The mysterious sands of Qatar

Sally van Gent has lived adventurously. She's dined with the Bedouin, dived deep into the Arabian Sea, and climbed aboard a tanker for a midnight rendezvous. Her latest memoir, The Navy-blue Suitcase, is a collection of stories from her travelling life told with 'optimism, humour, an indefatigable faith in a better future, and a powerful sense that life is what you make of it, no matter what cards you’ve been dealt' (ANZ LitLovers LitBlog). Today we're…

And the winner is...

We had so many wonderful entries for our January newsletter's Summer Rose Giveaway, thank you all for taking the time to send us your beautiful roses. We all agreed, however, that the $250 Wakefield Press voucher should go to Ray Tyndale who sent in this lyrical, floral poem: Maud scant apologies to Tennyson! Come my poppy Fling open your flaming petals Give to me your black heart. Come my pansy Toss back your knowing…

Friday funday!

Okay guys, it's been a while since we've done one of these, but it's Friday funday! That's a thing, right? Anyway, there've been some pretty cool links around recently and we wanna share. First, we have the ultimate test of Aussie English. Okay, so it's Buzzfeed, which means it's a laugh, but there are some little beauties on this list – or should we say bloody rippers? Next, to take it up a notch, Merriam-Webster have a…

101 Nights: The story behind a war classic

Music writer, bookseller and history buff Robert Brokenmouth paints a picture of the man and the circumstance behind the classic war novel, 101 Nights by Ray Ollis. The night [was] whirling about them, tossing them easily on its powerful way… Their throttles were open now, straining against the storm. Hyde checked his petrol, checked his watch, and cast a troubled glance over his shoulder looking for the dawn. If this weather strengthened, the day might…

An ode to Myponga Beach

In our September newsletter, we ran a giveaway for Ivor Hele and asked entrants to tell us about their favourite holiday destination. We just had to share this amazing response sprinkled with historic family photos from our prize winner, Meg. A place where I have spent many wonderful holidays is Myponga Beach on the Fleurieu Peninsula. It’s a beautiful blend of rural ‘Southern Mount Lofty’ landscapes along with a crescent bay which can be so…

Stephen Orr speaks to the Friends of the Barr Smith Library

In 2016 the Friends of the Barr Smith Library have teamed up with Wakefield Press to present a series of talks by Wakefield Press authors. On 21 April, renowned novelist Stephen Orr entertained the masses (despite attesting that he prefers to 'terrify') with an overview of his writing career, beginning with this fitting reflection on the Barr Smith itself. You can listen to Stephen's speech in its entirety here thanks to Radio Adelaide. I first came to the…

Sydney: Talking Points

The man sitting next to me introduces himself as Michael Robotham. Someone stops to talk to David Malouf by the side of the harbour. Kerry O'Brien walks by. This could only be Sydney Writers Festival. But the writers aren't the only stars. We are here for the Visiting International Publishers (VIPs, indeed). The main game is two days of speed dating between these visitors and Australian…

Invisible Mending launch

On April 17 we were excited to host the launch of Mike Ladd's new collection Invisible Mending right here at Wakefield Press. Rachael Mead had the honour of launching Mike's book. We recently hosted an exhibition of Rachael's photography alongside the launch of Cassie Flanagan Willanski's Here Where We Live, and it was a pleasure to have her back. If you weren't able to make it to the launch, don't worry we've got you covered. You can read…

Thursday links

Happy Thursday, kiddos! I've been hoarding up a few links to share with you guys ... Do you spend as much time thinking about text-message punctuation as I do? Jessica Bennet at the New York Times does too! This is a fascinating article about the way that punctuation is used differently in messages. Going back to our discussion of quotas from last week, here's an old but good article about self-imposed quotas from Overland (with…

Stephen Orr on Transitions

Hello all! Hope you're keeping warm. We have a lot going on over here at Wakefield Press, not least of all the release of Stephen Orr's latest book, The Hands, later this month. To keep you going until then, we've got Stephen's wonderful keynote speech on transitions for the Gawler Festival of Words, reprinted with permission here: So let’s look at some famous transitions. Australian culture. In the 1950s, absent, or derivative, aping American and British models?…