This first comprehensive selection of McAuley's prose and verse is arranged by the editor, McAuley's friend and colleague Leonie Kramer, into eight sections, 'each representing aspects of James McAuley's interests and experience ... Within each section the poetry is chronologically arranged; the prose is introduced in such a way as to suggest the relationship between McAuley's poetic preoccupations and his critical and intellectual position.' (Note pp.xxix-xxx). Each section is accompanied by a brief editorial note and extensive end-notes, including McAuley's own notes.

'David Malouf is one of the finest writers in contemporary literature. This volume offers a well-balanced, compact selection of his intricately connected work. Short stories, poems, essays, interviews and the classic novel "Johnno", reproduced in full, show the range of his remarkable achievement. "Johnno", his first and most popular work of fiction, has entered the public imagination with its moving evocation of the 1940s and 50s. The novel is here counterbalanced by the wider contexts of David Malouf's poems and short stories. The uncollected essays highlight his brilliance as a literary commentator, and his deep interest in a variety of contemporary issues. James Tulip's introduction provides an indispensable overview of the work of this outstanding author.'  (Publication summary)

'Judah Waten was an often controversial figure in Australian literature whose stories of his Russian-Jewish family have been critically acclaimed for their lucidity, depth of feeling, and fine sense of comedy. David Carter has brought together an illuminating selection of Waten's stories, arranged in an autobiographical sequence that traces the author's life from his Russian background to his formative years as a writer and political activist.

'This 'discontinuous autobiography' creates a fresh perspective on themes of migration, Jewishness, political commitment, history, and the individual life in Judah Waten's writing. These themes are also explored in an informative and often poignant interview with Waten and in examples of his critical essays. In his stimulating introduction David Carter discusses the cultural politics of the author's life and his choice of fiction or memoir rather than full-length autobiography. A new generation of readers will be attracted to Judah Waten's work in the light of contemporary interests in multiculturalism and stories of migration.' (Publication summary)

'Once prosperous, the town of Tourmaline in outback Western Australia is dying. The mines are drying up and the land is riddled by drought. Those townspeople left have little to do but wile away the hours with drink.

'Salvation of sorts arrives in the form of Michael Random, a mysterious water diviner who emerges from the desert. As the town's reluctant messiah Random begins to spread the word of Christ. Desperate for a reprieve, many of the locals are drawn to his teachings, but a stubborn few remain sceptical of their new leader.

'A post-apocalyptic parable, Tourmaline is Randolph Stow's most allusive and controversial novel. It remains a landmark in Australian literature more than half a century after its first publication.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Text Classics).