Jackson "Jacko" Smith is dyslexic, but like many people affected by the learning disability, he is highly intelligent. His best friend Sammy Collins helps him get through school and unlocks his potential. Jacko progresses through the ranks of local government until Mother Nature intervenes and the straight boy and the gay boy become a couple.As Jacko and Sammy start a family and challenge social mores, Jacko enters politics, horrified at the direction the Australian government is t...

As a young gay man growing up in southwest Victoria, Nick Williams leads a charmed life. Life on the family farm gives him a sense of purpose. His supportive parents are loving and affectionate. And his best friend Aaron is always around to help him get out of trouble. But when his father dies a few days before Nick's eighteenth birthday, it changes the course of Nick's life.From rural Australia to India, Nick builds a life as a successful businessman only to watch it crumble in a w...

Apart from his drug addiction, his homophobic father, and his denial of his sexuality, Ben O'Connor lives a charmed life. He has a wonderful son, a lucrative job as a Realtor, and a supportive mother and siblings. Then his boss promotes someone else over him and his life disintegrates. In his anger, he breaks the eleventh commandment—thou shalt not get caught.Kicking his ice habit while incarcerated, Ben realizes he has lost his ability to enjoy life. But he gets another chance at ...

Australia is a nation in transition. Marriage equality looms but homophobia still rules. Depression and suicide are commonplace as Dean Prentice and his lover, Danny, grow up together in country Victoria. When Dean moves to a nearby regional center to study veterinary science, he finds acceptance and love when reunited with Danny. Profound tragedy visits Dean's life and he grieves, moving on through a series of lovers both male and female and struggling to focus on his studies and his drea...

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to its knees. When we weren’t sheltering in place, we were advised to wear masks, wash our hands, and practice social distancing. We watched in horror as medical personnel worked around the clock to care for the sick and dying. Businesses were shuttered, travel stopped, workers were furloughed, and markets dropped. And people continued to die.Amid all this uncertainty, writers and artists from around the world continued to create com...

Our world was turned upside down. Two months ago, my brother, Bob, was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma, a type of B-cell lymphoma, and bone cancer. Needless to say, it turned our world upside down. When we received his diagnosis, it literally knocked the wind out of me. Prior to that day, I did not even imagine that it could be cancer causing the lumps in his neck. I optimistically thought it could be benign, fatty tumors, but sadly, I was way off base on this one. To watch my brother c...

This book provides a guide to research and teaching in an Australian Indigenous Studies that is oriented toward the diverse, contemporary world. Central to this perspective is a sensibility to the intercultural complexity of that world – particularly its Indigenous component – and an awareness of the interactional capabilities that the Indigenous (and others) need to successfully negotiate it. These capabilities are important for facilitating Indigenous peoples’ goal of equality as citizen...

To catch a serial killer, sometimes you need to think like one—in this Australian crime thriller by the #1 New York Times bestselling author.The first victim—young, female, beautiful—is discovered on the edge of the park, her face utterly destroyed. Sydney homicide detective Frank Bennett suspects that this is a first kill. And it won’t be the last. To stop a serial killer in the making, Frank will have to place his faith in his partner Eden Archer—a cop w...

For every group that is oppressed, another group is privileged. In Undoing Privilege, Bob Pease argues that privilege, as the other side of oppression, has received insufficient attention in both critical theories and in the practices of social change. As a result, dominant groups have been allowed to reinforce their dominance.Undoing Privilege explores the main sites of privilege, from Western dominance, class elitism, and white and patriarchal privilege to the less-examined sites...

A RELUCTANT PSYCHIC, A TROUBLED DETECTIVE… AND A DEEPLY TWISTED SERIAL KILLER CASS THOUGHT SHE HAD EXPERIENCED EVERY KIND OF DEATH Moving to the city, Cass Lehman hoped to leave her recent notoriety behind her. Her ability to experience the final moments of a violent death helped the local police capture a serial killer, but also meant she was almost his final victim... With a place of her own and a new job, things are looking up for Cass. But just as she starts to feel settled, Cass is ta...

It took a year to drag myself out of the mess. A year in which I lost my dearest friend and then promptly lost my way. A year in which I ran away overseas, came back and then ran away again. A year in which I learnt to let go, learnt to forgive and learnt to grow up. It was a big year. It was a lot of work. And I head-butted two people. Accidentally.Lessons in Letting Go is an honest, uproariously funny and sometimes moving memoir of the year in which Corinne Grant decides...

In Radical Hope, one of Australia's most original and provocative thinkers turns his attention to the question of education. Noel Pearson begins with two fundamental questions- How to ensure the survival of a people, their culture and way of life? And can education transform the lives of the disadvantaged many, or will it at best raise up a fortunate few?Pearson argues powerfully that underclass students, many of whom are Aboriginal, should receive a rigorous schooling t...