POETRY SPOTLIGHT: 'This Poem Doesn't Rhyme' by Kristin Martin

This week's poetry highlight is on the gorgeous South Australian children's poetry book, To Rhyme Or Not To Rhyme? With poems written by Kristin Martin and illustrations by Joanne Knott, this kid's poetry collection is charming and fun. Poems truly are all around us, and in this collection Kristin shares her love of nature and sense of fun on every page. Joanne's exquisite illustrations bring the animals and natural environment to magical life.

BEHIND THE BOOKS: Fred Guilhaus on Road Rage

In this edition of Behind the Books, Fred Guilhaus answers all of our burning questions about his new novel, Road Rage. Close friends cycle to escape the pressures of big city living. A vehicle cuts them down from behind, causing serious injury. Is this road rage, car versus bike? Or is it a copycat terrorist attack? Road Rage challenges notions of 'them and us', right and wrong. In the revelations of each life's journey, Fred Guilhaus…

POETRY SPOTLIGHT: 'This Body' by Annette Marner

This week's poetry spotlight shines once again on Annette Marner's Women With Their Faces on Fire, a collection which draws on the beauty of nature to explore the experiences of women. 'In this book you will find a passionate involvement with the land, images of love and friendship, and anger against injustice. These poems chill and delight.' – Miriel Lenore

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…

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.

GUEST POST: Ed Pegge on star power

Hilarious, charming and self-effacing, meet Edmund Pegge, one of Australia's most prolific supporting actors. Travelling between England and Australia and working on stage, in film and on television for over fifty years, Ed Pegge knows all the tricks and all the trials of a working actor's life. In this guest post, Ed writes about the nuances of fame, and the benefits of taking a brief rest every now and again from being a star.

Book Launch: The First Wave

Gillian Dooley is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Flinders University, South Australia. Gillian is also a journal editor and the author of books and articles on literary subjects from Jane Austen to J.M. Coetzee. In this guest post she writes about the launch of The First Wave: Exploring early coastal contact history in Australia, and the book's importance in our understanding of Australian history. On 20 June, The First Wave: Exploring Early Coastal Contact History in Australia,…

Wakefield Press and Love Your Bookshop Day

Love Your Bookshop Day is all about celebrating what makes local bookshops so great (and so important)! Here at Wakefield Press, we're celebrating by opening our shop on Saturday 10 August, but the celebration is about more than just one day. As our fearless leader, Michael Bollen, considers the daunting 'For Official Use Only' headers that have plagued his inbox as late, he also ponders his own official use as a publisher. In Diary of a Publisher, a brilliant…

An Interview With: Sara Peak, Work Experience Student

Sara, a year 10 student at Saint Peter's Girls' School, talks about books, her experiences at Wakefield Press, and the differences between boys and girls reading What is the first book you ever read? At the risk of sounding generic, the first book I ever read was Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. Before this, I lamented reading, but I was immediately drawn into the whirlwind of escapades at Hogwarts, and after reading the Harry…

An Interview With: Poppy Nwosu

In this latest author interview series, work experience student Sian Beatton interviews Poppy Nwosu, author of Making Friends with Alice Dyson. Poppy's story came runner up for the 2018 Adelaide Festival Unpublished Manuscript Award, but here at Wakefield press we thought her story too good to go unnoticed. Poppy's book is a romantic story about rumours, friendship, and discovering who you really are. How do you keep a book interesting? This is a great question! For me, I…