AustLit
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13 Jun 2017(Display Format : Landscape)
BlackWords : Some SFF Reading
Here, in one handy list, are works of science fiction, fantasy, and magical realism by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors. All these works are currently available, so if you've been seeking diversity in your reading, now is the time to add these to the list.
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8166980569780452991.jpg4661874875488433239.gif3524630988317250575.jpgTerra Nullius Claire G. Coleman , 2017 single work novel
Winner of the prestigious black&write! fellowship, but not due for release until August, Terra Nullius tells of a future Australia facing another wave of colonisation.
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A post-apocalyptic trilogy of super-powered teenagers, internment camps, and the search for self-identity, the Tribe trilogy is a thrilling read and an AustLit favourite.
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7492778020210478580.jpegStopwatch Sally Morgan , Ambelin Kwaymullina , Blaze Kwaymullina , Ezekiel Kwaymullina , 2009 series - author children's fiction
Each of the 60 black lines on the stopwatch take Tom to a new and very different world. This series is designed for younger readers, from about eight upwards.
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1329997261487_FUYy.JPG1326182755425721055.jpgThe Not-So-Goblin Boy Ezekiel Kwaymullina , 2011 single work children's fiction
Samuel wants to be green, covered in slime, and capable of producing farts so lethal they could knock out an elephant. But he's not. He's the only human boy in a goblin empire.
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Rift Breaker is purest SF adventure: space opera with aliens, gun-toting women, and the constant risk of explosive decompression–plus themes of identity and alienation.
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Paranormal romance? Check. Mythical and magical beings hanging out in high school? Check. Set in Brisbane? Check. Indigenous author? Check. Teagan Chilcott's Rise of the Fallen definitely has it all.
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Winner of the David Unaipon Award, this series of three interlinked novellas is magical realism at its best–from the explicitly futuristic to the modern but uncanny.
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A gently fantastic work, in which ghosts and vision intertwine with high-school rivalry and the Australian summer heat.
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Set in the Broome of fifty years ago, Ubby's Underdogs is a gloriously chaotic mix-and-match of Indigenous and Chinese characters and ideas, with a fabulously scrappy heroine.
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One of the earliest and most significant works of high fantasy by an Indigenous Australian author, Land of the Golden Clouds is here presented as an end point, but should perhaps be considered as the starting point for an exploration of Indigneous-authored SFF.
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5 Jun 2017(Display Format : Landscape)
World Environment Day
Today is World Environment Day! To celebrate this year’s WED theme ‘Reconnecting people to nature’, we will be showcasing our ‘Children’s Literature and the Environment’ Exhibition currently in development by the project team at QUT.
As environmental issues are a major concern in this country, Australian children’s and young adult literature frequently explores issues such as environmental waste, global warming, species endangerment, ecocitizenship, and the effects of globalisation on the environment. Such texts offer insights into ecocatastrophe, climate change, anthropocentrism, sustainability, and other important issues, or they might simply celebrate the environment. Environmental narratives also provide creative and imaginative scenarios and solutions that can encourage young people to consider their own relationship with the environment.
Our project logo is the green leaf-tailed gecko, used with permission and drawn by writer and illustrator Narelle Oliver. Her picture books raise environmental awareness through detailed linocut illustrations of Australian flora, fauna and natural habitats. Her most recent book, published posthumously, is Rock Pool Secrets, which shows the simple pleasure of exploring rock pools, and the environment around us.
Take a look at ‘Children’s Literature and the Environment’ for other prolific environmental authors as well as collections around topics such as endangered species, climate change and global warming, environmental destruction, the Great Barrier Reef, bushfires, and protecting the environment. The exhibition also highlights ways to use environmental texts in the classroom.
Using the World Environment Day hashtag #WithNature, tell us your reading recommendations for Australian books that ‘reconnect people to nature’.
Here are some suggestions to get you started:
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1248410091383452386.jpgAtmospheric : The Burning Story of Climate Change Carole Wilkinson , 2015 single work information book
Blurb: We can't survive without Earth's atmosphere, yet most of the time we ignore it. We treat our atmosphere as a rubbish dump for our greenhouses gas emissions. Slowly but surely, what we are doing is changing Earth's climate.
Atmospheric cuts through the many voices raised around climate change to tell the story of our atmosphere, what is putting our climate at risk and what we can do about it. This could be the most important book of your life.
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MilroyDingosTreeCoverLarge_FV[[equals].jpgDingo's Tree Gladys Milroy , 2011 single work picture book
Blurb: Dingo's Tree is a tale of friendship and sharing, it tells of the struggle to survive in a land that is devastated by mining. It is a powerful children's cautionary tale on the destruction and havoc that mining causes to land and to community.
