PUBLISHING IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS: Michael Deves on how to hunker
Reply
Category Archives: Adelaide
PUBLISHING IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS: Poppy Nwosu on timing and strange times
Today’s entry comes from Poppy Nwosu, marketing and publicity coordinator at Wakefield Press, and author of young adult fiction. Her latest book, Taking Down Evelyn Tait, will be published by Wakefield Press on 01 April 2020.
PUBLISHING IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS: Maddy Sexton on self care in strange times
Today’s entry comes from Maddy Sexton, Events Manager. Maddy discusses the importance of staying connected, as well as taking time for yourself when things are all a bit not-quite-right.
PUBLISHING IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS: YA Publisher Margot Lloyd
Today’s entry comes from Margot Lloyd, our wonderful head of Young Adult publishing. Read on for some very exclusive sneak peeks at some of the great YA books Wakefield Press will be releasing in the coming weeks and months.
PUBLISHING IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS: A Wakefield Press diary
CELEBRATE International Women’s Day with these trailblazing heroines!
CELEBRATE 60 Years of the Adelaide Festival with Wakefield Press!
Image
Wakefield Press and Love Your Bookshop Day
Love Your Bookshop Day is all about celebrating what makes local bookshops so great (and so important)! Here at Wakefield Press, we’re celebrating by opening our shop on Saturday 10 August, but the celebration is about more than just one day.
As our fearless leader, Michael Bollen, considers the daunting ‘For Official Use 
Only’ headers that have plagued his inbox as late, he also ponders his own official use as a publisher. In Diary of a Publisher, a brilliant new series launched on InDaily, Michael talks about publishing as a whole, and Wakefield Press’s ever-evolving role in the world of books.
Publishing, as Michael (and dictionaries) say, is the act of ‘making things known’. Information and stories that authors and publishers bring to the world, to make known facts, fictions, and half-lie-half-truth tales that captivate and inform us. It’s quite a grand and romantic thought then, when you really think about it. As publishers, it’s our goal to bring important stories to the fore, from South Australia’s women’s suffrage movement and the little-known woman who got it started for our small colony, to the art of absurdity and silliness, to flowers and art in Australia.
For us, Love Your Bookshop Day is a great way to meet with our customers, both old and new, and to showcase the amazing range of books we publish every year. It’s also vital to our existence; without our customers, we would not be. If we don’t exist, South Australian stories will struggle to find the spotlight they so deserve.
Local bookshops live and die by the sword of the customer, so word of mouth, events, and being different are vitally important to us. This Saturday 10 August, Wakefield Press will be open from 1.0 pm to 5.00 pm. We’re running our classic 3 for 2 special, and have a great range of new arrivals and reprinted favourites ready and waiting to be cherished. Around the traps though, there’s plenty going on. Consider supporting one of South Australia’s other independent bookshops (and huge supporters of Wakefield Press).
Imprints Booksellers
on Hindley street will have bubbles, cake, music and giveaways all day, as well as their wonderful range of niche and hard-to-find books in their cosy, welcoming store. You might even be lucky enough to see Wakefieldean Jo working her bookselling magic there. Ask her for a book recommendation, or see what she’s been reading recently over at InDaily.
Matilda Bookshop
is the Adelaide Hills favourite bookstore, although we could be a little biased. Gavin and his team will be open all day on Saturday – pop by for a great range of food and gardening books, including our own Tori Arbon and Lolo Houbein’s Magic Little Meals.
in Norwood has recently undergone a facelift, with their already expansive children’s section growing further. The addition of a reading tree means kids young and old will fall back in love (or more in love) with the magic of books.
Dymocks Adelaide
in Rundle Mall is a booklover’s dream; an emporium-like cave full to the brim of a huge range of books, it’s an old faithful for many of us. Check out the little Wakefield window in the front of the shop, and browse their wares all day. If you’re super keen, Dr Karl’s new book is launching Saturday evening as well – head to their website for more details.
Most importantly though, don’t forget the other 364 days of the year that your local bookshops exist! We love to see customers returning and telling us about books they’ve loved, or would love to see. We love getting these stories to our readers, and expanding our own knowledge and experiences, but most of all we love being here, existing, making things known.
Wakefield Press is open from Monday to Friday, 9.00 am – 5.00 pm every week, and will be open from 1.00 pm – 5.00 pm on Saturday 10 August.
Book Review: Making Friends with Alice Dyson
Our intern Jessica Hartman reviews debut author Poppy Nwosu’s Making Friends With Alice Dyson, the first in Wakefield Press’s dedicated Young Adult Fiction list led by Margot Lloyd.
Whilst reading this text I have fallen in love with, become exasperated by, and completely related to Alice Dyson, the protagonist Poppy Nwosu has so artfully created. The text delves into issues of social anxiety, peer pressure and bullying, self-identity, the feeling of being trapped on a path that you are unsure that you want to go down, and the ability to be brave and be yourself in the face of all of it. And of course, young love.
