Growing up Asian in Australia
Alice Pung
(editor),
Melbourne
:
Black Inc.
,
2008
Z1496451
2008
anthology
autobiography
short story
poetry
interview
extract
(taught in 4 units)
'Asian-Australians have often been written about by outsiders, as outsiders. In this collection, they tell their own stories with verve, courage and a large dose of humour.
'Here are well-known authors and exciting new voices, spanning several generations and drawn from all over Australia. They tell tales of leaving home, falling in love, coming out and finding one's feet. In sharing their stories, they show us what it is really like to grow up Asian and Australian.'
Source: Back cover.
Documents That Shaped Australia : Records of a Nation's Heritage
John Thompson
(editor),
Sydney
:
Murdoch Books
,
2010
Z1670283
2010
anthology
prose
(taught in 3 units)
'Spanning more than 400 years, from the first documented sighting of the Southern Cross in 1516 to the Rudd Government's national apology of 2008, this anthology presents in chronological form a richly varied spectrum of 100 historical documents that contribute to a broad understanding of some of the key moments in Australia's history.' (Trove)
Tales from Outer Suburbia
Shaun Tan
(illustrator),
Crows Nest
:
Allen and Unwin
,
2008
Z1450931
2008
selected work
single work
short story
art work
young adult
(taught in 13 units)
'do you remember the water buffalo at the end of our street?
or the deep-sea diver we found near the underpass?
do you know why dogs bark in the middle of the night?
Shaun Tan, creator of The Arrival, The Lost Thing and The Red Tree, reveals the quiet mysteries of everyday life: homemade pets, dangerous weddings, stranded sea mammals, tiny exchange students and secret rooms filled with darkness and delight.'
Source: Back cover.
The Dreamers
Paddington
:
Currency Press
,
1996
Z450251
1982
single work
drama
(taught in 18 units)
'With humane irony the Western Australian poet, Jack Davis gives a painful insight into the process of colonisation and the transformation of his people.'
'The Dreamers is the story of a country-town family and old Uncle Worru, who in his dying days, recedes from urban hopelessness to the life and language of the Nyoongah spirit which in him has survived 'civilisation'.' (Currency Press website)
Not Meeting Mr Right
Milsons Point
:
Bantam Australia
,
2007
Z1354637
2007
single work
novel
humour
(taught in 5 units)
'Alice Aigner is successful, independent and a confirmed serial dater - but at her ten-year school reunion she has a sudden change of heart. Bored rigid by her married, mortgaged and motherly former classmates, Alice decides to prove that a woman can have it all: a man, marriage, career, kids and a mind of her own.
'She sets herself a goal: meet the perfect man and marry him before her thirtieth birthday, just under two years away. Together with her best friends Dannie, Liza and Peta, Alice draws up a ten-point plan. Then, with a little help from her mum, her dad, her brothers, her colleagues and her neighbour across the hall, she sets out to find Mr Right. Unfortunately for Alice, it's not quite as easy as she imagines.
'Who could not fall in love with our Koori heroine as she dates (among others): Renan, whose career goal is to be the world's best moonwalker and male hula dancer; Tufu the commitment-phobic Samoan football player; scary Simon the one-night stand; and Paul - Mr Dreamboat, but perhaps too good to be true. All the while, Alice skilfully avoids dating Cliff, son of her mum's friend, a confirmed bachelor who isn't likely to settle down with a woman anytime soon.' (Publisher's blurb)
Coonardoo : The Well in the Shadow
1928
Z1081769
1928
single work
novel
(taught in 39 units)
Set in North-West of Western Australia, it describes life on cattle stations and the relationship between the white owner of the station and Coonardoo, an Aboriginal woman.
Collected Poems : Francis Webb
Toby Davidson
(editor),
Crawley
:
UWA Publishing
,
2011
Z1706175
2011
collected work
poetry
(taught in 9 units)
'UWA Publishing welcomes the return of Australia's most gifted and prodigious poet, Francis Webb, whose work has been out of print for thirty years in collected form.
'This collection of Francis Webb's poems is the first edition to incorporate Webb's final changes - previously ignored by editors - to several of his poems written in 1969.
'Webb wrote on varied subjects: the sea, postwar Australian cities, mental illness, colonial histories as well as religious and political figures, including St Francis and Hitler.
'His poems are written in a range of styles, from humorous short verse to epics and radio plays.
'The book is introduced by award-winning poet Toby Davidson and accompanied by 100 pages of notes drawing on the latest scholarship and commentaries.'
Source: UWA media release, February 2011, http://www.uwap.uwa.edu.au/
Sighted: 01/03/2011
