AustLit

'The lives of the women who joined a closed convent in Melbourne in a time of great upheaval

'In the 1950s and 60s, six young women left their families to join a strictly enclosed order of nuns in Melbourne. They could leave the convent only for medical appointments and rarely received visitors, who they would meet from behind a partition built into the parlour. Their lives were confined by the convent walls, the rhythms of the Divine Office and the dictates of the Mother Superior.

'By the late 1960s, this community of women was upended by the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, and by the changing times. Their convent threw open its doors on a new world and the women wanted to be part of it.

'The personal accounts of the six nuns and ex-nuns in Unconventional Women are unusually candid, giving a rare insight into the world of the convent, and exploring their changing relationship with both God and the world.' (Publication summary)

(Publication summary)

'Following a three-year drought and during the hottest and driest year on record, a flume of scorching air set the Australian continent aflame. The Black Summer fires were unprecedented. Over six months in 2019-20 they burned more than 24 million hectares of Australia's southern and eastern forests - one of the largest areas burnt anywhere on Earth in a single event. The fires killed 33 people and 430 more died as an indirect consequence and they caused unfathomable harm to native species. Their economic ramifications were extensive and enduring.

'State and federal governments and communities were under-prepared for that inferno and its many impacts. Yet global warming is increasing the likelihood of such events. The Fires Next Time offers a comprehensive assessment of the Black Summer fires. Its contributors analyse the event from many vantage points and disciplines - historical, climate scientific, ecological, economic, and political. They assess its impacts on human health and wellbeing, on native plants and animals, and on fire management and emergency response. They consider whether reactions could have been different, and what is needed to improve our handling of future bushfires.' (Publication summary)

‘From where will we draw the moral energy to stay true to justice?’

For more than three decades the incomparable voice of Raimond Gaita has been
summoning us to new conversations that deepen our understanding of what matters most to human life and awaken the sense of our common humanity. For Gaita, we are never  more fully alive than when we are fully present to one another in conversation.

In a time when modes of communication tend to superficiality and self-promotion, when
political debates are increasingly inured to lies and even violence, and the moral demands of dialogue give way to a torrent of competing monologues, Gaita’s invitation to rediscover what genuine conversation requires of us could not be more timely.

These collected writings at once invite us into that conversation and enact its severe
demands. Gaita asks us to confront the distinctive evil of genocide, to examine the true cost of the ‘War on Terror’, to interrogate what justice requires in response to Australia’s dispossession of its First Peoples, to understand our need for truth in politics, especially during war, to see what is at stake in the decline of the universities, to grasp what was lost during the Black Summer bushfires, and to reckon with the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic—when we learned, he writes, ‘how much we needed to touch and hold other people’.

Gaita’s astonishing range of concerns is held together by the consistency and unrelenting tenderness of his moral vision. To see the world through Gaita’s eyes is to discover, once again, what it means to love the world and to remain faithful to it. He tells us that an unconditional love of the world is the deepest form of hope and the truest source of our energies to honour the demands of justice. This is how we learn to be human.' (Publication summary)

'A heartfelt look at the life of a man who placed his role as a father, with an autistic son above his service to the country as deputy Prime-Minister

''My name is Tim, and that is what I want you to call me, except if another officer is present and especially if it is the CO, Lt Col Bennett, then I am Sir. At all other times I am Tim.'

'When Tim Fischer's elder son was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, it triggered Tim's resignation as federal National Party leader and deputy prime minister of Australia. An outpouring of emotion across the political divide greeted his decision, a rarity in a political environment where few leaders choose to give up power and prominence.

'In I am Tim, Peter Rees uncovers the influences that shaped a key figure of twentieth-century Australian political life, from a Jesuit boarding school to the rigours of officer training and the battlefields of Vietnam, time in state and federal politics, marriage to Judy Brewer and life at home. Fischer's interests and activities after politics were many and varied, spanning a diplomatic posting to the Holy See, new historical studies, and chairing the Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway.

'Tim Fischer emerges as a man of energy and ambition but also of humanity, courage and love.' (Publication summary)

'What does the first poetry in Australia, written by the Judge who declared the land terra nullius, tell us about the singular nature of colonialism here?

