AustLit

'Talking fruit. Time reversing. A scheming liver. A lighter’s journey. Vengeful teddy bears. Vending machine salvation. The Annual Meeting of Words. Everyone on Earth moving six feet to the left.

'Escape into vivid worlds, populated by everyday – ordinary if you will – characters facing unique challenges… when sometimes the mask becomes the face. From horror to humour, Speculative to literary fiction, Magic realism to psychological dualism: Fifteen stories that linger in the mind.'

source: Publisher's blurb.

"A land bridge connected Minjerribah (Stradbroke Island) to Kombumerri country (Southport) and Goories also came in canoes to Minjerribah trading bunya for eugarie, amongst other things." History Life and Times of Robert Anderson, Gheebelum, Ngugi, Mulgumpin

 'It was after reading this line 4 years ago that Gold Coast author Benjamin Allmon realised he knew nothing of the indigenous history of his home, the land of the Saltwater People, and felt a responsibility to his young son to learn it.  So he embarked on a voyage of discovery that led him further than he ever expected, into a cultural story that is rarely offered to someone outside of the Bundjalung and Yugambeh people.' (Production summary)  

'[This] is the story of Allmon’s relationship with Indigenous canoe maker Kyle Slabb from the Bundjalung people and veteran paddler Mark Matthews, who, together with a group of young men (both Indigenous and non-Indigenous) build traditional canoes and embark on a 70km, 3-day sea voyage re-tracing an ancient trade route from the heart of the Queensland Gold Coast to North Stradbroke Island, a journey not made for over 100 years.'

Source: Author's website.

'In a tale of sand, songs, survival and untimely erections, it takes a trek along the Australian coastline for Benjamin Allmon to find himself, and the true key to happiness.It is 2006. After more than a decade trying to make it in the music industry, singer-songwriter Ben is getting desperate. As his former bandmates settle into sensible careers he gives it one last shot and records his debut album. The only problem ? how to promote it?In homage to the Deep South bluesmen who walked and played their way to Chicago, he decides to trek 1000 kilometres of Australian coastline. Kissing his girlfriend goodbye, he sets off with a guitar, a sleeping bag and a heroic miscalculation of what he?s getting into.Beset by bushfires, dingoes, and septuagenarian nudists, fame seems to forever be over the horizon. Penniless and lost, the tour soon becomes a matter of survival instead of climbing the charts. Through his encounters with the people you only meet when walking slow and sleeping rough, Ben realises that what he wanted at the outset has changed enormously.' (Publication Summary)