Cirrus@Austlit

'An Australian woman spends two months in Italy in the summer of 2017. As she wends her way to a literary conference in Ravello where will will speak about Basho, she records the joys and foibles of Bella Italia - the characters she meets, the food she enjoys and the art she sees. The haiku she writes on return pay tribute to her poetic companion on her travels - Basho. From Sicily in the south to Monte Rossa in the north, the magnificent delights of Italy unfold, even though the tour is a humble one and not grand at all.'   (Publication summary)

'Wal Stubbings (1913-2014) was an Australian waterside worker for 40 years. Militant workers like him were demonised and accused of wrecking the country. So what was it like to be a wharfie? Especially one who visited the USSR, was involved in street marches, and was under ASIO surveillance yet survived with all his mental facilities intact to the ripe old age of 101? This is one man's journey through a tumultuous century.' (Publication summary)