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4730513836225098140.jpg2375541383922870612.jpgA Patch from Scratch Megan Forward , 2016 single work picture book
Blurb: Jesse and Lewis want to grow their own fruit and vegies, just like people do on a farm. They're going to dig and build, plant and grow, and when they're finished they're going to have a feast!
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Blurb: Australia's leading prize for young poets showcased in a collection of fresh poems from our freshest minds. This year's best poetry radiates wit and wisdom, making this anthology a must for poetry lovers of all ages.
This volume contains poems of all subjects, but contains many about the environment, particularly environmental destruction, loss of wildlife, farming and drought; as well as poems honouring the beauty of places.
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6095091614175747485.jpg6103552060759039579.jpgSam's Bush Journey Sally Morgan , Ezekiel Kwaymullina , 2009 single work picture book
Blurb: Sam is a young boy who like most young boys of this generation loves computers, DVDs, iPods and iPhones. He hates the Australian bush and the outdoors. Sam would be happy if it all disappeared.
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1 Jun 2017(Display Format : Portrait)(Scheme : scheme-orange)
Just Indexed : Aust. Womens' Book Review
This issue of AWBR contains nine long-form reviews of recent books by Australian women writers, as well as essays by Carole Ferrier and Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox. Full text is available via AustLit or on the Hecate Journal website.
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19 May 2017(Display Format : Landscape)(Scheme : scheme-turquoise)
Check out our selection of The Conversation essays
The AustLit Team has started collecting and republishing excellent essays published by The Conversation.
Explore the collection here. We're focusing on essays that will be useful for teaching. Enjoy!
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12 May 2017(Display Format : Landscape)(Scheme : scheme-blue)
Just Indexed on Austlit
Published by The Australasian Association of Writing Programs, the April editions of TEXT : Journal of Writing and Writing Courses and TEXT Special Issue Website Series are now indexed on AustLit. Or, if you prefer, you can visit the TEXT website directly.
The issues contain a diverse collection works on the topic of writing as well as some outstanding poetry and prose.
TEXT Volume 21 No 1 : General Editor: Nigel Krauth. Editors: Kevin Brophy, Enza Gandolfo & Julienne van Loon
Text Special Issue Number 38 : 'Illumination through narrative: using writing to explore hidden life experience' : Edited by Margaret McAllister, Donna Lee Brien and Leanne Dodd
Text Special Issue Number 39 : 'The Essay' Edited by Rachel Robertson and Kylie Cardell
Text Special Issue Number 40 : 'Making it New: Finding contemporary meanings for creativity' Edited by Monica Carroll and Jen Webb
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10 May 2017(Display Format : Custom)(Scheme : scheme-orange)
Vale Rosie Scott
Rosie Scott was an award-winning writer and tireless campaigner for social justice and for literature and storytelling through her membership of PEN and the ASA. With Dr Anita Heiss, she edited the important work of perspectives on The Intervention : An Anthology in 2015.
Born in New Zealand, Rosie moved to Australia in 1985. She won recognition for her writing by being shortlisted on a number of awards and by winning an Australia Council Fellowship. She was awarded an Order of Australia in 2016.
It is with sadness that we learned of Rosie Scott's death last week and offer our sincere condolences to her family and friends.
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21 Apr 2017(Display Format : Landscape)(Scheme : scheme-blue)
New to Austlit : The Garret
The Garret is a literary podcast produced by Astrid Edwards and hosted by Nic Brasch. The website features interviews and with some of Australia’s best writers and includes a transcript and show notes. Season 1 and 2 are available for free. Season 3 begins on 3 of June.
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18 Apr 2017(Display Format : Landscape)(Scheme : scheme-darkerblue)
Aust. Climate Change Fiction : #AustLitCliFi
Deborah Jordan is currently preparing an expanded and revised edition of her Climate Change Narratives in Australian Fiction to be published by AustLit.
And while we're generating lists of solarpunk and ecopunk, post-apocalyptic narratives and dystopias, environmental destruction and cyclones, we're also putting out a call to you, readers of Australian fiction.
Do you read cli-fi? Ecopunk? Solarpunk? Dystopian fiction? Have you come across Australian films, television series, short stories, or poems that explore the ramifications of global warming and climate change? Is there a novel you've been desperate to talk to everyone about? Talk to us!
Send us your recommendations using the hashtag #AustLitCliFi, and help us create a comprehensive listing of fictional responses to this urgent topic.
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5 Apr 2017
New to AustLit - Songs Back Home
Songs Back Home is a CD of songs compiled by Jessie Lloyd as a part of her Mission Songs Project. The Project is 'an initiative to research and present a collection of Indigenous songs that were composed and performed from 1900 to 1999. Focusing on songs from the Christian missions, Aboriginal reserves and the fringes of township where Indigenous people were relocated.'
Further information on the Mission Songs Project can be found online.