Affirmative action is still a reality of the American workplace. How is it that such a controversial Federal program has managed to endure for more than five decades? Inside Affirmative Action addresses this question.Beyond the usual ideological debate and discussions about the effects of affirmative action for either good or ill upon issues of race and gender in employment, this book recounts and analyzes interviews with people who worked in the program within the governm...

From the historical to the fastastical, the real to the surreal, this exciting new anthology of New Zealand fiction, short stories, poetry and artwork present the varied voices and styles of New Zealand writing at its best - exhibiting work from established and award-winning authors as well as some lively 'fresh ink' from previously unpublished literary voices.

Indulge your sweet tooth with effortless baking magic!The Ultimate Baking & Desserts Cookbook is your go-to guide for creating mouthwatering cakes, cookies, pies, and sweet treats—no professional skills required. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced home baker, this cookbook makes baking simple, fun, and foolproof.Inside you’ll find:Easy baking recipes with step-by-step instructionsClassic favorites and creative new twists for every occasionTi...

Death, motherhood, the nature of reality, and the gender expectations of cultural conditioning are woven through these biting little stories in Sandra Arnold's debut flash fiction collection. Sometimes sad, surreal and sinister, they're also shot through with love and a deep understanding of humanity.In gorgeous, spare prose that paints a very vivid picture, Sandra Arnold gives voice to characters that are often unheard. From Daisy in Fireworks Night, willing to do whatever it take...

The heart-wrenching but triumphant story of rebuilding a life and a family.'My body, suddenly, carries two stories of loss ... One is easy for people to recognise. My mother died of cancer. I watched her age twenty-five years in eight weeks ... My other story marks me as different. It is more silent and more savage, it is not pure and no one knows how to approach it. Somewhere I lost my husband.'When Maggie Mackellar's vibrant young husband, father to a fiv...

A new short story from Australia's queen of hard-hitting family drama.A short story for fans of Jodi Picoult and Anita Shreve.Step into the fragile domestic world of Roar and discover the unforgettable voice of Nicole Trope, bestselling author of The Secrets in Silence, Three Hours Late and The Boy Under the Table.*The baby sleeps peacefully, filled with milk and contentment. The man on the bed breathes his way into the da...

On the night that Carla Reid plans on celebrating her wedding anniversary with her husband Kevin and their grown son Jack, their New Zealand farmstead has never felt more like home. But when Ben Toroa and another aspiring gang member brutally force their way into the house with robbery and more on their minds the night and the rest of both their lives take a radically different direction. As Carla struggles to come to terms with the aftermath and bereavement of different kinds, and Ben fac...

WINNER OF THE COSTA BOOK OF THE YEAR 2013WINNER OF THE SPECSAVERS POPULAR FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2014WINNER OF THE BETTY TRASK PRIZE 2014‘I’ll tell you what happened because it will be a good way to introduce my brother. His name’s Simon. I think you’re going to like him. I really do. But in a couple of pages he’ll be dead. And he was never the same after that.’There are books you...

Featuring:Sarah Hall, Lucy Wood, Lisa Blower, Lavinia Greenlaw and Lionel Shriver.Edgar Allan Poe once claimed the greatest literary works were those that could be read ’in one sitting’. ‘Brevity must be in direct ratio of the intensity of the intended effect,’ he argued, once the effect has been established, of course.The stories shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award 2013 all use brevity with striking results, whether presenting a comp...

From the acclaimed author of Due Preparations for the Plague comes a powerful Australian story.Stories do insist on being told. Even the stories of hidden lives and towns and opal reefs. By cunning intention, and sometimes by discreet bribery (or other dispatch) of government surveyors, the opal-mining town Outer Maroo has kept itself off maps. And yet people do stumble into town, because the seduction of nowhere is hard to resist. two strangers reach Outer Maroo, searching for a st...

Exploring grief, yet neither bleak nor overwrought, this powerful short story won the 2013 Sunday Star-Times Short Story Competition. The judge, Carl Nixon, commended its 'seemingly effortless artistry' and its skilful and well-sustained handling of demanding narrative techniques: 'the author does not miss a beat', he said. Cleverly juxtaposing the past and present, the narrator draws the reader into her life. The judge concluded: 'Beautifully controlled use of simile and ...

These outstanding stories from the 2010 Bristol Short Story Prize will provoke, stimulate, move, amuse, unsettle, and entertain