Prolific Australian author, Anita Heiss, published her ninth novel in August, following the success of her 2021 historical fiction book, Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray (River of Dreams). Her latest book, Dirrayawadha (Rise Up) once again looks at Australian history from the perspective of First Nations characters, this time examining the Frontier Wars in Bathurst of the 1820s…
Read MoreGrowing Up Wiradjuri, published earlier this year, is a new junior non-fiction anthology from Magabala Books. Edited by the prolific and acclaimed Wiradjuri writer and activist Dr. Anita Heiss, the anthology collects the personal stories of eight elders. Each of the eight included writers are Uncles and Aunties who came of age in New South…
Read MoreOctober 8th was Love Your Bookshop Day and The AU Review book team took to their local bookshops to snap up an entire haul of titles to top up their TBR piles. Two of the team even went on a whole bookshop crawl to share the love with as many of their local indie bookshops…
Read MoreThe Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) have today announced their 2022 shortlist, with a star-studded awards ceremony set to take place in Sydney on June 9th. The gala event will take place at ICC Sydney, hosted by actor, singer, and musical theatre star Alinta Chidzey, and with Wendy Whiteley, The Wiggles, Michelle Law, Peter Fitzsimons,…
Read More2021. We had high hopes. But it’s been another year of uncertainty and upheaval – albeit perhaps not as bad as last year. It has been another strong year for books and publishing, with some big names returning with new books: Colson Whitehead, Taylor Jenkins Reid and Sally Rooney to name just three. It’s also…
Read MoreWhen the Murrumbidgee River bursts its banks and sweeps into the fledgling town of Gundgai, it is Wagadhaany’s father, Yarri, and other Wiradjuri men who come to the rescue of the trapped townsfolk. Now an indentured servant to the Bradleys – a family who, years ago, ignored her father’s pleading not to build on the…
Read MoreTomorrow, September 5th, marks the 12th annual Indigenous Literacy Day, “a celebration of Indigenous culture, stories, language and literacy” hosted by the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF), with events kicking off in Sydney, Melbourne and nationwide. This year, the ILF are launching a range of moving new books with big events in the major cities, alongside…
Read MoreNext week, The Brisbane Writers Festival will be welcomed by the city, taking over the State Library of Queensland precinct from September 6-9th. As always there is a smorgasbord of literary treats to choose from. But fear not! We are here to help you avoid that age old problem of the festival goer with too many…
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