AustLit

'For five decades Tom Keneally has been one of Australia's finest and most loved writers. Celebrated across the world as a master storyteller, and known especially for the Booker Prize-winning Schindler's Ark, he is also respected for his humanitarian work and his commitment to causes such as republicanism. The breadth and richness of Keneally's life is explored in this comprehensive biography, authorised by the subject and written by Stephany Evans Steggall.

'Beneath Keneally's warm and garrulous exterior is a complex man intermittently troubled by depression and anxiety. The prolific writer and popular raconteur has known many 'dark nights of the soul'. His commitment to Catholicism once led him to train for the priesthood, but crippling doubt left him unable to fulfil that ambition. Instead, he became a haunted writer – and then an uninhibited storyteller.

'Keneally's remarkable career has seen him win literary acclaim and commercial success across the world. His works are frequent and diverse, ranging from much-loved novels (Bring Larks and Heroes, Confederates) and memoir (Homebush Boy, Searching for Schindler) to respected works of history (The Great Shame, Three Famines). A number of his novels have also been made into award-winning films (The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Schindler's List).

'The story of Keneally's life and work is brilliantly told in this engaging and accessible new biography by Stephany Evans Steggall. The result of exhaustive research and unique opportunities to interview Keneally himself, Interestingly Enough is the definitive account of an extraordinary Australian.'

'Status and Sugar: A History of the Australian Society of Authors 1963-2013 uncovers the historical, cultural and political environments which both led to the creation of the ASA and shaped many of its activities over the last fifty years. From its uncertain beginnings and membership of only 64 to its current role as the peak national organisation advocating for author and illustrator rights, the ASA’s past and present campaigns are examined through Steggall’s carefully researched narrative.

'Behind these activities is the driving force of the ASA: its councillors and members. Steggall skilfully portrays the personalities who’ve advanced the ASA’s causes: Dal Stivens, Barbara Jefferis, Frank Moorhouse, Thomas Keneally, Robert Pullan and so many others. Opinions have frequently differed and battles have rarely been won with ease. While Steggall captures these challenges and controversies, one universal quality emerges throughout the organisation’s history: those involved are passionate about Australia’s literary creators and work tirelessly to support them. It is this passion that will propel the ASA into the next fifty years.' (Publication summary)

'Bruce Dawe: Life Cycle acknowledges one of Australia's best known poets and one of his best known poems. His life cycles have been poverty, perseverance and personal happiness; the rhythms of his being are the rhythms of his poetry - persistently fearless in speaking out on social and political issues; consistently sensitive and lyrical about painful concerns; insistently witty and satirical on just about anything. His range of poetry resists wrong and reveals a great love of his fellow man and a deep understanding of life. This biography is the first time that Dawe's life has been interpreted in full through his poetry, and the poems take on new significance when read in this context. The subject is telling some of the story in his own words - in poems.

Sometimes Gladness is Dawe's signature title and a best-seller of about 130,000 copies. Now in it's sixth edition, the book expresses a life long attempt to understand the balance between gladness and grief, the common factors of human experience. Verse cartooning and satirical humour, the constants of more than fifty years of writing, are much admired and enjoyed by readers and listeners of all ages. Dawe, one of Australia's first and most successful performance poets, provides imaginative scope to fill the spaces between humour and the pathos.

The reader of Bruce Dawe: Life Cycle shares a large experience, which effectively starts with 'Strictly En Passant', the first poem in the first book, No Fixed Address. Dawe looks forward to the multiplicity of 'feel and fragrance, sound and sheen' that his life will hold and he anticipates that, while he may not fully understand yet the meaning of a satisfactory existence, 'Time may build on this...' the existence culminates in 'Autobiography', in which Dawe measures what has been built. He says that he 'wouldn't have missed for anything' the experience of his life.' (Publisher's blurb)