Announcing Hometown Haunts, an Australian YA horror anthology to be published in 2021
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POETRY SPOTLIGHT: ‘Two Carolines’ by Miriel Lenore
This week’s poem comes from Miriel Lenore’s collection a wild kind of tune, the third book in her ‘pioneer grandmother’ series.
‘In a wild tale arcing from 1845 to the present, in poetry underpinned by meticulous research, we inhabit settler society with all its attendant joys, hardship and grief as we careen with Caroline through her journey of love, loss and horror into madness.’
– Biff Ward, author of In My Mother’s Hands
BEHIND THE BOOK: Valerie Volk and her search for Anna
In a new series on the Wakefield Press blog, we’ve asked authors to write about the background, inspiration, research and work that goes into writing a book.
This week, Valerie Volk writes about her search for her distant relative Anna Werner, who in 1889 left the German town of Lewin to search for her son in the distant colonies of Australia. This search culminated in Valerie’s novel, In Search of Anna, a story that Valerie describes as a journey book, historical fiction, a study of motherhood, a detective novel, and a romantic tale all rolled into one.
POETRY SPOTLIGHT: ‘Sclerophyll’ by Mike Ladd
This week’s Poem of the week comes from Mike Ladd’s collection Invisible Mending, which features photographs by Cathy Brooks.
Invisible Mending ranges across genres including essay, memoir, short story and poetry. Based loosely on the ideas of scarring and healing, Invisible Mending extends from family intimacies to connection and disconnection in the Australian community, environmental damage and repair.
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BEHIND THE BOOK: Anne Black on George Isaacs
In a new series on the Wakefield Press blog, we’ve asked authors to write about the background, inspiration, research and work that goes into writing a book.
This week features Anne Black, author of Pendragon: The life of George Isaacs, Colonial wordsmith. Anne writes about her first encounter with little-known literary icon George Isaacs, and the death certificate that sparked an obsession and a biography.
POETRY SPOTLIGHT: ‘Maslins Beach at Midnight’ by Jeri Kroll
Our poetry spotlight shines on Jeri Kroll today, and her lovely collection Workshopping the Heart.
This witty, moving and accessible collection gathers poems from six previous books, beginning with Death as Mr Right, which won second prize in the 1982 Anne Elder Award for best first poetry book in Australia. With irony and frankness, Jeri Kroll workshops the complex relationships that individuals establish over the course of a lifetime with friends and family, as well as with the physical and social environments that shape them. In particular, she tackles the significance of parenthood, gender and ageing.
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CELEBRATE ART: Annabelle Collett
Take a sneak peek inside this gorgeous book on artist Annabelle Collett by Kathie Muir, which is as bright, bold, and beautiful as Collett herself.
POETRY SPOTLIGHT: ‘That Stuff’s Past’ by Erica Jolly
Our poetry spotlight shines on Erica Jolly today, with the poem of the week taken from her collection Making a Stand. Continue reading
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 between signing a contract and seeing her first book released into the world by Wakefield Press.
In today’s post, Poppy speaks about how receiving a book contract can change the way you write new manuscripts.
