Cirrus@Austlit

'A personal reflection and an ambitious, overarching reading of Maria Tumarkin as a writer, and her place in the contemporary Australian literary zeitgeist.

'Why is Maria Tumarkin a significant writer today?

'What are the worlds-personal, social, and intellectual-that have helped to form her perspective? Where does she fit within the circles of key Australian writers and thinkers? What are the boundaries that her work pushes against? And what future does she see for us in Australia and beyond?

'In Tumarkin, which inaugurates the Contemporary Australian Writers series, noted critic and author Patrick Allington registers his intellectual and emotional reaction to Maria Tumarkin's witty, often blunt, always complex interpretations of Australia and the world.

'In the era of the rushed think piece, Allington explores the depth of Tumarkin's persistent, historically informed concern with questions of personal and social belonging, disruption and dislocation. He asks how we might most usefully respond to a body of writing that is urgent, important and unsettling but contains no simple manifesto.' (Publication summary)

'A revealing portrait of Joan London's intimate writings about family, love and loss.

'Joan London's remarkable body of work, including the award-winning novels and short fiction The Golden Age, Gilgamesh and Sister Ships, tells everyday stories of family, love and loss, with her signature poetic vision. London's stories portray how ordinary people get caught up in extraordinary circumstances and come to live in a world of violence and fear, of beauty and hope.

'In London Tanya Dalziell takes the reader through the literary career of the Western Australian living treasure, journeying through space and time to offer a unique insight into the development of Australian literature and women's writing across the past four decades.

'London engages deeply with Joan London's work to reflect on its artistry and the conversations it provokes with the changing times. Dalziell invites readers to traverse London's writing and discover the significant contributions she has made to the contemporary literary landscape.' (Publication summary)