Cirrus@Austlit

'Introducing a bold new voice - one of the most exciting short-story writers working in comics today.

'A coworker-turned-prospective-lover confesses a hard-to-swallow fetish. A train ride fantastically goes off the rails. Cousins revisit summer holiday bliss - or was it really horror? Exes fumble an attempt to reconnect over a dip in the pool. And an expectant mother slips into uncharted territory as she enters a communion more pure than language can accommodate.

'I Ate the Whole World to Find You maps the topography of trauma, treasures, and loss imposed onto the body of Jenny, a twenty-something-going-on-thirty-something partial hot mess who's making her way more firmly into adulthood. As she navigates friendship, family, and romantic relationships, will her inability to communicate destroy her, or ultimately be her rebirth?

'Set against an exquisitely lush Australian backdrop, Rachel Ang's pencils are fluid yet scratchy, precise and evocative, bringing to life the inner and external world of Jenny with stunning realism and gushing imagination. Sprinkled with speculative fiction and fantasy, this radiant debut collection establishes Ang as a storyteller of range and power.'  (Publication summary)

'Once they were just them. Now they're forty-something and there's kids. Whose time is this?

'Phil is trying to feel closer to his recently passed mother by spending time alone at his parent's house on the coast. But he is lonely, and stupidly he's invited a bunch of old friends to visit. It's bound to be a mistake. All those children! But it's too late now, and tomorrow Bella and Tim will arrive with their two kids, one on the brink of puberty, and the next day Jo and Lucas will come too, with their little one. Then there's Annie, who will be by herself.

'The story of a beach holiday told by four different people, Time Together is a novel about different kinds of love, different kinds of loneliness, and the way spending time together can bring out the best and worst in each other.'  (Publication summary)

'Camille lives in the country.

'She's forgotten her phone.

'She's taking the train to work.

'She's got period pain.

'She can't escape herself ... or her toxic boss, Holly. And it's Valentine's Day.'  (Publication summary)

'A timid Bifidobacterium named Biffy is forced to leave their family and become part of a new community, in the gut of a newborn human baby.

'Follow Your Gut is a comic that ate a biology textbook. It's an epic adventure set over the first three years of a new life, exploring one of the most important relationships you will ever have - the one with your gut microbiome.

'Created by artists, scientists, and educators, this story is for anyone who's curious about the human-microbe symbiosis, and what all those trillions of bacteria are doing down there in your intestines!

'Inspired by the latest research, Follow Your Gut includes a fascinating and detailed appendix that explains the amazing science behind the story.' (Publication summary)

For years, Leila Whittaker has been the mediator in her family. She smoothes ruffled
feathers between her sons; endures the volatile moods of their father, the acclaimed
Australian artist Ken Black; and even swallows the bitter pill of Ken’s endless affairs. All
this, for the quiet hum of creative freedom her marriage provides. Or so she tells herself.

When Ken dies, leaving his artist’s estate to their two sons, and the pointed amount of
sixty-nine thousand dollars to his muse, Anita, Leila decides she’s had enough. It’s time to seek some peace (and pleasure) of her own ...

Diving, Falling is an elegant, exhilarating journey through grief, betrayal, and the
intoxicating rediscovery of joy. Ripe with wickedly wry observations, unashamedly bold and sexy, it examines the calculations and sacrifices women make to keep the peace, escape their pasts, and find the agency to pursue their own passions.  (Publication summary)

'The beautifully hand-drawn true story of artist Joshua Santospirito's visit to the Aeolian Islands of Italy with his parents to seek out past connections and family roots.

'Joshua and his father hope to locate the burial place of Joshua's great-great-grandfather on the island of Salina. But it's not always so easy to find the past you're looking for, nor to travel with your parents.

'As Joshua learns more about the sun-drenched volcanic archipelago, its people, and their history, he also explores the mysteries of family - and the magic of creating your own place in the world.

'This is a tale of migration and return, of the rise to stardom of actress Ingrid Bergman, of the cheeky wind god Aeolus, of ancestry, place, and belonging, and of so much more. Told from Joshua's unique and charming perspective, there is something here for everyone.' (Publication summary)

'A black comedy, set in suburbia, about one woman’s struggle to be free.

'When Winona Dalloway begins her day — in the peaceful early hours before her children, that ‘tiny tornado of little hands and feet’, wake up — she doesn’t know that by the end of it, everything in her world will have changed.

'On the outside, Winona is a seemingly unremarkable young mother: unobtrusive, quietly going about her tasks. But within is a vivid, chaotic self, teeming with voices — a mind both wild and precise.

'And meanwhile, a storm is brewing …' (Publication summary)

'A powerful indictment of the criminal behaviour of police officers, and a call for institutional reform, edited by the multi-award-winning author of Black and Blue.

'When Cops Are Criminals examines the widespread problem of police brutality and corruption from the perspectives of those who understand it in depth. Pulling together the accounts of survivors, campaigners, and academics, it explores different forms of criminal behaviour by police, the factors that contribute to it, the impact it has on victims, and the challenges of holding perpetrators accountable.

'Told with candour, honesty, bravery, and rage, these stories will challenge readers to reflect on the institutions that so many people take for granted. Whose interests are they really serving? And where can people turn when the institutions that are supposed to protect them are the ones doing the damage?' (Publication summary)

When I've been overtaken, I have stood and watched the water in my porridge simmer away into the air, and then the oats turn black and crackle with dryness, and my ears fill with the smoke alarm's shriek.

