Showing titles in Australia, New Zealand & Oceania

Smoke Encrypted Whispers showcases Samuel Wagan Watson's imaginative brilliance and exceptional poetic skills. In this audiobook, which also includes work from three previous collections, his poems pulse with the language and images of a mangrove-lined river city, the beckoning highway, the just-glimpsed muse, the tug of childhood and restless ancestors. Wagan Watson's poetry is the work of an artist who speaks to a sense of our common humanity, and to a communal attachment to place.

The fifteenth book in the dramatic and intriguing story about the colonisation of Australia: a country made of blood, passion, and dreams. After being accused of high treason, Michael Wexford seeks revenge upon those who took everything from him. It is 19th century Australia: Irishman Michael Wexford is unravelling his existence in the penal colonies after defying the justice system. Considered a criminal beyond reform or redemption, Michael plots his revenge. Meanwhile, siblings Kitty and Patrick Cadogan venture out to the Norfolk Island in search of their brother, praying that he is not the miscreant everyone makes him out to be.

The twenty-third book in the dramatic and intriguing story about the colonisation of Australia: a country made of blood, passion, and dreams. A new century has dawned as Australia forms their country. New hopes characterise the lives of the young Australians. Some had to the Outback in search of gold and glory. Others find their fulfilment in politics and seize power in the newly-formed country. Some are even moving north to conquer new lands.

Environmental Engineer Dru Porter loves her work, despite the relentless heat and red dust. The remote Matsu diamond mine in the Kimberley is the perfect place for her to hide: her insignificance in that vast and rugged landscape helps her feel invisible and safe. Surely the terror she left behind in Dubai will never find her here.... Security Specialist Connor Kirk knows from experience that beautiful women are capable of treachery. When he arrives at Matsu to investigate a diamond theft, he immediately suspects the reclusive but obviously capable Dru Porter.

A thrilling and moving lyrical descriptive poem in the style of legendary Australian bush poets Andrew 'Banjo' Paterson and Henry Lawson. Australian bush ballads are renowned for their easy flowing style and comfortable rhythmic pace and this poem is a beautifully crafted example of that art. A desperate Australian farming family caught in a drought and under threat of mortgage foreclosure in a few days, form a plan to enter their horse Bonny Blue in a horse race (the Carling Cup) with 16-year-old son Jack to ride her.

"I didn't realize how much I would miss grocery shopping until it was gone." Life was pretty good. The love of Alice's life had proposed, they were proud new homeowners, and she'd just landed a great promotion at work. Things were going to plan. Well, they were, until the Red Death struck. Billions dead in a matter of weeks. The survivors are few and far between. No one is safe. Life will never be the same again.

On Shirley Hazzard is a vibrant and personal tribute in which the Miles Franklin Award-winning novelist Michelle de Kretser offers a masterclass in writing and reading. She celebrates the precision and musicality of Hazzard’s prose and illuminates the humour and humanity in her work. This exhilarating book is both a brilliant introduction to Hazzard and a gift for her longtime readers. On Shirley Hazzard reveals Michelle de Kretser’s lively intelligence at work and her distinctive wit.

The Big Book of Australian Yarns is master storyteller Jim Haynes's comprehensive collection of factual and fascinating stories and humour. The yarns range from the poignant to the hilarious, from the ridiculously Australian to the unexplained and spooky. There are heroic and inspiring characters, as well as larrikins and crooks, and everyday humorous events told with a refreshing understatement that vividly evokes a vanishing Australia.

Adventure from the Australian Outback. Cowboy style poetry from Australia's Banjo Paterson. Includes the poems: "The Man from Snowy River", "Old Pardon", "Clancy", and "Conroy's Gap".

Australia in the 1830s was a wild place. Reuben Whitney, escaping an inaccurate perception of him in England, enjoys an adventurous passage aboard the Paramatta, and sails "down under." Joining the police force, he makes his mark in conflicts with the Aborigines and Bushrangers. Finally, he saves the life of a squire's daughter who has emigrated to Australia following her father's financial ruin. This story is filled with adventure, close calls, and historical information about the early days of Australia!

