AustLit

'This book celebrates Melbourne in heady times.

'The turbulence of 1970s Australia stretched far beyond the Whitlam era and the level of national government. Sixteen contributors remember their roles in a vibrant and creative decade in Melbourne. Anything seemed possible: alternative approaches sprang up for everything from education to radio broadcasting, theatre, legal services and suburban living. Starting with the massive opposition to Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War and ending with efforts to combat its role in East Timor, contributors recall the protests against environment policies and the administration of universities.' (Publication summary)

'Attitudes towards the environment have undergone a revolution over the last 30 years, and writing of various kinds has played a major role in forging our environmental consciousness.

'Hearts & Minds examines comprehensively for the first time the dazzling variety of work by creative Australians in alerting us to environmental destruction and presenting solutions to prevent it.

'Separate sections are devoted to fiction, non-fiction, illustrated books, films, plays, poetry, songs, magazines and children's books. These studies are based on extensive research and on over 1,000 interviews with writers from all over Australia, providing lively and passionate comment on their work and their country.

'Hearts & Minds looks at the work of writers as diverse as Peter Carey, Tim Flannery, Rosie Scott, Peter Corris, Dorothy Hewett, Peter Garrett, Oodgeroo Noonuccal and Brian Hannant.

'Always stimulating to read, this is a landmark publication which makes a major contribution to our understanding of Australian culture, history and politics.' (Publication summary)

A record of Australian service life during the Great War, this book examines the soldiers' writings contained in their trench and troopship papers and magazines. These field publications ranged from handwritten sheets to professionally printed souvenir issues, recording poetry, prose, letters and diaries describing the experiences and of the men who served in the Australian Imperial Force (A.I.F.).
While valuable from an historical and social point of view, the material contained in this book has important literary merit, because the troopship magazines reveal the hopes, aspirations and changing attitudes of volunteer soldiers during World War 1.
The poetry and prose, most of which was written anonymously, has not been indexed.

'In 1927, a four-year-old Carmela Barbaro arrived in Melbourne with her mother after a long sea voyage, during which she was almost kidnapped, and met her father for the first time. He had left Calabria two months after the wedding and it had taken him nearly five years to save the money to bring his wife and child to Australia, while supporting them in their village back in Italy.

'With great nostalgic appeal, this rich narrative texture is enhanced by photographs, newspaper clippings, family tales and traditional Calabrian recipes. Above all, this is an engaging and compelling read, a memoir of great liveliness and charm.

'This biography, written by a descendant of Carmela's, follows the fortunes of the family, until her eighteenth birthday on the eve of World War II. They faced hardship, prejudice and poverty, but their story is full of humor, passion and the joy of living. It is a celebration of one woman's growing up in pre-war Melbourne and an intimate portrait of an immigrant family.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Taken from her parents, brothers and sisters and committed to the care of the Child Welfare Department, Rosalie, a two year old Aboriginal girl, was subjected to the most unbelievable abuse at the hands of her foster mother.

Shadow Child: A Memoir of the Stolen Generation exposes the faceless bureaucracy that went on to tear from Rosalie her baby sister-and her identity. Escaping from the torture of her so-called home, she became a street-kid in constant trouble with the law, but with the help of others and by her own unquenchable spirit, survived to become the author of this powerful and inspiring autobiography, which, miraculously, has a happy ending.' Source: Publisher's blurb

'From the busy marketplaces of pre-war Krakow, Poland, to the horror of the Holocaust and the haven of Schindler’s factory, to the apparent peace and safety of a suburban backyard in Melbourne, Australia, this is the story of two sisters who miraculously survived.

'From the busy marketplaces of pre-war Krakow, Poland, to the horror of the Holocaust and the haven of Schindler’s factory, to the apparent peace and safety of a suburban backyard in Melbourne, Australia, this is the story of two sisters who miraculously survived.

'Their extraordinary life stories are interwoven with the childhood and later memories of the narrator, Anna, daughter and niece of the sisters, Hela and Janka.

'Through the recollections and dreams of these three voices we learn of worlds and people forever lost, of shattered hopes, of the fragility of survival, and of the power of the human spirit.' (Publication summary)