Cirrus@Austlit

'At fourteen Sophie Kamler crossed the Atlantic alone, from Poland to America. At sixteen she paid for her siblings and mother to follow. At eighteen, a penniless wife, then a mother of three, she defied New York gangsters.

'At fifty six, a widow, she married again only to be widowed a second time. Matriarch to a sprawling but tightly held family of descendants, hers is a story of ambition - of love given, withheld, slighted, sustained and disappointed.

'Told here by her granddaughter, Barbara Kamler, in riveting vignettes, photographs and poetic reflections, this tale will resonate with the experience of so many remarkable women, minimising the complexity and vibrancy of their lives.'  (Publication summary)

'Being holed up on an outback sheep station for nearly three years has been one of the best experiences of my life. From the spectacular landscape of the Flinders Ranges to the beauty of the people we came to know, I will have lasting memories to make me smile - even though at times the life was hard, challenging and tempers got frayed. I have detailed how certain discoveries on the station triggered difficult family memories and brought to light uncomfortable family taboos. Yet, reliving those times has helped resolve deep frustrations that I have been battling for decades. My dear mum comes in for some flak and I need to make clear that mum gave me and my brothers a wonderful childhood full of love, light, and freedom. But there was a darkness that fell around us and I had to return to it because I was resentful. Writing about those times has been a kind of exorcism of my hurt feelings and I left the sheep station a happier more optimistic person. The outback became my therapist, and for that, I shall be forever in its debt.' (Publication summary)

'After a 30-year absence Agnes is returning to Australia, the country of her birth, at the request of her aging, narcissistic mother. Having undergone a long period of psychotherapy she now entertains a hope that burning questions will be answered, haunting mysteries solved, and buried memories encouraged into the light. Something has blighted her life since childhood. Something has cast a long shadow over her existence, affecting her ability to grasp at life fully, to develop sustained relationships and to appreciate her own sense of self-worth.

'In a leafy suburb of Sydney, a chance meeting in front of her early childhood home resurrects memories of a traumatic event. This represents the moment young Agnes starts to realise, and repress, feelings of confusion, cruelty and alienation from those who should love her the most. Agnes - A childhood betrayed and reclaimed is the revelatory, true account of one woman's determination to grapple with - and heal - the ills that have beset her past.

'As the missing pieces of the family puzzle gradually fall into place this brave woman's search for the truth is vindicated. Decades of mental health challenges, from amnesia to acquired dyslexia to self-limiting thoughts are ultimately overcome, and an irrepressible spirit released'  (Publication summary)

'Part memoir, part social commentary, this is a Stolen Generations story with a difference. Told from the perspective of a non-Indigenous foster sister, The Chosen Son recounts one woman's lifelong quest to come to terms with her family's role in colonial policies that separated Indigenous children from their parents.'  (Publication summary)

'Diane Wahlheim has for many years worked in a culinary world. Her love of all things that tempt the palette and lift the senses has given her a satisfying and fulfilling career. Meandering beneath the layers of a fine food connoisseur, however, has ben a perpetual passion for poetry. Now retired and living in Aldinga Beach, Diane is enjoying the time she has had to take her fondness for rhymes, and other lines, a little further. In this book, her first full collection, she leaves the recipes behind and is, instead, cooking with words.' (Publication summary)

'Within the verses of Growing Up, readers will embark on a journey through sorrow, love, emotions and challenges that shape our daily lives. This collection of raw and emotional poetry delves into the experiences of loss, heartache, friendship and hope, exploring the nature of human relationships with beauty, understanding and empathy. These poems about human experiences celebrate the joy, heartache and the pain of being human. Touching on issues such as suicide, metal illness, lost friendships, drug addiction, war and human endurance, these poems create a space for empathy and understanding in a world that can be dark and fragmented. Growing Up will touch your heart.' (Publication summary)

'‘Libby Sommer has a keen eye for extraordinary insights in the midst of the details of ordinary life, and for the striking verbal expression that captures the moral implications of what she has carefully observed. Hers is poetry that always rewards us with stimulated thought.’ – Barry Spurr, Literary Editor, Quadrant' (Publication summary)

