To celebrate Ali Whitelock’s soon-to-be-launched third collection A Brief Letter to the Sea About a Couple of Things, this week’s spotlight shines on her poem ‘vodka & coke’.
POETRY SPOTLIGHT: ‘vodka & coke’ by Ali Whitelock
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Category Archives: For fun
GUEST POST: Susan Arthure, Rage and Resistance
The History Council of South Australia Wakefield Press Essay Prize is awarded to the author of an essay that deals substantially with some aspect of South Australian history. This year’s prize was awarded to Susan Arthure, for her essay ‘Rage and Resistance: Remembering the Women of Baker’s Flat’.
The judges of the prize note that the essay is a ‘powerful and thoroughly researched revelation of the Irish women who fiercely defended their homes at Baker’s Flat in the late 1800s. This original research provides a refreshing new insight into the names, lives and circumstances of these often anonymous women, as they successfully contested the power of the dominant male establishment figures. An important new perspective on property rights, gender and the Irish diaspora in South Australian history.’
Susan Arthure is no stranger to the winner’s podium: she won the History Council of South Australia’s Wakefield Press Essay Prize in 2020, for her essay titled ‘Kapunda’s Irish Connections’. This essay was an excerpt from Irish South Australia: New histories and insights, a collection which Susan also edited, along with Fidelma Breen, Stephanie James, and Dymphna Lonergan.
This new essay will be published in an upcoming title from Wakefield Press – Irish Women in the Antipodes: Foregrounded. It is one of 16 essays focusing on the lives, adventures and achievements of Irish women across Australasia, also edited by Susan, Fidelma, Stephanie and Dymphna.
Read Susan’s winning essay below.
Continue readingMEET THE BOOKSELLER: Jane Grant, St Arnaud Books
This week, we asked Jane Grant from St Arnaud Books to provide insight into an average day running a bookstore in rural Victoria.
Continue readingANNOUNCEMENT: Cath Bishop wins the April WWWC!
We’re pleased to announce the winner of the April WWWC: Cath Bishop! Responding to the prompt ‘an excellent hat’, Cath’s ‘Cousins’ explores familial rivalry, and pride coming before a fall (literally).
Read Cath’s winning entry below.
Continue readingSHORT STORY SPOTLIGHT: ‘Else / If’ by Andrew Roff
This week’s spotlight shines on the intriguing short story ‘Else / If’ from Andrew Roff’s debut collection The Teeth of the Slow Machine.
Continue readingPOETRY SPOTLIGHT: ‘On the passing of a friend’ by Steve Brock
This week’s poetry spotlight shines on Steve Brock’s Live at Mr Jake’s, highlighting the poem ‘On the passing of a friend’.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Valerie Volk wins the March WWWC!
We’re pleased to announce the winner of the March WWWC: Valerie Volk! Responding to the prompt ‘reading the tea leaves’, Valerie’s ‘Tea Time’ follows a woman who practices in unusual healing methods confronted by the angry spouse of a former client.
Read Valerie’s winning story below.
Content warning: this story discusses mental health and suicide.
Continue readingHOT OFF THE PRESS: NEW EXUBERANCE: Contemporary Australian Textile Design
This week, we celebrate the release of New Exuberance: Contemporary Australian Textile Design, curated and edited by Meryl Ryan.
Launching CRAZY BASTARD by Abraham Maddison
‘An urgent reminder of the need to heal the thousands affected by forced adoption. Beautifully written, deeply thought-provoking and a remarkable testament to the author’s courage and honesty.’ – Noni Hazlehurst, cover endorsement for Crazy Bastard by Abraham Maddison
POETRY SPOTLIGHT: ‘Like-Minded’ by Peter Bakowski and Ken Bolton
This week’s poetry spotlight shines on Peter Bakowski and Ken Bolton’s first collection together, The Elsewhere Variations, highlighting the poem ‘Like-Minded’.