This fierce debut from award-winning writer Evelyn Araluen confronts the tropes and iconography of an unreconciled nation with biting satire and lyrical fury. Dropbear interrogates the complexities of colonial and personal history with an alternately playful, tender and mournful intertextual voice, deftly navigating the responsibilities that gather from sovereign country, the spectres of memory and the debris of settler-coloniality.

Explore the enchanting world of Polynesian folklore in this beautiful collection of traditional stories. A woman falls in love with the king of the sharks. Two powerful sorcerers compete in a battle of magical wits. The king of Maui's fastest messenger races to bring a young woman back from the dead. In these traditional tales, the borders blur between life and death, reality and magic, and land and sea.

Following the devastating loss of her mother, and with no other options, Gabriella seeks out the morally gray men her mother begged her to avoid. A family found in mourning, Gabriella struggles to live within the confines of the fractured secrets her mother bestowed upon her. She's traded one prison for another. Yet, while protecting her life is a reality she's all too familiar with, guarding her heart never even crossed her mind. Standing at the altar, forcefully betrothed to one man, she pledges her life to another. A man she despises. Her brother's best friend and the head of the family.

The twenty-first book in the dramatic and intriguing story about the colonisation of Australia: a country made of blood, passion, and dreams. The fires of nationalism are being kindled across the continent – especially in the hearts of the young. The children of The Seafarers and The Mariners are growing up in a young country only just coming to nationhood. Some cry for unity while others raise the spectre of race hatred and violence. It is hard to see how these young Australians could ever realise their dream of one free and mighty land.

Frank Moorhouse was legendary in Australian literary and cultural life, the author of a huge and diverse body of work - essays, short stories, journalism, scripts, the iconic Edith Trilogy - an unapologetic activist, intellectual, libertarian and champion of freedom of speech and sexual self determination. Though he lived his life publicly, his private stories have not been shared, the many paths he forged left unexamined, until now. This landmark study is the fascinating story of how one of Australia's most original writers and pioneer of the discontinuous narrative came to be.

With electrifying boldness and fearlessness of vision, Holland-Batt confronts what it means to be mortal in an astonishing and deeply humane portrait of a father’s Parkinson’s Disease, and a daughter forged by grief. Opening and closing with startling elegies set in the charged moments before and after a death, and fearlessly probing the body’s animal endurance, appetites and metamorphoses, The Jaguar is marked by Holland-Batt’s lyric intensity and linguistic mastery, along with a stark new clarity of voice.

Waltzing Australia is a wonderful celebration of the Australian bush and the people who live there, written by a gifted storyteller who's spent much of his life working on the land. Featuring 50 poems and stories that tell of the heartbreak, humour and hard yakka that come with living and working in the bush - many of which were written on long days droving sheep and cattle, on the back of a motorbike or by the fading light in camp hundreds of miles from anywhere.

The seventeenth book in the dramatic and intriguing story about the colonisation of Australia: a country made of blood, passion, and dreams. Destinies intertwine and brutal battles ensue to secure a brighter future. During the 1860s, Australian settlers, among them Lady Kitty Broome and Adam Vincent, venture out on new, exciting adventures which will lead to a war between cultures, friends and lovers, as they fight for the future of their world.

Have you ever wondered about the origin of the terrifying Wendigo? How about the Philippine shape-shifting vampire? What about the Māori forest spirits? Join award winning podcaster and researcher Kamuela Kaneshiro as he takes you on a thrilling trip through Asia, the Americas, and other fascinating cultures touching the Pacific Ocean. And as you marvel at this captivating assortment of deities, monsters, and historical backdrops, you’re sure to have your imagination sparked by the wonders of the world.

The eighteenth book in the dramatic and intriguing story about the colonisation of Australia: a country made of blood, passion, and dreams. Despite resistance from the native Maoris and Hauhaus, the settlers find themselves in a war between cultures. The settlers try to claim the bold frontier of New Zealand, but face opposition from two native tribes. The journey will be dangerous, and the consequences bloody. It is a matter of perishment or prevalence. Loyalty will be tested, love will fade, men will fall, but neither of the parties will back down without a fight.