This week’s poetry spotlight shines on ‘After Pentridge’ by Jenny Boult, from the collection Tuesday Night Live: Fifteen years of Friendly Street.
POETRY SPOTLIGHT: ‘After Pentridge’ by Jenny Boult
Reply
ANNOUNCEMENT: Nunga Anthology, A new opportunity for First Nations creatives
(Alt image ID: white text on an abstract background of swirling colour. Text reads: Announcing a new opportunity for First Nations creatives. Nunga Anthology: Poetry, short stories, graphic stories. Edited by Karen Wyld and Dominic Guerrera. Submissions close Monday 18 September 2023. For more information, visit www.wakefieldpress.com.au/blog)
Editors Dominic Guerrera and Karen Wyld invite Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander storytellers to submit poetry, fiction and graphic stories for an upcoming Wakefield Press anthology (currently untitled). This anthology is supported by a grant from the Australian Council for the Arts.
Dominic and Karen envision that this collection will be a boundless chorus of profundity, intuity, and sovereignty, with works writing back to the archives, staunchly calling for justice, listening to ancestors or speaking to future kin.
Through this anthology, Wakefield Press’ vision is to nurture Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander writers, supporting them to grow careers with longevity.
Continue reading below for submission details and key information.
Continue readingANNOUNCEMENT: New Events & Administration Coordinator
This week we welcomed Carney Sims to the Wakefield family. You’ll find her sitting behind the desk in our little bookshop, where she will be taking over events and administration duties. We asked Carney a few questions about her background and interests, as well as, of course, her taste in books!
Continue readingANNOUNCEMENT: Julia Archer wins the May WWWC!
We’re pleased to announce the winner of the May WWWC: Julia Archer! Responding to the prompt ‘floral emblem’, Julia’s ‘The Watcher at the Window’ sees a group of neighbourhood nosy parkers given the shock of a lifetime.
Read Julia’s winning entry below.
Continue readingMEET THE BOOKSELLER: Gavin Butler, St Arnaud Books
As a sequel to Jane Grant’s ‘A Day in the Life‘ at St Arnaud Books, her employee Gavin Butler brings his own perspective on working as a bookseller in rural Victoria.
Continue readingPOETRY SPOTLIGHT: ‘vodka & coke’ by Ali Whitelock
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’.
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 reading