on a floodplain, most residents had pinned their hopes on Wivenhoe Dam to protect them, and when it failed to do so, dam operators were blamed for the scale of the catastrophic events that followed. A River with a City Problem is a compelling history of floods in the Brisbane River catchment, especially those in 1893, 1974 and 2011. Extensively researched, it highlights the force of nature, the vagaries of politics and the power of community. With many river cities facing urban development challenges, Cook makes a convincing argument for what must change to prevent further tragedy.
'A creative fusion of Australian history and fiction.' Henry Reynolds
Hannah lives in Zimbabwe during the reign of Robert Mugabe; it's a country of petrol queues and power cuts, food shortages and government corruption. Yet Hannah is lucky. She can afford to go to school, has never had to skip a meal, and lives in a big house with her mum and their Shona housekeeper. Hannah is wealthy, she is healthy, and she is white. But money can't always keep you safe. As the political situation becomes increasingly unstable and tensions within Hannah's family escalate, her sheltered life is threatened. She is forced to question all that she's taken for granted, including where she belongs.
Set to the soundtrack of music that has shaped a generation, Something To Believe In will resonate with anyone whose life has been saved by rock 'n' roll. Born in Melbourne's outer suburbs in the 1970s, Andrew Stafford grew up in a time when music was a way out and a way up. His passion for rock 'n' roll led him to a career as a journalist and music critic, but along the way his battles with family illness, mental health and destructive relationships threatened to take him down. Andrew Stafford delves bravely and deeply into a life that has been shaped and saved by music's beat. From the author of the cult classic Pig City comes a memoir of music, madness, and love.
When Rebecca Lister and Tony Kelly move from Melbourne to Mount Isa to care for Rebecca's elderly mother, Diana, they have no idea what they've signed up for. The isolation, sweltering heat and limited employment opportunities make settling into the mining town a challenge. While Rebecca deals with her mother's declining health and delves into her own past, Tony takes on a new role in native title law.However, caring for Diana – a witty, crossword-loving 92-year-old – proves to be a more enriching experience than either Tony or Rebecca thought possible. As they make deeper connections to the land and community, they find themselves flourishing in a most unexpected place. Growing Pineapples in the Outback explores the highs and lows of caring for an ageing parent, while also celebrating the rewards of a simpler life.
A brilliant, fiercely profound work of creative non-fiction in the vein of Maggie Nelson's The Argonauts. In this extraordinary book, Meera Atkinson explores the ways trauma reverberates over a lifetime, unearthing the traumatic roots of our social structures and our collective history. Using memoir as a touchstone, Atkinson contemplates the causes of trauma and the scars it leaves on modern society. She vibrantly captures her early life in 1970s and '80s Sydney and her self-reflection leads the reader on a journey that takes in neuroscience, pop psychology, feminist theory and much more. Searing in its truthfulness and beauty, Traumata deals with issues of our time -intergenerational trauma, family violence, alcoholism, child abuse, patriarchy - forging a path of fearless enquiry through the complexity of humanity.
Reg Dodd grew up at Finniss Springs, on striking desert country bordering South Australia's Lake Eyre. For the Arabunna and for many other Aboriginal people, Finniss Springs has been a homeland and a refuge. It has also been a cattle station, an Aboriginal mission, a battlefield, a place of learning, and a living museum. With his long-time friend and filmmaker Malcolm McKinnon, Dodd reflects on his upbringing in a cross-cultural environment that defied social conventions of the time. They also write candidly about the tensions surrounding power, authority, and Indigenous knowledge that have defined the recent decades of this resource-rich area. Talking Sideways is part history, part memoir, and part cultural road-map. Together, Dodd and McKinnon reveal the unique history of this extraordinary place and share their concerns and their hopes for its future.
When Brigadier James Phelan returns from Afghanistan with the body of a young soldier killed under his command, he is traumatised by the tragedy. An encounter with young Sydney tattoo artist Kira leaves him with a permanent tribute to the soldier, but it is a meeting that will change the course of his life. What he isn't expecting is a campaign of retribution from the soldiers who blame him for the ambush and threaten his career. With his marriage also on the brink, his life spirals out of control. Years later, Phelan is surprised when Kira re-enters his life seeking refuge from her own troubles and with a young son in tow. She finds a way to help him make peace with his past, but she is still on the run from her own. The War Artist is a timely and compelling novel about the legacy of war, the power of art and the possibility of redemption.
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