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DEBUT AUTHOR JOURNAL: Does a book contract change how you write?

In 2020, Poppy Nwosu is the published author of two young adult contemporary novels, Making Friends with Alice Dyson and Taking Down Evelyn Tait. Yet back in 2018, she had just signed her first publication contract for her debut book, and she really had no idea what the future might bring. This collection of blog posts (originally written by Poppy between March 2018 and March 2019) chronicles her experience during that strange year of limbo…

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New YA: Introducing Sara Haghdoosti and Sunburnt Veils

We're delighted to officially announce the acquisition of ANZ and UK rights to Sara Haghdoosti's YA debut novel, Sunburnt Veils, a 'love story with a hijabi twist', which Wakefield Press will publish in March 2021. Sunburnt Veils is a smart, funny, character-based exploration of Islamophobia through a heroine who's the kind of girl who reads at parties, but pushes herself to take a visible stand after a fellow student calls in a bomb threat on her first day of…

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POETRY SPOTLIGHT: 'The Calling' by Geoff Goodfellow

This week, the poetry spotlight shines once again on award-winning poet Geoff Goodfellow. This week's poem comes from Waltzing with Jack Dancer: A slow dance with cancer. The collection was written by Geoff in the aftermath of his diagnosis with throat cancer, and chronicles his experiences with treatment, hospitals, and the Big C.

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GUEST POST: Ed Pegge on star power

Hilarious, charming and self-effacing, meet Edmund Pegge, one of Australia's most prolific supporting actors. Travelling between England and Australia and working on stage, in film and on television for over fifty years, Ed Pegge knows all the tricks and all the trials of a working actor's life. In this guest post, Ed writes about the nuances of fame, and the benefits of taking a brief rest every now and again from being a star.

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POETRY SPOTLIGHT: 'Sings Else' by Jill Jones

This week's Poem of the Week comes from Jill Jones' collection Dark Bright Doors, poetry that has been described as having 'unsettling mystery and beauty' by Barry Hill from the Australian. This book was shortlisted for the Kenneth Slessor Prize in the 2011 NSW Premier's Literary Awards.

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GUEST POST: Stephen Orr on Auschwitz, guilt, and responsibility

What right do I have to talk about this place? What do I know about it? How much can I feel, can I see and smell and hear the suffering? These are the questions author and teacher Stephen Orr asked himself after visiting the remains of the Auschwitz prison camp. In this guest post, Stephen writes of the importance of feeling pain that is not necessarily yours, and of remembering what has happened in the…

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DEBUT AUTHOR JOURNAL: How I got a Literary Agent!

As we launch this new blog series in 2020, Poppy Nwosu is the published author of two young adult contemporary novels, Making Friends with Alice Dyson and Taking Down Evelyn Tait. Yet back in 2018, she had just signed her first publication contract for her debut book, and she really had no idea what the future might bring. This collection of blog posts (originally written by Poppy between March 2018 and March 2019) chronicles her…

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