'On 24 February 1817, Barron Field sailed into Sydney Harbour on the convict transport Lord Melville to a ceremonial thirteen-gun salute. He was there as the new Judge of the Supreme Court of Civil Judicature in New South Wales - the highest legal authority in the turbulent colony. Energetic and gregarious, Field immediately set about impressing his vision of a future Australia as a liberal and prosperous nation. He courted the colony's leading figures, engaged in scientific research and even founded Australia's first bank. He also wrote poetry: in 1819, he published First Fruits of Australian Poetry, the first book of poems ever printed in the country. In England, Field had been the theatre critic for The Times, and a friend of such major Romantic writers as William Wordsworth, Charles Lamb and Leigh Hunt. In New South Wales, he saw the chance to become a major figure himself…' (Publication summary)

'Did Margaret Sutherland achieve more for Australian music than any other composer?

'Margaret Sutherland was one of the most innovative and influential Australian composers. In the first half of the twentieth century, her desire to be both serious composer and mother was atypical, and she faced significant challenges - public and private - in blending these roles. Against the backdrop of an unhappy and unsupportive marriage and a society not yet ready to accept her creative ambitions and strong views on Australia's musical development, she remained admirably steadfast in pursuing her goals. Sutherland created over two hundred compositions, ceaselessly campaigned on behalf of Australian music and musicians, and led the initial push to construct what is now Arts Centre Melbourne. In her attempts to redefine beauty in music she used idiosyncratic musical language, being at the mercy of 'sound pictures' and 'floating ideas'. This book tells her remarkable story, laying bare something of Sutherland's inspiring 'inner song'.' (Publication summary)

'How did Menzies develop as the giant of Australian politics?

'Sir Robert Menzies is a towering figure in Australian history. As the nation's longest-serving prime minister, he transformed and ultimately dominated the political landscape, implementing policies that laid the foundations of modern Australia. The story of Menzies and his governments is essential to the Australian narrative- the centrality of political liberalism, the defence of democracy through trying times, and the expanding horizons of our identity, prosperity and appreciation.

'The Young Menzies- Success, Failure, Resilience 1894-1942 explores the formative period of Menzies's life, when his personal outlook and system of beliefs that would help shape modern Australia were themselves still being formed. Contributors look at Menzies's ideas prior to their political practice and examine their context and origins. This period is also the time in which Menzies first attained power, though in difficult circumstances, when the focus of the nation was on survival. It was in losing office that Menzies was given the impetus to develop his vision for post-war Australia.

'This is the first of a four-volume history of Menzies and his world, based on conferences convened by the Robert Menzies Institute at the University of Melbourne. Contributors include Troy Bramston, Judith Brett, David Kemp and Frank Bongiorno. '  (Publication summary)

'In September 1939, Britain declared war on Germany, and the life of Uwe Radok, a young German-born engineer working in Scotland, changed forever. Classified as an ‘enemy alien’, Uwe was deported to Canada on the Arandora Star. When the ship was torpedoed, drowning more than 800, Uwe and his brothers survived – only to be marched onto the infamous Dunera, bound for Australia.

'From 1940 to 1943 Uwe kept a series of diaries. Their pages offer a remarkable account of the effects of displacement. The harrowing voyage and the tedium of indefinite detainment are rendered with clarity. Over time, this gives way to an exploration of the contours of love, as Uwe formed a sustaining connection with another male internee.

'Edited by Uwe’s daughter Jacquie Houlden and historian Seumas Spark, the diaries offer a fascinating insight into life in wartime internment. In depicting the barriers to homosexual and bisexual love in the 1940s, they reveal a new element to the Dunera story that has gone unexplored. Vivid and poignant, Shadowline is a powerful portrait of a man torn between his feelings and society’s expectations.'(Publication summary) 

