CELEBRATE ART: Dogs in Australian Art by Steven Miller
2
New Non-Fiction for 2021: Endo Days by Libby Trainor Parker
We’re delighted to officially announce the acquisition of world rights to Libby Trainor Parker’s debut book, with the working title of Endo Days: Life, Love and Laughs with Endometriosis, which Wakefield Press will publish in 2021.
One in ten people in Australia are living with endometriosis and countless others are supporting them, caring for them, championing various treatments and being impacted by this incurable condition. Endo Days is a look at the stories of those within the endo community, as told to journalist and educator Libby Trainor Parker, who was diagnosed with endometriosis aged thirty-six, and has dedicated the past seven years to finding the lighter side of chronic illness. Endo Days is a frank, often funny and honest memoir told in a narrative journalism style, with Libby’s own story as the central narrative, drawing on interviews with others with endometriosis (both women, men and non-binary), their partners – male and female, doctors and specialists, researchers and the wider endo community.
POETRY SPOTLIGHT: ‘The Jetty’ by Kate Llewellyn
This week’s poetry spotlight shines once again on Kate Llewellyn’s beautiful collection, Harbour.
Earlier in the series, Poppy featured Kate’s poem ‘Frost’ from the same collection. It’s a calming and quiet celebration of the ordinary beauty of nature (read Poppy’s thoughtful post about it here). In a similar vein, this week’s feature poem is an intimate and gentle study of creativity and friendship.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES for Hometown Haunts: #LoveOzYA Horror Tales
Wakefield Press is delighted to announce our October 2021 short story anthology Hometown Haunts: #LoveOzYA Horror Tales, showcasing established and new voices in YA.
Four YA horror stories will be selected from an open call-out across Australia.
Read on to find out how you can enter.
Announcing Hometown Haunts, an Australian YA horror anthology to be published in 2021
Wakefield Press is delighted to announce a new YA short-story anthology, Hometown Haunts: #LoveOzYA Horror Tales, generously funded by a grant from the Australia Council’s 2020 Resilience Fund – Create.
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.
Continue reading
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.