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.

How to Work from Home: Annette Marner's tips

Welcome to the week, and to a new blog series here at Wakefield Press! Introducing How to Work From Home: Authors talk about how they stay productive. Like many others, we’ve recently begun the transition from office work to working from home. It’s a strange transition to make, and we need some help. We’ve interviewed a collection of our favourite authors to get their best tips, tricks and truths about working from home. Next in the…

CELEBRATE 60 Years of the Adelaide Festival with Wakefield Press!

The Adelaide Festival is as much shaped by people and place as it in turn shapes people and place; its identity is a weird and wild shifting thing. It is not owned by one individual, but belongs to everyone. Right now in Adelaide we are experiencing our annual festival season, one of our favourite times of the year here at Wakefield Press! Yet this year festival season is even more special than usual! In 2020,… Continue reading

Stephen Orr on growing up in suburban Adelaide

The #tenyearchallenge has been dominating social media for the past few weeks, but today author Stephen Orr looks even further back in this 2006 article about his childhood in the suburbs of 1970s Adelaide. Keep an eye out for Stephen's next novel, This Excellent Machine, which will be released in April 2019. Smith Street I want to tell you about the street I grew up in. We’ll call it Smith…

Antarctic Ideas: Hot Reads for Cold Nights

A good book is, in many ways, like a good conversation. It engages with ideas in a way that leaves you energised, knowing more than you did when you began – but still thinking and questioning. Maybe that’s why we at Wakefield feel a special affinity with the Adelaide Festival of Ideas. In the lead-up to the full festival program announcement in a few weeks, we’re remembering an event from this time last year that…

The launch of SURROGATE by Tracy Crisp

Last week we launched Tracy Crisp's new book Surrogate to a very full house at Imprints Booksellers. After an excellent speech by ABC Adelaide's Deb Tribe, here is what Tracy had to say. Thank you, Deb. For being so open to the invitation and so generous with your time to prepare for tonight and to be here this evening. And thank you for giving Surrogate such a great send-off into the world.…

The Wakefield Press Reader's Guide to Open State

Open State festival has a packed program which kicks off on Thursday 28 September and runs through to Sunday 8 October. Publisher Michael Bollen brings you the Wakefield Press Reader's Guide to Open State. My, my. It's an eye-opener and source of pride, browsing the Open State program, reminding us how books and reading interweave past, present and future. Picking through the goodies on offer, the mind thinks inevitably, Hmm, could be a book in that. And thinks too: Now, which…

A great big book about a great small city

Last Thursday marked the celebration and re-launch of City Streets, a chronicled answer to the past 75 years of Adelaide’s architecture. As author Lance Campbell says, it's a great big book about a great small city. We were hosted at the beautiful Living Choice Fullarton and joined by many of our Wakefield Press authors and friends, including the event's emcee, Keith Conlon. And to top it all off, we had some fantastic Coriole sparkling! The…