Anthologies

This collection of essays features the theme of what people wanted as children. The contributing writers include: Doris Lessing, Paul Auster, Brian MacKinnon and Nell Stroud. There are also pieces by George Steiner, J.M. Coetzee, Joyce Carol Oates, John Biguenet and Peter Walker.

A one-of-a-kind collection showcasing the energy of new African literature Coming at a time when Africa and African writers are in the midst of a remarkable renaissance, Gods and Soldiers captures the vitality and urgency of African writing today. With stories from northern Arabic-speaking to southern Zulu-speaking writers, this collection conveys thirty different ways of approaching what it means to be African. Whether about life in the new urban melting pots of Cape Town and Luanda, or amid the battlefield chaos of Zimbabwe and Somalia, or set in the imaginary surreal landscapes born out of the oral storytelling tradition, these stories represent a striking cross section of extraordinary writing. Including works by J. M. Coetzee, Chimamanda Adichie, Nuruddin Farah, Binyavanga Wainaina, and Chinua Achebe, and edited by Rob Spillman of Tin House magazine, Gods and Soldiers features many pieces never before published, making it a vibrant and essential glimpse of Africa as it enters the twenty-first century.

From Paul Theroux and Peter Moore to Jonny Steinberg, JM Coetzee, Jonathan Kaplan, Nelson Mandela, Mamphela Ramphele, Tom Eaton, Breyten Breytenbach, Pieter-Dirk Uys and Gabeba Baderoon: Discover Cape Town with top contemporary authors – both well-loved locals and international travel writers. Selected and with an introduction by Justin Fox. Read how … · JM Coetzee fails to get into a good school · Nelson Mandela misplaces his spectacles on the Grand Parade · Jonathan Kaplan faces arrest at St. George’s Cathedral · Paul Theroux meets a fellow pessimist at Cape Point · Jonny Steinberg is revolted by prison food · Joseph Lelyveld joins Crossroads residents singing hymns · Richard Rive walks with ghosts in District Six · Rian Malan haggles for snoek in Kalk Bay · Pieter-Dirk Uys attends a fake wedding on Greenmarket Square · Edwin Cameron climbs Table Mountain with the help of antiretrovirals · Judy Kibinge parties in Long Street plus many more...

Afflict the Comfortable is an anniversary publication celebrating fifty years of Salmagundi Magazine and fifteen years of the Tang Teaching Museum. Works by fifty artists from the Tang collection are juxtaposed with fifty writings published during the history of Skidmore’s internationally known quarterly magazine.

Where There's Smoke presents outstanding short fiction by Australia's finest male writers. These are tales of love, secrets, doubt and torment, the everyday and the extraordinary. A man sleeps at the site of a massacre and wakes refreshed. An unassuming piano tuner is sent off to contribute to the war effort. A woman with Alzheimer's is dragged along by her interfering son to visit Uluru. Brilliant, shocking and profound, these tales will leave you reeling in ways that only a great short story can. Chris Womersley * Murray Bail * Tim Winton * Rodney Hall * David Malouf * Tony Birch * Shane Maloney * Ryan O'Neill * Nam Le * Kim Scott

‘The essay creates a place for slow thought on hectic subjects, and that is what the best of this year’s crop manage to do.’ —Geordie Williamson In The Best Australian Essays 2016 , Geordie Williamson curates the year’s best non-fiction writing from Australia’s finest writers. The result is a collection that reads as a wake-up call: from Jo Chandler on the devastating bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef and Richard Flanagan on the Syrian exodus to Kurdish-Iranian journalist Behrouz Boochani’s inside account of life on Manus Island. There is also space for Bowie, TV box-sets and Aussie rules. Spanning politics, music, literature, art, ecology, linguistics and more, this anthology showcases the nation’s most eloquent and insightful writing. Contributors include Maggie Mackellar, Ashley Hay, Rebecca Giggs, Anwen Crawford, Melinda Harvey, Mireille Juchau, Fiona Wright, Vicki Hastrich, Helen Garner, Tegan Bennett Daylight, Jennifer Mills, Fiona McGregor, Michelle de Kretser, Jo Chandler, Anna Spargo-Ryan, Peter Goldsworthy, Gregory Day, J.M. Coetzee, James Bradley, Galarrwuy Yunupingu, Richard Flanagan, Adam Rivett, Michael Winkler, Behrouz Boochani, Martin McKenzie-Murray, Guy Rundle, Clive James, Julian Burnside and Kim Scott.

‘When a group of essays get together in a room they start talking to each other, often in surprising ways … The existence of these voices – stylish, vital frequently wise – is a source of hope.’ —Anna Goldsworthy The Best Australian Essays showcases the nation’s most eloquent, insightful and urgent non-fiction writing. In her debut as editor of the anthology, award-winning author Anna Goldsworthy chooses brilliant pieces that provoke, unveil, engage and enlighten. From the election of Donald Trump to digital disruption, from the passing of rock gods to the wonders of Australian slang, these essays get to the heart of what’s happening in Australia and the world. Contributors include Shannon Burns, Barry Humphries, Stan Grant, Keane Shum, Richard Cooke, Nick Feik, Michael Adams, Micheline Lee, Mandy Sayer, Tim Flannery, Sonya Hartnett, Harriet Riley, John Clarke, Jennifer Rutherford, Amanda Niehaus, Sam Vincent, Lech Blaine, Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Moreno Giovannoni, Janine Mikosza, Melissa Howard, Helen Garner, James Wood, J.M. Coetzee, Robert Skinner, Sebastian Smee and Anwen Crawford.

Explore the fascinating lives and loves of the greatest novelists, poets, and playwrights. From William Shakespeare and Jane Austen to Gabriel García Márquez and Toni Morrison, Writers explores more than 100 biographies of the world’s greatest writers. Trace the friendships, loves, and rivalries that inspired each individual and affected their writing, revealing insights into the larger-than-life characters, plots, and evocative settings that they created. You will also uncover details each writer’s most famous pieces and understand the times and cultures they lived in - see how the world influenced them and how their works influenced the world. Writers introduces key ideas, themes, and literary techniques of each figure, revealing the imaginations, and personalities behind some of the world's greatest novels, short stories, poems, and plays. A diverse variety of authors are covered, from the Middle Ages to present day, providing a compelling glimpse into the lives of the people behind the page.