Anchovy Special (from your own brick oven)

Quiet weekend ahead? How about building your own brick oven? Russell Jeavons channel his years of running a pizza restaurant on the Fluerieu Peninsula into his essential guide, Your Brick Oven. And once the work is done, Russell provides plenty of delicious recipe suggestions, like this Anchovy Special. A version of the French Pissaladiere, this is how we deal with those kinky anchovy people. Anchovy haters should skip this one or leave the anchovies out. Anchovy lovers, read on. The…

The beginnings of a town like Atherreyurre

Publicist Ayesha is visiting Alice Springs at the moment. We've taken the opportunity to dip back into the history books, this time looking at the creation of the first permanent structure in Alice (or Atherreyurre, in Arrenrnte language): a 'fortress' telegraph station set against the 'stunning backdrop' of the MacDonnell ranges. You can still visit the Alice Springs Telegraph Station today. The following excerpt is from Stuart Traynor's Alice Springs: From singing wire to iconic outback…

Adelaide Entertainment Royalty

While most of Adelaide has settled down for a well-deserved nap following the end of festival season, one favourite festival venue has no time to rest. Her Majesty's Theatre is continuing its campaign to raise funds for its major upgrade, due to be completed in 2019. In 2013 Her Majesty's Theatre celebrated its centenary with a beautiful book, Her Majesty's Pleasure. What better time to look back on Adelaide's beginnings as a 'theatre town' and the birth…

Adrian Mitchell on blending fact and fiction

Adrian Mitchell is one of our most popular and prolific authors at Wakefield. From Plein Airs and Graces, the biography of George Collingridge that got Adrian shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Awards, to Dampier's Monkey, on the south seas voyages of William Dampier, Adrian's skills at biography are well documented. But in his last couple of books he's moved a little left of centre, using historical figures as the basis of fictionalised work. It started with The…

The interesting case of Lesueur and the wombats

The Art of Science is one of those books that has something for everyone. The beautiful images created by Baudin's artists on the voyage to New Holland in 1800–1804 are fascinating for history buffs and art lovers, young and old. Here, art historian Sasha Grishin explains the evolution of depictions of wombats, from sketches during the voyage to final printed plates. Over the past three decades, the story of Baudin, his artists Charles-Alexandre Lesueur and Nicolas-Martin Petit,…

Womadelaide weekend + links

Guys, it's Womadelaide weekend! To keep you busy while you're counting down the hours, here are a few fun bits and pieces we've been collecting from around the internet. First, we have absolute proof that books are worth a lot of effort. Though, in my experience, there's not normally £2 million to reward said effort. Still, if you're a Mission Impossible fan you should probably read this. Second, there's going to be a book about a…

How to start growing your own food

There are many things that Lolo Houbein makes look easy. She's an amazing woman, and her book, One Magic Square: Growing your own food on one square metre, has been a bestseller at Wakefield Press for several years now. She has inspired many of the most unlikely veggie gardeners. But the trick is in showing everyone how easy it is – as you'll see when you read this, the introduction to her book. It turns out,…

Looking back on Adelaide Writers' Week

Saturday is an exciting day for us at Wakefield, as it's the first day of Adelaide Writers' Week, every local bibliophile's week of bliss. It's even more special because we have two authors in the tents this year, with Mike Ladd kicking off proceedings Saturday morning, and Ken Bolton joining in on the fun on Tuesday. Aside from those on the programs, we also have plenty of authors chairing events: Nicholas Jose, Peter Monteath, Cath Kenneally and Peter…