Cirrus@Austlit

'The late professor Con Castan was an unusual man: a public and, at the same time, a private person.' (Introduction)

'... controversial, scandalous sometimes, in the main doing away with certain conventionalities and taboos, this collection of stories is guaranteed to initiate scores of readers to the mysteries of Life, Literature and Art.

'... stories embodying the great themes of family, migration, homesickness, democracy, literature and art - absurd, macabre, sad, funny, enchanting.

Ann Williams

'"...the eye of the writer is not only descriptive but also critical. His language is contemporary, compact, at times even irreverent, but always vibrant and fascinating."

'Costas Plastiras (poet)' (Publication summary)

'Christos Tsiolkas The Untold Story is the first in depth systematic look at the life and work of one of Australia’s most popular and controversial storytellers.

'From Tsiolkas’ early days as a struggling writer to the present universal acclaim, his compelling untold story is at last recorded. For the first time the writer speaks candidly and de profundis about everything: his turbulent life (his childhood, adolescence and adulthood) and subjects dear to his heart (literature and criticism, identity, the state of humanity – decadence, materialism, spirituality, ethics, racism, animal liberation, intellectuals and the media – religion and death). He also reveals secrets and valuable insights about his four controversial novels which he discusses at length – from his first provocative Loaded to his latest international bestseller The Slap. Essential reading for Tsiolkas’ numerous fans who have always wondered: “what is the real story behind the ‘Tsiolkas phenomenon’' (Publisher's blurb)

'A self-portrait that is as brilliant original as White's fiction and drama.

'In this remarkable self-portrait Patrick White explains how on the very rare occasions when he re-reads a passage from one of his books, he recognises very little of the self he knows. This 'unknown' is the man interviewers and visiting students expect to find, but 'unable to produce him', he prefers to remain private, or as private as anyone who has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature can ever be. In this book is the self Patrick White does recognise, the one he sees reflected in the glass.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Vintage ed.).

'In 1922, the great Mediterranean seaport of Smyrna is ablaze: the Greeks are forced from Asia Minor in defeat. Among the refugees is Theo Tekaros, whose long journey ends in Australia. 'I was a lost soul; you'd better believe it. . .' He meets Trixie at a wartime dance, and falls in love.

'Sixty years later, their son Harry, a radio journalist deserted by his wife, heads back to Greece and Turkey in search of his father's beginnings, the past. A perpetual beginner, he is captivated by two women: an elderly bookseller in Constantinople and a Greek theatre actress. Like a latter-day Ulysses blown miles off course, Harry falls in love too. But the fabric of truth is delicate, he discovers, and mysteries abound on this planet of possibilities.' (Publication summary)

"The poems in this book were selected to reflect the diasporic experience. Antigone Kefala, a Greek from Romania and living in Australia, has lived her life moving between (or within) different languages, cultures and countries. As the editor’s note states, the poems capture artistically and intellectually the two most significant phenomena of the twentieth century: wars and migration. The selection was made from all previous collections by Kefala: The Alien, Thirsty Weather, European Notebook and Absence."

Taken from: http://owlpublishing.com.au/poems-a-selection.html