Cirrus@Austlit

'Black women have been belting out their songs since the Dreamtime but European Australia has been woefully slow to recognise them. This vibrant graphic history of black women singers, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, salvages and celebrates the many talented singers who have been largely overlooked by those who document mainstream music. Among the first Australians recorded was one of the last Tasmanian Aborigines, singer Fanny Cochrane Smith. Many black singers came out of missions, imbibing sacred songs and country music, while others such as West Indian-Australian, cross-dressing vaudevillian Nellie Small burst onto the scene singing traditional jazz tunes. From the first classical Indigenous sopranos, Lorna Beulah and Nancy Ellis, to rising pop stars such as Jessica Mauboy, this marvellous book is bursting with gutsy, black voices that demand to be heard.' (Introduction)

'From award-winning writer Fiona Capp comes a novel about blackmail, risk, corruption and consequences - think Raymond Chandler meets The Great Gatsby - set in the millionaire's playground of Portsea. This is modern Melbourne literary noir at its finest.

'Having lost all his family's money in ill-advised investments during the GFC, Ned is reduced to squatting in a boatshed in wealthy Portsea. He is avoiding the world, particularly his sister, Angela, who after an accident, is now a paraplegic, confined to a wheelchair, and completely dependent on both her carer, Mai, and Ned - not to mention the income from their family investments. But one day, Ned overhears a conversation between a millionaire property developer and a politician, and realizes that this might be his opportunity to restore their fortunes ... if he has the nerve.

'This is a nail-biting and compelling story of risk, blackmail and the corrosive nature of guilt - and how we all have to live with the consequences of our actions.'

'Throughout his career as a writer and a critic, Laurie Clancy was also a teacher. He put as much thought and energy into this as he did into his other responsibilities, and is remembered fondly by his students from La Trobe University, where he lectured in English and Australian Literature, and RMIT, where he taught creative writing in the TAFE Division. These memoirs give a glimpse of him in the classroom, and acknowledge the lasting effects of his work. —John McLaren.' (Introduction)

'Shy and idealistic, Esther Chatwin is Australia's reluctant First Lady. She longs to return to the anonymity of her old life. But her husband's sudden political success has turned the media spotlight on her and her only escape is to Gotland, the fabled island in the Baltic Sea that she loves. A special place, it's also home to the enigmatic sculptor Sven, another idealist with a troubled past.

'Even on the other side of the world, deeply private events become everyone's business, and Esther must struggle to overcome the forces–within and without–that threaten to destroy her.

'Gotland is a startlingly evocative and timely portrait of the cost paid by those who are drawn into the public spotlight against their will.' (Publisher's blurb)