AustLit

'Norfolk, Virginia, 1864. Charlie Brewster arrives to recruit African American soldiers for the Union. He is recently returned from three years of service, and though he's physically uninjured his psychological battle scars run deep. He survived the war...can he survive the peace?

'Tensie Stevens' husband is at the front. She cannot read or write, and wants to send him letters, so Charlie offers to put her words on paper. She has never known a white man show this much kindness. As a former slave she is scarred, too, although some of hers are physical. She helps him recruit other soldiers and he writes letters for their wives as well. So near to the world of war and men he starts to learn about intimacy and women.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The Kasa Por Yarn (Just for a Story) project was devised by Queensland Health as part of a multi-pronged strategy to develop and promote positive health messages for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in some parts of Queensland. Kasa Por Yarn is a 12-part radio play being broadcast throughout the Torres Strait. Input from the local community is a very important component of the project, and Kasa Por Yarn is also very fortunate to have Aaron Fa'aoso on board in the role of cultural consultant and artistic advisor.'

Source: Simon Luckhurst's website, http://www.simonluckhurst.com/

Sighted: 21/07/2010

'Australia, 2009: Kevin Rudd has apologised to the Stolen Generations, indicators of Aboriginal health and wellbeing and that of white Australians remain alarmingly disparate, the Northern Territory Intervention is still firmly in place, and arguments over appropriation and the history wars continue to simmer.

'In this contentious environment, we meet Hamish, an economist who works with remote Aboriginal communities. His wife, Alison, has just started a Master's Degree in Indigenous History, partly as a means to move on from the loneliness she feels now that Gary, their son, has left home. After Alison decides to write a biography of the Aboriginal artist Barney Adams, she and Hamish host a dinner party for Barney and Hamish's Aboriginal research assistant, Gail.

'Over the course of the evening, and in the ensuing months, the relationships between the four people deepen and are eventually tested as each individual reaches a moment where they must make a choice which involves a deep examination of their perception of their position in contemporary society.

'Australia, 2009: in the cultural shadowland between black and white, what are the "Lines in the Sand" which denote our personal choices?'

Source: ABC Radio National's Airplay website: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/airplay/
Sighted: 09/11/2009

' Eddie Murray died in suspicious circumstances in a police cell in the northern NSW town of Wee Waa in 1981. He was twenty-one years old. His parents, Arthur and Leila Murray, embarked on a search for truth and fought for over twenty years to have the death of their son properly investigated.

'In Eddie's Country, Simon Luckhurst delves deep into the official inquiries carried out since Eddie's death, and chronicles the Murray family's experience of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, as well as Arthur Murray's controversial involvement in the Brewarrina riot in 1987. Eddie's Country is a powerful testament to the courage of Arthur and Leila Murray, and to many others who were prepared to fight for justice. It reveals the shocking truth of what was discovered after the Murray family made one of the most difficult decisions of their lives; to have Eddie's remains exhumed.

'Above all, it is a story of love, resilience and family loyalty which for the first time brings together all the facts in the case and asks, "Why did Eddie Murray die?"' (Publisher's blurb)