AustLit

'I was about to begin writing this review when I read an article by Grace Karskens in the latest Griffith Review, concerning a visit she recently made to Dyarubbin (aka the Hawkesbury River) in the company of three Darug women and the historian/archaeologist Paul Irish. Together they are uncovering the Aboriginal history of the early settlers’ farms that flank the river – a hidden history that runs in parallel (and sometimes conflicts) with the well-known pioneer history of this country. The name of their project, ‘The Real Secret River: Dyarubbin’, instantly brings to mind Kate Grenville’s award-winning novel, which of course is set on the Hawkesbury.'  (Introduction)

''Why didn’t you and Daddy want people to give you any presents?' I used to ask. But my mother could never be drawn into talking about the wedding. I assumed it was because she did not wish to be reminded of the ghastly mistake she had made in marrying my father.

'AS a child, Nadia Wheatley had a sense of the great divide between her parents, who had met and married while working in Germany on the front line of the Cold War. Growing up in 1950s Australia, the child became a player in their deadly contest. Was she her mother’s daughter, or her father’s creature?

'At the age of ten, the author began writing down her mother’s stories: her Cinderella-like childhood, and her escape into a career as army nurse and refugee aid worker. Fifty years later, the finished memoir is not only a loving tribute but also a social history of twentieth-century Australia, told through the lives of a mother and her daughter.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'This article describes the author's journey through the collaborative process of making six award-winning books, all of which begin with the principle of "Learning from Country," which the author encountered while working in the Aboriginal community of Papunya (Northern Territory, Australia) and later used with culturally diverse urban students in Sydney. This experience confirms that Indigenous principles of education ore best-practice pedagogical principles, no matter where the learning takes place. Whatever "country" (whether city or bush) students live on, and whatever ''country" (geopolitical nation) their families originally come from, a way of learning that puts the Aboriginal sense of Counuy (encompassing home, homeland, environment, and habitat) at the center is the holistic way of learning that young people need in the twenty-first century if they are to sustain the very planet they live on. This model of learning, collaborative and co-operative, also confirms students both in their individual identity and in their sense of belonging to their neighborhood community.'

Source: Abstract.

'Tonight is the night.

'The family has to flee.

'They've been tipped off that the authorities are after their blood.

'Set in biblical times, a small family sets off across a desert in search of refuge from persecution in their own country, and an ancient story becomes a fable for our times. Their journey is beset by heat and thirst, threatening tanks and the loss of their donkey, but eventually they reach a refugee camp where they can wait in safety for asylum in another country.

'In this first-time collaboration between multi-award-winning author, Nadia Wheatley, and internationally-renowned illustrator, Armin Greder, words and images blend seamlessly to take readers on a journey they will never forget. ' (Publication summary)

'This one time, listening to Mondrian has let me go beyond the prison bars. And if you've escaped once, I reckon, you're always able to break free, one way or another.

'The characters in these compelling stories explore who they are, and how they fit into their family, their community and their world. Listening to Mondrian brings together two new stories and six of the best from Nadia Wheatley's award-winning The Night Tolkien Died to speak to a new generation of readers.' (Publication summary)