'From the outside looking in, Sandra Thom-Jones was living a successful life: she had a great career, a beautiful home, a caring husband, two loving sons and supportive friends. But from the inside looking out, she was struggling to make sense of her place in the world, constantly feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, and convinced that her challenges with daily life just meant that she had to try harder. In Growing In to Autism, Thom-Jones tells the story of gradually realizing that she was autistic, and that she experienced the world in ways which were markedly different from neurotypical people. This was a profound awakening - throughout her life she had been masking her true self and this effort had come at great physical, mental and emotional cost. Applying her skills as an experienced and expert researcher, Thom-Jones delved into the literature on autism in adults, learning much more than she already knew as a parent of two autistic boys. Part personal, funny, endearing and enlightening memoir, and part rigorous explication of the nature of autism, Growing in to Autism is a book for all people, memorably conveying the need for better understanding and ways of making space for a group of individuals in our society who have so much to offer.'  (Publication summary)

'A guide to the world of Amanda Lohrey's fiction, and a meditation on what her writing has to say about contemporary life and how we live it.

'Amanda Lohrey is a fearless and idiosyncratic writer whose award-winning career spans four decades. Her work is experimental, political, intimate and compelling. Lohrey provides an illuminating series of readings of key preoccupations across Lohrey's body of work. From the relationship of the personal to the political, masculinity and free will, human and non-human worlds and how reading shapes us, Lohrey traces a remarkable career across the contemporary literary landscape, and provides readers with an understanding of Lohrey's bold and singular style.'  (Publication summary)

'In this personal yet unsentimental memoir, Nobel Laureate Peter Doherty unearths the revealing and unique history of tennis and its ties to culture and nationalism.

'For those who look, and think deeply, new connections emerge. Peter Doherty, one of the world's foremost authorities on immunology, recipient of the Nobel Prize for medicine, and an active and respected commentator on public health, reflects in this book on empire, war and tennis Doherty identifies the origins of modern tennis within its imperial context, relating seemingly unlikely connections between the sport, its players and national militaries. He traces the fate of tennis-and its players-as a nascent force for internationalism and cultural tolerance within the context of World War II. And he personalises this account through an unsentimental but revealing depiction of his tennis-loving Queenslander uncles, at war and in captivity in the Pacific. As Doherty shows, tennis and war have threaded their way through the lives of many people since the nineteenth century, in a way intriguingly unique to this sport. This is part of Peter's story. And, as we come to realise, it is also part of the story of our world.'  (Publication summary)

'An exploration of the work and legacy of one of Australia's most distinguished historians

'Stuart Macintyre was an eminent figure within the world of Australian history scholarship for 45 years. This collection of essays and responses revisits and extends this extraordinary life of achievement and engagement. Leading scholars write here of Macintyre's contribution to understanding radicalism and communism, postwar reconstruction, education and civics, universities, liberalism, historiography and the history wars. They also tell us about collegiality and friendship.

'The practice of history writing and telling has long been central to the narrative of the nation in Australia. The Work of History connects us to that past. It raises the question of what comes next, and re-values Macintyre's contribution, serving both as a snapshot of the state of the historian's art, and an introduction to those who come more recently to this highly contested field.' (Publication summary)

'The Supplement to the Bibliography of Australian Literature (BAL) completes the most comprehensive reference to Australian creative writing ever published. The four volumes of BAL recorded details of all separately published creative literature by Australian writers from 1788 to 2000. Core genres covered were poetry, fiction, drama and children’s writing. This Supplement includes some 2700 new Australian authors and over 7000 titles by them. It also provides new and updated information on many of the authors listed in the original four volumes.

'BAL and the Supplement have no canon. All books and pamphlets in the core genres published by Australian authors are included, regardless of perceived or accepted literary merit. To BAL, the self-published book of verse is as important as the prize-winning novel by an established author.

'For each work in a core genre, details of the first edition and, where applicable, the first Australian, UK, US, Canadian and New Zealand editions are listed, as well as significant new or revised editions and translations. Awards won and additional information relevant to individual authors and titles are also included. Where an author has also published in other fields (e.g. biography), titles are selectively listed under ‘Other Works’ or mentioned in the ‘Comment/s’ section. Indexes of titles and pseudonyms and various writing names enhance the extensive alphabetical author listing.

