GUEST POST: Dr David Faber on Harry Hodgetts: The flawed broker behind Don Bradman’s move to Adelaide by John Davis

Posted on 31 October 2024 by Polly Grant Butler

From ‘Big Shot’ to ‘Swindler’, racier newspapers gloated when Harry Hodgetts was convicted of fraud and false pretences in September 1945. But how did things go so wrong for Hodgetts?

In Harry Hodgetts: The flawed broker behind Don Bradman’s move to Adelaide, John Davis writes the complex story of this hard-working, gifted social climber, his fall into bankruptcy and a prison cell, and the scandal that haunted Bradman’s reputation.

In this special guest post, Dr David Faber of Flinders University provides his reflections on this riveting biography.

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GUEST POST: Matthew P. Fitzpatrick on An Indigenous South

Posted on 10 October 2024 by Maddy Sexton

An Indigenous South: German writers on colonial South Australia, edited by Peter Monteath and Matthew P. Fitzpatrick, shines a light on a forgotten aspect of South Australia’s history.

The book collects the writing of German settlers and visitors to Australia, charting the course of German–Australian encounters from first contacts, through the ruptures and violence of a relentlessly expanding European presence and into the twentieth century.

Co-editor Matthew P. Fitzpatrick presented a fascinating talk on the book at the September meeting of the Friends of the Lutheran Archives. We’re pleased now to be able to share this in-depth explanation of the book with a wider audience.

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GUEST POST: Stephen Orr on A Cheery Soul

Posted on 24 September 2024 by Maddy Sexton

Wakefield Press is looking forward to heading to Holden Street Theatres this week to watch ‘surreal satirical masterpiece’ A Cheery Soul by Patrick White, directed by Peter Goers. We’re pleased now to be sharing Stephen Orr‘s programme notes, shared with permission from Holden Street Theatre and Peter Goers.

Read Stephen’s lively notes below.

Banner image sourced from Wiki Commons.

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GUEST POST: Would you like a dash of sunshine with your noir? by Lisa Walker

Posted on 28 July 2021 by Poppy Nwosu

We’re celebrating the publication of Lisa Walker’s new young adult fiction novel this week, Trouble is my Business. This second Olivia Grace novel is another rip-roaring mystery, with nods to Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes, and a flavour of Veronica Mars. This Byron Bay set caper will definitely keep you warm this winter!

The release of Trouble is My Business coincides perfectly with an exciting announcement from Sisters in Crime. Lisa’s first Olivia Grace mystery, The Girl with the Gold Bikini, has been shortlisted for two awards in this year’s Davitt Awards! Lisa has been shortlisted in both the YA and debut crime category.

Both Olivia Grace mysteries are set on the Gold Coast and in Byron Bay, where sunny facades hide deeper, darker stories. Read on for Lisa Walker’s thoughts about ‘sunshine noir’, and setting her teen detective novel on the sun-drenched east coast of Australia.

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GUEST POST: Wendy Scarfe’s brush with book censorship

Posted on 12 August 2020 by Poppy Nwosu

Wendy Scarfe is the author of A Mouthful of Petals, a nonfiction account of three years working in an Indian village in the early 1960s. Previously published, it became a classic among good samaritans, particularly in Britain, and was reviewed by The Times, New Statesman and such like.

In this guest post, Wendy reflects on a past brush with book censorship and her experiences writing and publishing a biography amidst political turmoil.

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GUEST POST: Ed Pegge on star power

Posted on 10 June 2020 by Maddy Sexton

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

Posted on 4 June 2020 by Maddy Sexton

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 past as a way of improving the future.

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AUTHOR GUEST POST: Wendy Scarfe on revisiting the past

Posted on 27 May 2020 by Poppy Nwosu

In this special guest post, Wendy Scarfe talks about her experiences writing A Mouthful of Petals with her late husband, Allan Scarfe.

A Mouthful of Petals is a nonfiction account of three years working in an Indian village in the early 1960s. Previously published, it became a minor classic, and has since been re-released by Wakefield Press. This new edition includes an account of Wendy Scarfe’s return trip to Sokhodeora during a famine in the late 1960s, and how those who live in Bihar state fare in the early twenty-first century.

‘It describes with warmth, sympathy and occasional near-despair, the life of an Indian village from the inside’ – Nancy Cato

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GUEST POST: John Read on the lessons lockdown has to offer

Posted on 19 May 2020 by Maddy Sexton

John Read is used to working remotely, and often in accidental isolation. An ecologist and author, John lives on South Australia’s largest privately managed nature reserve with his wife, children and endangered malleefowl and marsupials.

We asked John to write about his experiences living and working in the most remote parts of Australia, and how things have changed (if at all) as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Wakefield Press

Wakefield Press blog

Category Archives: Guest Post

GUEST POST: Dr David Faber on Harry Hodgetts: The flawed broker behind Don Bradman’s move to Adelaide by John Davis

From ‘Big Shot’ to ‘Swindler’, racier newspapers gloated when Harry Hodgetts was convicted of fraud and false pretences in September 1945. But how did things go so wrong for Hodgetts?

GUEST POST: Matthew P. Fitzpatrick on An Indigenous South

An Indigenous South: German writers on colonial South Australia, edited by Peter Monteath and Matthew P. Fitzpatrick, shines a light on a forgotten aspect of South Australia’s history.

GUEST POST: Stephen Orr on A Cheery Soul

GUEST POST: Would you like a dash of sunshine with your noir? by Lisa Walker

Continue reading →

GUEST POST: Wendy Scarfe’s brush with book censorship

GUEST POST: Ed Pegge on star power

Hilarious, charming and self-effacing, meet Edmund Pegge, one of Australia’s most prolific supporting actors.

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?

AUTHOR GUEST POST: Wendy Scarfe on revisiting the past

In this special guest post, Wendy Scarfe talks about her experiences writing A Mouthful of Petals with her late husband, Allan Scarfe.

GUEST POST: John Read on the lessons lockdown has to offer

John Read is used to working remotely, and often in accidental isolation. An ecologist and author, John lives on South Australia’s largest privately managed nature reserve with his wife, children and endangered malleefowl and marsupials.

We asked John to write about his experiences living and working in the most remote parts of Australia, and how things have changed (if at all) as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.