'When Adele Dumont is diagnosed with trichotillomania - compulsive hair-pulling - it makes sense of much of her life to date. The seemingly harmless quirk of her late teens, which rapidly developed into almost uncontrollable urges and then into trance-like episodes, is a hallmark of the disease, as is the secrecy with which she guarded her condition from her family, friends, and the world at large.

'The diagnosis also opens up a rich line of inquiry. Where might the origins of this condition be found? How can we distinguish between a nervous habit and a compulsion? And how do we balance the relief of being 'seen' by others with our experience of shame?

'Reminiscent of the writing of Leslie Jamison and Fiona Wright, The Pulling is a fascinating exploration of the inner workings of a mind. In perfectly judged prose, both probing and affecting, Dumont illuminates how easily ritual can slide into obsession, and how close beneath the surface horror and darkness can lie.'(Publication summary)

'From the author of the multi-award-winning bestseller Between a Wolf and a Dog, a powerful collection of previously unpublished stories.

'A sister is haunted by the consequences of a simple mistake. A daughter searches for certainty as her mother’s memory degrades. An encounter at a house party changes the course of a life.

'In We All Lived in Bondi Then, beloved Australian author Georgia Blain returns to her resonant themes of relationships and family, illness and health, love and death. Composed in Blain’s final years, these nine stories grapple with large questions on a human scale, brimming with her trademark acuity, nuance, and warmth.' (Publication summary)

'Marcus had a bad day on the footy field, but maybe his Nonna's birthday lunch will cheer him up.

'Marcus loves visiting his Nonna, although he's afraid of her spooky cellar. Marcus has never been down there, and he never will. But when disaster strikes, Little Bont might have to face his fear to save Nonna's birthday dessert ...

'From Western Bulldogs' captain and four-time club Best & Fairest winner Marcus Bontempelli comes a heartwarming story about courage, family .... and of course, a little bit of footy.?' (Publication summary)

(Publication summary)

'A is for artichokes and long spears of asparagus. It's for bright, creamy avocados and salty little anchovies ...

'From apple pie to zeppole, and everything in between, Artichoke to Zucchini introduces young readers to fruit, vegetables, and dishes from around the globe. Full of tasty favourites and delicious new discoveries, it's sure to lead to inspiration in the kitchen!

'Following from the award-winning Off to The Market, acclaimed artist Alice Oehr takes you on a mouth-watering trip through the alphabet and around the world.' (Production summary)

'A multi-award-winning journalist and former editor-in-chief of a major Australian newspaper searingly explores his Jewish identity at a time when a substantial - and growing - part of the left is opposed to the very existence of Israel as a Jewish state.

'Born in a displaced persons' camp two years after the end of the Holocaust, Michael Gawenda spent his childhood and teenage years in a left-wing non-Zionist Jewish youth group in Melbourne. This shaped the sort of Jew he became - a secular Jew who loved the Yiddish language and Yiddish culture.

'Gawenda went on to become a public figure during his 40 years as a journalist, including his role as editor-in-chief of The Age - the only Jewish editor-in-chief in the newspaper's history. Throughout this time, and since, he became dismayed and pained by the growing hostility of the left to Israel and to Jews like him who were not prepared to declare themselves as anti-Zionists. This has also forced him to examine his own Jewish identity and his relationships with his Jewish friends, and to forensically examine the basis of the critiques of Israel.

'At a time of rising anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, My Life as a Jew is a controversial book. It is also a vital book. It should be read by activists for Israel and Zionism, as well as for the Palestinians. It should be read by readers of all political stripes. It should be read by journalists, as it is in part about journalism and its failings. And it should also be read by people interested in the remarkable life and career of its author, Michael Gawenda.' (Publication summary) 

'The brilliant new short story collection from the Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author of The Animals in That Country.

'A family of cat farmers gets the chance to set the felines free. A group of chickens tells it like it is. A female-crewed ship ploughs through the patriarchy. A support group finds solace in a world without men.

'With her trademark humour, energy, and flair, McKay offers hallucinogenic glimpses of places where dreams subsume reality, where childhood restarts, where humans behave like animals and animals talk like humans.

'The stories in Gunflower explode and bloom in mesmerising ways, showing the world both as it is and as it could be.' (Publication summary)

'For half a century, the Murdoch media empire and its polarising patriarch have swept across the globe, shaking up markets and democracies in their wake. But how did it all start?

'In September 1953, 22-year-old Rupert Murdoch landed in Adelaide, South Australia. Fresh from Oxford with a radical reputation, the young and brash son of Sir Keith Murdoch had arrived to fulfill his father's dying wish- for Rupert to live a 'useful altruistic and full life' in the media.

'For decades, Sir Keith had been a giant of the Australian press, but his final years were spent bitterly fending off rivals and would-be successors. When the dust settled on his father's estate, Rupert was left with the Adelaide-based News Ltd and its afternoon paper The News - a minor player in a small, parochial city.

'But even this inheritance was soon under siege, as the left-wing 'Boy Publisher' stared down his father's old colleagues at the city's paper of record, The Advertiser, and a conservative establishment kept in power by a decades-old gerrymander.

'Led by Rupert's friend, ally, and editor-in-chief Rohan Rivett, the fledgling Murdoch press began a seven-year campaign of circulation wars, expansion, and courtroom battles that divided the city and would lay the foundations for a global empire - if Rupert and Rohan didn't end up in custody first.

'Drawing on unpublished archival material and new reportage, Young Rupert pieces together a paper trail of succession, sedition, and power - and a fascinating time capsule of Australian media on the cusp of an extraordinary ascension.' (Publication summary)