Adrian Hyland studied classics and languages at the University of Melbourne. He has been a teacher of English as a foreign language in Australia and China. He has worked in indigenous communities and has been a songwriter, mine worker and station worker.
Kinglake 350
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2011prose single work '"Kinglake-350 to VKC. Urgent, do you read me?
The fire's here now. God help us."
'Kinglake-350 is a masterpiece of writing about family, community, country life and what happens when a day of ultimate terror arrives. Adrian Hyland takes a dramatic and compelling sequence of events on that day and weaves them into a picture of universal significance and deep fascination.
'On 7 February 2009 Roger Wood was the police officer in charge of Kinglake, at the epicentre of the worst bushfire disaster in Australia's history, Black Saturday. As the firestorm engulfed the community, he risked his life, again and again, to try and save people.
'With the fire raging all around, he phoned home to warn his wife what was coming. She screamed that the fire had already hit their property. Then the line went dead.
'Black Saturday was a many-headed monster in whose wake stories of grief, heroism and desolation erupted all over the state of Victoria. This is a book about the monster, and the heroism of those who confronted it. (From the publisher's website.)
Gunshot Road
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2010novel single work Now, somehow, Emily's become the Aboriginal Community Police Officer for the outback (not to mention throwback) township of Bluebush.
'Being allergic both to authority and to keeping her big mouth shut, she's immediately at odds with her new boss. And a death at the Green Swamp Well Roadhouse just makes things worse.
'Officially it's a simple case of two old drunks and a hammer.Emily's not convinced.
'Fast, funny and action-packed - Gunshot Road is Australia's literary thriller of the year. (From the publisher's website.)
Diamond Dove
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2006novel single work Emily Tempest has been away from Central Australia for along time--uni, travel, dead-end jobs. Finding trouble all over the world. Now she's back at Moonlight Downs, the community where she grew up, half in the Aboriginal world, half in the white. And true to form, there's trouble. An old friend brutally murdered and mutilated. An old enemy the only suspect. Until Emily starts asking questions. (Backcover)