Cirrus@Austlit

'No Fixed Address appeared on the Australian rock circuit in the early 1980s with a set of songs that gave voice to the truths of their own lives. While everyone grooved to their reggae beat, whites were often stunned by their power and pride while Indigenous people whispered, ‘Can they say that?’ Juggling support for the burgeoning land rights movement with the demands of the commercial music industry, they were the first Aboriginal rock band to release an album, appear on Countdown and tour overseas. No Fixed Address continues to perform and will tour in support of the book in 2023.' (Publication summary)

'Nechama Werdiger has had a long and fascinating life.

'Growing up under the Soviet Union’s harsh antisemitism, she endured the war years as a child in Uzbekistan where thousands of Jews sought refuge from the Holocaust.

'She and her family managed to escape to Poland and France before arriving in 1949 in Australia. Through hard work, a strong sense of family and unswerving faith, she and her husband Nathan (Nossom) built a successful new life in Melbourne.

'Generous, wise, kind and caring, Nechama will inspire you with her life story.' (Publication summary) 

'Melbourne silk Nimal Wikramanayake’s memoir is a no-holds-barred account of the scandalous racism he experienced as a Sri Lankan barrister who joined the Victorian Bar in the final days of the White Australia Policy. He worked hard to establish his professional credentials in the face of a consistent pattern of hostility, until he was eventually appointed Queen’s Counsel. Readable and entertaining, though sometimes uncomfortable, this memoir is honest and doesn’t hold back from criticism of people he encountered and practices in the law. Now in his mid-eighties, Nimal has decided, against advice, to tell the story of his difficult career. The foreword is by the Hon. Justice Michael Kirby.'  (Publication summary)

'Albert Trajstman has again shown his mastery of the novella form in this new collection of three new works. Diverse and ambitious, the stories take us to faraway places and strange situations. Each novella twists and turns in unexpected directions, changes shape and weaves strands together.' (Publication summary)

'Lian Knight has recreated the amazing life of her grandfather, a war hero. What has been published about him is extraordinary – 2000 newspaper articles, many printed more than a century ago. Yet almost nothing written about him is consistent. The press varied his name, his age, his place of birth, where he lived and what he did. There were whispers that he emerged from poverty, delivering fish before dawn in London’s East End in the markets and laneways of Jack the Ripper’s local haunts, before joining the army at just thirteen. Averse to authority, he was a military superior’s nightmare. He served in South Africa and India before migrating to Australia.

'When World War I broke out, he was despatched to the Western Front where, gassed, bombed and working against remarkable odds, he saved the lives of many and was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for valour. He became legendary, gaining medals and escaping death on numerous occasions. After the war he married and finally returned to Australia. He was famous in England and Australia for his bravery and kindness to his fellow man. Later as a movie star, a politician, a boxer, a celebrated Australian identity and a good Samaritan, his notoriety seemed to know no bounds. Which of these stories were real? A mixture of truth and fantasy has continued to be reported … until now.'  (Publication summary)

'Love, regardless—the second collection from Melbourne-based Barbara Kamler—is an enthralling gallery of poetic portraits celebrating love that endures. It features a unique, dialogic mode of storytelling, whereby interviews with fourteen couples are poetically crafted into rhythmic, syllabic verse. Each couple, each poem explores the intimacy of first connecting and the various complications negotiated along the way—crushing pressures of sexual or racial norms, the challenge of chronic illness or disparate histories, and the demands of extended family and geographic distance. Yet these are sanguine stories that transcend the trials of the everyday, making real the possibility of mutual love and joy over a lifetime.

'The characters in this volume are actual people, who live and love, and the events they impart really happen. However, it is Kamler’s deft hand that lifts and transfigures these experiences into poetry which moves the reader. Love, regardless is a beautiful and provocative collection that sings with the vitality of the spoken word. It is a tapestry of journeys as couples thread the past to the present—recounting the passion and pathos of long love—and the ways they move forward, together, regardless.'  (Publication summary)

'The eighth book in the Grafton Everest series sees the hapless ex-President of the Republic of Australia, Dr Professor Grafton Everest, caught up in a web of international espionage and intrigue that he is hopelessly ill-equipped to handle.
'Abandoned to his own inadequate devices when his wife Janet departs on a world tour, with his home invaded by his now broke daughter and son-in-law, Grafton accepts an assignment with the United Nations to investigate electoral fraud in Russia. The reason is not only to get out of the house; an old letter from his mother, addressed to someone in the Soviet Union fifty years ago, suggests that Grafton may not be the only child that he always thought he was.
'Grafton’s mission to Moscow and his search for this mysterious sibling take him far from the Russian capital, deep into the icy wastes of Siberia and even deeper in a tangled conspiracy whose roots extend back to the Cold War and even as far back as the Russian Revolution.' (Publication summary)

'Isi Leibler has been a central player in the global Jewish arena for over six decades. The preeminent Australian Jewish leader, he was pivotal in driving the issue of Soviet Jewry onto the international agenda. And he played a crucial role in establishing diplomatic relations between Israel and China and India. As Australia emerged from Britain's shadow after WWII to punch above its diplomatic weight, so too Leibler propelled the Australian Jewish community into wielding disproportionate influence in global Jewish affairs. A key figure in the World Jewish Congress, he had no hesitation exposing corruption in its leadership or at the Holocaust Claims Conference. Pugnacious, colorful, principled, he befriended prime ministers, refuseniks, billionaires, Cold War warriors, Marxists, and diplomats to further the Jewish agenda, free Soviet Jews, support Israel, and fight antisemitism.' (Publication summary)