'This Supplement, like its predecessors, is an essential source for the study of Australian literature to the end of the twentieth century.' (Publication summary)

'The untold story of Reverend Dr Charles Strong and progressive Christian activism

'In the optimistic years preceding Federation in 1901, the Melbourne-based Australian Church emerged as a progressive Christian movement to serve a brand-new nation. Galvanising many members of Melbourne's social and political elite, activist Reverend Dr Charles Strong imagined the Australian Church becoming the national church, while addressing a broad social and political reform agenda, inspired by both theological and social liberalism. Their approach was described as 'progressive', 'liberal', 'radical' and 'socialist'. Strong and his wife, Janet, founded or led organisations for causes ranging from peace to penal reform. They fought for urban slum improvements, rural village settlements, childcare and adult education, the minimum wage and women's suffrage. Some organisations endure today; others left lasting legacies in Australian methods of addressing social inequality. Bringing together leading scholars of history, politics and religion, Charles Strong's Australian Church celebrates the church's radicalism, while taking account of debates and obstacles on the path to social reform.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'With sharp wit and a discerning eye, political commentator Guy Rundle enlightens and entertains, drawing back the curtain on the iconic moments in Australian politics of the 2010s

'From the coal blockade frontline of the Liverpool Plains to Hobart's Cat and Fiddle arcade, from being on the road with last chance Malcolm Turnbull to the fossil fuel fantasies of Adaniland in the north, Guy Rundle gives a first-hand history of Australia in the 2010s, after the brief and hopeful haha insurgency of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd era and the descent of another decade of reaction. Through multiple elections, rubbing shoulders with the major players and upstart independents, Rundle describes a country changing and fracturing as the global wave of populism swept across conventional politics, and the culture wars solidified. He goes into battle, both against a corrupt, cynical and nihilistic right, and an increasingly elitist and fantastical progressivism. And he steps back into the past, looking at how we got to here, in memoirs and analyses of the shifting personal, cultural and political faultlines of the past half century.

'Between the Last Oasis and the Next Mirage is a raw, thoughtful, very funny and sometimes moving account of a nation dependent on the continuing good graces of history and the plain old dumb luck that is the land's curse.' (Publication summary)

'In a memoir spanning continents and a lifetime of scholarship, a trailblazing historian recounts her struggles since the 1960s in her search for fulfilment both as a scholar and a woman.

'Of all the exhilarating slogans that galvanised women in the 1970s, determined to change ourselves and the world, the one that really inspired me was: 'Be the most that you can!' Even as a small girl, I was eager to be the most I possibly could. This desire drove my life.'

'Raised in an aspirational Australian working-class family of Christian Scientists, in the 1960s Dale Kent embarked on a lifelong struggle to fulfil the desire of many women of her generation-to be the most she could be. Despite discrimination and self-doubt, she escaped her controlling family and established an international career as a historian of the Florentine Renaissance. But she failed to liberate herself from the crippling views of women, love and sex she had internalised in childhood. Craving independence and sexual fulfilment, Kent left her child with her husband and started afresh in the United States on an academic  road trip that took in Berkeley, Harvard, Princeton and the National Gallery of Art. Her story, both poignant and darkly comical, traces a counterpoint between increasing professional success, a desperate search for a sexual soulmate and a way back to her daughter.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'A new portrait of Australia's longest-serving prime minister that will transform your understanding of the beginnings of the Liberal Party.

'Sir Robert Gordon Menzies was the founder of the Liberal Party of Australia. As well as being Australia's longest-serving prime minister, Menzies was the most thoughtful. Menzies' world picture was one where Britishness was the overriding normative principle, and in which cultural puritanism and philosophical idealism were pervasive. Unless we remember this cultural background of Menzies' thought then we will seriously misunderstand what he meant by the very project of liberalism. The Forgotten Menzies argues that Menzies' greatest aspiration was to protect the ideals of cultural puritanism Australia from two kinds of materialism: communism; and the mindset encouraged by affluence and technological progress. Central to Menzies' project of cultural and civilisational preservation was the university, an institution he spent much of his career extolling and expanding. The Forgotten Menzies makes an important contribution to the history of political thought and ideology in Australia, as to understanding the largely forgotten but rich intellectual origins of the Liberal Party.'

Source : publisher's blurb