The wild weather last week was nothing more for many of us than an excuse to play cards by candlelight for a few hours. For some people, especially on the Eyre Peninsula, the storms were much more destructive. After seeing pictures of the battered Port Germein jetty on the news, we've been thinking about Jill Roe's memories of the area from Our Fathers Cleared the Bush … Jetties have played an important role in the history…
Continue readingSpring is announced by the new season’s asparagus bursting from the ground, freshly pickled olives and the traditional symbol of new life – eggs! Which also means: olive and asparagus frittata! Celebrate with this easy, flexible recipe from Russell Jeavons's Your Brick Oven. Great for an appetiser. Olive and Asparagus Frittata (makes enough for eight as an appetiser) 1 large onion olive oil 1 bunch of asparagus 1 cup new season’s black olives 10 eggs salt and pepper…
Continue readingCassie Flanagan Willanski's debut collection Here Where We Live is one of our must-reads for the year. Winner of the Unpublished Manuscript Award back in 2014, it received high praise from the judges for its 'subtle, assured writing that deftly weaves dialogue and description and expertly uses imagery to plumb the depths of its protagonists’ emotions'. Brian Castro said 'I was moved and I was haunted', and we agree. We'd like to share one of our…
Continue readingWith the upcoming launch of Quiet City by Carol Lefevre on Sunday at West Terrace Cemetery, we couldn't resist sharing another extract. This one comes from the chapter "Darkness in Daylight" and the illustration is by Anthony Nocera. But there is, too, a long and more troubling list of activities that eventually became the focus of a government investigation. They involved the appropriation of bodies for dissection, especially from public institutions such as the gaol, the lunatic…
Continue readingCarol Lefevre will be launching Quiet City at the West Terrace Cemetery this Sunday May 15. To celebrate, here is another extract with an illustration by Anthony Nocera. This extract comes from the chapter "In Deep Water". The names of people who drowned in the River Torrens would fill a book. Many of them were children, and although few could swim they found their way towards the water. On a Sunday afternoon in November, Henry Charles Etheridge, aged nine, and his brother…
Continue readingThe following extract is taken from "Unhappy Women" in Quiet City by Carol Lefevre. Quiet City explores the extraordinary and unusual lives of the people now resting beneath the tombstones of West Terrace Cemetery. The illustration accompanying this extract is by Anthony Nocera. The launch will be taking place at West Terrace Cemetery on May 15 at 2pm. Carol will be leading a tour of the cemetery and taking us to some of her favourite grave sites. Unhappy Women Of all the unhappy women in…
Continue readingThe simple act of going into a bookshop and buying an Australian novel is now radical. The slightly more demanding act of reading that novel is political. This is a good in itself. This makes the work good. It stimulates the economy, not to mention your intellect and capacity for empathy. It also provides writers, editors and publishers with the means to continue doing what they do. Most importantly, it stimulates a conversation, creates a context in…
Continue readingDerek Pedley's a man with a taste for the darker side of life. His award-winning true crime books are gripping, mesmerising – and occasionally terrifying, when he reminds us what even the most ordinary of folk are capable of. Dead by Friday recounts a tale of murder and adultery that gripped Adelaide over ten years ago. Shortlisted for the Ned Kelly True Crime Award (the nation's highest true crime honour), Dead by Friday tells the full…
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