The catalyst of the plot revolves around one Teddy Taualai, who in his endeavour to enter Alice Dyson’s life upsets the balance with her friend May, her relationship with her demanding parents, and Alice’s carefully-planned future.
Throughout the novel Poppy threads through brilliant one liners that give her characters and their struggles an achingly realistic relatability. The characters practically jump off the page. It is these one liners that are both humorous but also incredibly real, that allow her to tackle hard issues like bullying in such a way that feels less like you are being lectured rather than you are getting a glimpse behind the curtain of adolescence.
But I do decide I need to do something. May holds her head high every day even when she’s bullied… and it makes me want to be brave too.
Alice’s personal growth is the shining light of the story, and her commitment to her own feelings and desires, while flawed, feels incredibly real. Her relationship with Teddy Tauali is awkward and gentle and incredibly genuine, and Teddy’s character is the sort of person many readers will find themselves wishing they had a chance to meet. This is a beautiful, tender story about endeavouring to be true – to your friends, to your family, but most importantly, to yourself.
View Wakefield Press’s other Young Adult Titles here and here. Stay tuned for an interview with Jessica, coming soon!
An Interview with: Claire Morey, Intern
Meet our wonderful intern, Claire, who recently completed her Honours degree in history (and then plunged right into a two-week stint at Wakefield Press!). Claire talks about the importance of self-aware history writers and the impact university has on reading habits.
What is the first book you ever read?
One of the first novel-sized books I can remember reading is probably Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. It seems to be the most memorable, maybe because I loved the edition and Quentin Blake’s illustrations so much.
What attracted you to doing your internship at Wakefield Press?
I’ve wanted to work in publishing for quite a long time but I hadn’t really thought to pursue it while I was studying. Now that I’ve graduated and have a lot more spare time I thought it would be a great opportunity to get involved with the publishing industry.
At the end of your internship, what are your thoughts about working in publishing?
I really enjoyed the internship! It’s helped me to solidify my interest in editing and proofreading, but it was also very interesting learning about other roles and how things operate behind-the-scenes.
You’ve done an Honours degree in history, so you must have read a few history books. What makes a history book engaging? And do you think history can tell us about the present as well as the past?
I really enjoy history books and historians that acknowledge their subjectivity and their inability to present a set of complete truths. In particular, history books that really cleverly weave together narrative and history with the past and present are the most engaging to me. A good example of this is Slicing the Silence by Australian historian Tom Griffiths. He is really fantastic at communicating history through interconnecting stories and historical figures in a constant conversation between past and present. Engaging historical writing can often read much like a novel.
What’s the last book you read and loved? What did you love about it?
Mary Lee: The life and times of a ‘turbulent anarchist’ and her battke for women’s rights by Denise George (published by Wakefield Press)! I really loved learning about a woman who, despite being so integral to the women’s suffrage movement of both South Australia and Australia as a whole, is hardly remembered or talked about in schools or general society. Reading such a captivating book has me thinking that primary and secondary school history could be far more interesting if we focus on incredible local historical events, such as women’s suffrage in South Australia and the women who fought so hard for it, rather than learning about the First Fleet over and over again.
What’s the last book you read and hated? what did you hate about it?
I don’t think I ever really hate books! It’s possible I only pick things up that I think I will like at least a little bit, so maybe I’m not that experimental in my reading choices. One book that I remember really struggling with was The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon. Perhaps it was a bit too postmodern for me back in first year university, I think I could handle it a bit better now (maybe).
How do you find out about books you want to read?
I get a lot of recommendations through friends, family, my boyfriend and uni. I also follow a YouTuber (Leena Norms) who works in publishing in London, so that has been a great way to discover contemporary titles that are being published.
Where do you buy your books? (In a bookshop, online, second-hand … Or do you use libraries?)
A combination of all of them! If there’s a book I really want then I’ll buy it, and if it’s a lot cheaper online then I am a bit guilty of buying books from Book Depository. I do like finding second-books and recently I’ve been trying to use libraries more often, but I do enjoy owning books, especially if I’ve really enjoyed it and want to reread it.
Does studying influence the kinds of books you read? (Other than set texts, of course!) If so, how?
Yes, I did English and History at uni so studying English got me very interested in a lot of classics as well as postcolonial literature.
Only in the last few years have I read many history books, which I never would have known about if it weren’t for studying history at uni. Studying history has also given me a far greater understanding and interest in Australian history.
How do you feel about reading on-screen? Do you read e-books as well as print books? (And if you do both, what’s the split, time-wise?)
I much prefer reading print books, I only really read e-books if a print book isn’t available.
If you were banished to a desert island and could take three books with you, what would they be and why?
This is very hard! First I think I’d pick The Art of Time Travel by Tom Griffiths because it’s a great compilation of Australian and Indigenous history and it’s really well written. Next maybe The Story of Art by EH Gombrich because it is so incredibly packed with information so would use up a lot of time while stuck on an island. The last one would probably be Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë as it is such a lovely, easy read that never gets old.