 'To celebrate 40 years of sobriety, Ross Fitzgerald published "My Name Is Ross" (2010) - the story of his battle with alcoholism. Although he has now succeeded in not drinking alcohol or using drugs for 50 years, in this revised and updated edition the author still calls himself an alcoholic, and pays extended tribute to the role of Alcoholics Anonymous in keeping him on the wagon. Ross Fitzgerald has been a successful academic, writer, reviewer, and commentator in the media, and acknowledges that it remains a daily battle to remain sober.' (Publication summary)

'During World War II eleven-year-old Dita was hidden in the Nazi headquarters in Hungary's capital city, Budapest. She was separated from her parents and responsible for the care of her little sister Elizabeth. During the war she nearly starved to death, living on crumbs. After the war, reunited with her parents, who had also survived, the family migrated to Australia, where her father started a business, and they were able to resettle and build a new life as migrants.' (Publication summary)

'In this 7^th book of the highly acclaimed Grafton Everest Series, our indolent hero, Professor Dr Everest, former lecturer in Lifestyles and Wellbeing at the University of Mangoland, is surprised to find himself President of the newly minted Republic of Australia. He is also concerned when he learns that, due to a drafting error, it is to be an American-style executive presidency. Luckily he manages to avoid any actual work or duties, save heading the newly created Department of Wellbeing, and leaves on a goodwill tour of the United States.

'Here, to his further surprise, he is hailed as a political guru and even a messiah by a population still reeling from the incumbency and assassination of president Ronald Thump. Adulation for his even most off-the-cuff comments leads to Grafton being courted by both Democrats and Republicans as a possible US Presidential candidate, something which seems impossible until he discovers a well-kept secret about his true citizenship. After further discoveries, including a secret society of retired spies and bionic clones, he returns to Australia to find that the Department of Wellbeing has become a ruthless dictatorship that has brought the nation to a stop. It is now up to Professor Dr Everest to save the country …'  (Publication summary)

'What threads link staring down an orphan tiger in the Lao jungle, shaking hands with Senator Ted Kennedy and being mugged in Marrakesh? ' (Publication summary)

'Bright Swallow, a young girl labelled as of ‘bad origins’ in Mao’s Cultural Revolution, becomes motherless at fifteen in 1972. Determined to live a full life like her mother had known, she seizes every chance, creates choices where there appear to be none and finally has the world open up to her. The memoir distinguishes itself from other accounts of this period in being a story of hope. It celebrates resilience, the power of literature, music and the imagination; and pays tribute to the people who retained the fundamental decency that can easily disappear in adverse circumstances. Mao’s China is now history, but similar dark regimes and mad ideologies still exist. There is much suffering from discrimination, humiliation and injustice at this moment. This is why this memoir has been written.'  (Publication summary)

'What do you do when the love you've been searching for your whole life suddenly disappears? You know you're loved, but you ask yourself, is your lover crazy? Or is it you? Searching for Sophia is a beautifully composed, wonderfully compassionate, and often laugh-out-loud story about two veterinarians operating their practice in a prestigious eastern suburb of Sydney whose lives are turned upside down when an internationally acclaimed violinist from Romania enters their surgery. This is a love story with a difference, leading the Jewish Dr Joe Franken into a dangerous search for love across the world, while his partner, the Anglo Dr Tim Wilde, finds love at home. Searching for Sophia really stands out for the quality of its writing and that all-too-rare gift for comedy that is both humorous and humane.'  (Publication summary)

'A deserted picnic ground. The killer, horrified and frozen with indecision, falls asleep at the scene until he mistakes a firetruck for authorities and bolts. Kate wakes from a dream holiday to discover her husband Matt is leaving for a younger woman, Bridie. Matt shares his initial joy with his friends; Paul, a womaniser; Lewis, a computer nerd struggling with relationships and Jason, a professional family man married to Angela, who travels interstate regularly on business. But not all is as it seems. Paul keeps a childhood secret of drowning his schoolmate Aaron's younger brother, and attempts to seduce Kate. He runs into Aaron, who confronts him. Jason meets Julie whilst away and begins an affair. Julie idolises him and tracks his movements. Jason flies to WA where he is revealed as Will who runs a profitable drug business with his brother. In Sydney, a couple's marriage is souring. Ryan works shifts on a rig in WA, but his wife Indio learns he travels elsewhere. She discovers a large stash of money and two passports in their apartment. When Jason returns home, his son is injured, Indio investigates him and Julie pursues him. Lewis takes Julie to his apartment intoxicated and she wakes alongside, aghast. Later, picnickers find her body in a local park. Police do door-to-door checks and Paul deflects the enquiries onto his mates. Jason makes a sudden return interstate and when Angela phones, Ryan receives it and his true identity as Will is learned. Bridie wounds Paul whilst fighting with Matt, and Aaron reluctantly provides medical assistance. Indio confronts her husband at a restaurant. She accuses Angela and she and Jason are taken into custody, where the police reveal they have Jason's full history of false identities, drugs and bigamy. They suspect murder too until Lewis confesses.' (Publication summary)

'Mitchell Grady is the new boy at Sandhurst School. Every year, the students compete to be the school's Sporting Legend - the best out of eight sports. The first round was surfing, then cricket, tennis, and football - now the kids are ready for a new round!' (Publication summary)

'The Sandhurst Legend of Sport is on again and the competition is hot. Surfing, cricket, tennis, football, soccer, basketball, athletics and swimming. Read the series and see who can take the heat. The Legends Cup is really hotting up. Fisk is boasting that he will take home the Legends Soccer Cup. Mitchell has other ideas. Off the field, there is a mystery unfolding. Bryce is determined to uncover the truth. But no one is prepared for what he discovers. ' (Publication summary)