'Warning: do not buy this book if all you want is a boring travel guide. Buy it only if you are interested in personal reflections and observations, mostly sane but some completely insane, history, and the odd poem for good measure, put together in 2022 in the post Covid lockdown era when I travelled from Port Albert to the tip of Cape York and back - about as far south to north as you can get on the Australian mainland.' (Publication summary)

'Midnight Radio explores the complex landscape of intimate attachments, offering nuanced, original perspectives on the ambiguities that pervade them. The collection reflects a clear-eyed intelligence and a sensibility at once ironic and vulnerable. Often conversational in tone, satisfyingly varied, these compact yet multi-layered poems, deeply observed even at their most playful, engage both heart and mind.

'‘There is a hot black nerve running through Midnight Radio which Michael Sariban plays with unnerving lyrical confidence. This is a collection of poetry that gives a fiendish pleasure.’ - Dorothy Porter

'‘These poems glide beneath the eye, the lightness of their surface deceptive. Unapologetically direct, they chart a course through the debris of contemporary culture, mingling intimate reflection and sardonic detachment.’ - Amanda Stewart

'‘The poems are really sharp and clear and very stylish…a multi-pronged investigation of love and passion.’ - Martin Duwell ' (Publication summary)

'‘David Kelly has an uncanny ability to dissect the most mundane moments with unexpected bursts of insight. Laced with David’s bizarre sense of humour, quartet is a collection of poetry like no other. It tantalises the senses and makes you reach deep into your own humanity to reflect upon snippets of time, real or imagined. From the environmental swirl of life in the forest, grasping the message from a dying man’s handshake, memories of an expectant toddler, through to creating a regiment of the elderly with scooter trains, David’s poetry is firing on all four cylinders.’ – Suellen Drysdale, President, Goulburn Valley Writers Group

'‘David Kelly continues his exciting quest to find different ways to write and present poetry. His fourth book quartet shows four of these ways. The first section contains prosaic paragraphs about everyday life in a country town, the second section has poems in the happy, primal voice of a child, the third section contains long descriptive poems about trees, birds and the families of the bush and the final section presents narrative poems about family struggles which read like a poetry novella. Kelly’s poetry focuses on small but resonant details which celebrate aspects of an Australian way of life.’ – Myron Lysenko' (Publication summary)

'Dominic Kirwan’s latest collection of poetry, Spreading the Bad Word, is jaw-droppingly delicious, and I say that as someone who does not usually consider myself a fan of the genre. Like a lot of people, I thought of poetry as the realm of greeting cards and teenage girls, but this is some great, grown-up stuff. Kirwan is a master craftsman of words, an architect that rummages through his vocabulary of nouns, adjectives, and verbs and then links them together to build tantalising towers of emotional intensity that will awe anyone lucky enough to read his finished masterpieces. This collection is not for the faint of heart. Kirwan will often leave the reader breathless as he whips his audience around the corners of his reality. You may never be quite sure if you are wandering through the poet’s own mind or some nightmarish painting, bold in colour and shocking in its subject matter. Either way, you will be enthralled, perhaps a tad frightened, but entirely wanting to follow him down this dark alley and into the next. Each poem is its own chapter of life, some overlapping, but each a spectacular explosion of feeling. Whether addressing the unbearable realities of love, loss, religion, regret and death, Kirwan also uplifts in his unique way on subjects like gratitude and motherhood, and he is guaranteed to shock with his takes on abortion, social media, and loneliness. I consider it an honour to recommend this book to both the poetry geek and the non-believer. Let Kirwan introduce you to his unique world that is intimate, appalling and delectable all at the same time.’ - Grace Noble, English teacher, spectacular commentator extraordinaire' (Publication summary) ​​​​​​​

'Cynthia Sidney Hallam grew up in Lismore and now lives in the Blue Mountains. Her short stories, poems and articles have appeared in magazines and anthologies, and her poems have been performed on stage and read on ABC radio. She has been awarded a Writing Fellowship Degree by the Fellowship of Australian Writers.' (Publication summary)