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The First National Black Playwrights Conference and Workshop held in Canberra in January 1987 was a hectic affair. More than one participant called on Mudrooroo to use the proceedings (in the sense of what was happening) and the stories going around in a book. Doin Wildcat was that book. It has been called his most Aboriginal work and it should be as it stems from that historical conference and what happened there transferred of course to - well - the world of Wildcat.

Wildcat, the prison graduate, drifting through life, making the most of the opportunities that come his way, relishing the pickings of the late 1980s... by the author of Wild Cat Falling.

To one who for a good many years has lived among the tropic isles of Torres Strait, and whose constant regret has been that their romantic attractiveness is so little known even to Australians, the Drums of Mer comes with very strong appeal. There are some who may think that Mr Idriess is giving us simply an imaginative picture, but the author has travelled the Strait with the discerning eye and contemplative soul of the artist who is satisfied only with first-hand colour, and who, while blending history and romance with subtle skill, at the same time keeps within the region of fact. The records and documents placed at his disposal by those who have patiently collected them in the interests of history, of ethnological and scientific research, and (if one may be allowed to say so) even of missionary theological science also, provide the rich store upon which he has drawn for the thrilling story he has woven round the people of Mer and the other islands of Torres Strait. We have been waiting for someone to catch the charm and appealing mysteriousness of these islands, and to visualize the days, not so very long past, when the great outrigger canoes, with their companies of feather-bedecked headhunters, traversed the opalescent waters a couple of hundred miles down the Barrier, to return perhaps with cowering white captives or grim human trophies for the ceremonies of the 'Au-gud-Au-Ai,' the 'Feast of the Great God.' And if it seems that the starkness of tragedy throws a cloud here and there over the dramatic episodes which the author has so well narrated, possibly it is a good thing for present-day tourist-travellers (and others too!), to realize that a trip along the Barrier and through the Strait on the way to China was not always so free from danger.

(from Foreword by Wm. H. MacFarlane), Mission Priest, Torres Strait; Administrator of the Diocese of Carpentaria. 31 July 1933.)

Um den Fall Marks aufzuklären, nahm Inspektor Bonaparte, der berühmte »Bony«, seinen Abschied bei der Kriminal-polizei von Queensland. Jetzt streift er inkognito durch Neusüdwales. Für die Polizei galt der Fall als abgeschlossen. Bony aber hält den Tod des Polizeibeamten Luke Marks für einen - fast - perfekten Mord!

The extraordinary story of a classic Australian Pioneer - told by Australia's 'Boswell of the Bush', Ion L. Idriess.

Almost single-handedly John Flynn of the Australian Inland Mission brought to the outback the Flying Doctor Service and the Bush Hospitals. His magnificent vision, formed as he travelled on the back of a camel across the vast space of Australia's outback, took a lifetime of courageous commitment to bring to reality.

'It is impossible to read this book and remain untouched by the greatness of John Flynn's inspiration.' - Morning Post, London

Ion L. Idriess celebrated Australia's exuberant history in over 50 books, written in an easy conversational style that has made him lastingly popular. In stories such as 'Flynn of the Inland', 'Back O' Cairns' and 'Lasseter's Last Ride', Idriess brings to life the wild beauty of the outback and the many colourful characters who people it.

A biography of Arthur Upfield as told to Jessica Hawke with an introduction by Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte.

Here is Arthur Upfield's own story, the author of those remarkable murder mysteries set in odd corners of Australia and featuring the Aboriginal sleuth named 'Bony'. A detailed dossier compiled with the cheerful candour of the subject himself.

An Englishman by birth, Arthur Upfield tried his luck in Australia. After a short spell as a waiter in Adelaide, Upfield felt drawn towards the Interior where he became a boundary-rider, offside-driver, cattle-drover, opal-gouger, rabbit-trapper, vermin fence patroller and manager of a camel station, drifting through the strange terrains and unusual company which were later to become the subject of his novels. He also tells how he unwittingly provided a real outback murderer with a 'fool-proof' method of disposing of a body, and who was the original on whom the character of 'Bony' was based.

French by birth, British by education, Australian by choice, Babette Hayes was uniquely placed to bring that fusion of French tradition and informal style that characterises her cuisine and interior design. In Food for Friends she traces her journey from the war-torn Middle East, to the strangeness of life in an English boarding school, to glittering mornings on Sydney's Mosman Bay. These recipes and the stories that accompany them, recall dear friends and family members who have inspired Babette's approach to the joy of living and sharing food. With the inclusion of family photographs, Food for Friends offers the insights and experiences of one who has sought to make an embracing experience of cooking and being together as... 'an ordinary part of everyday life.'

'Plenitude: fullness or adequacy in quantity, measure, or degree; abundance. It's the word I think of first when I recall those magnificent Sunday lunches at Babette Hayes' beautiful house in Hunter's Hill. Of course there was an abundance of wonderful food, but an equal abundance of generosity, goodwill, laughter, great company. There were splendid dinners too, candlelit affairs that extended past midnight, their begetter a consummate hostess dedicated to providing her guests with persistent and ineradicable memories.' - Leo Schofield

'I remember my first visit to your home and sitting on the verandah eating one of your lunches. It is unforgettable. You changed our way of looking at food and entertaining Babette.' - Margaret Fulton

(Author Note)

Forty Fathoms Deep is part of the story of the pearl seas of north-western Australia. In all but a few instances, I have used names well known in the pearl world of Broome, but have taken care not to hurt susceptibilities. I am conscious I have only gleaned in a field rich with romance. There is material for many books in the adventurous lives of the men who have built up the history and industry of Broome. It is to be hoped that someone more persuasive than I will induce them to sit down and write, or, failing that, sit and talk for the enlightenment and entertainment of fellow Australians.

I am greatly indebted to numerous friends in Broome who have helped me with material and who went to such pains to get for me authentic data.

Hail and farewell, with a warm heart, to Con and old Sebaro, and to all the divers and tenders and seamen who were so patient at explaining the many things I desired to see and know.

To all, a fair wind and a hungry market when the fleets put to sea!

ION L. IDRIESS.

Kein Fremder darf es wagen, das südaustralische Tal zu betreten, in dem die Nachkommen einer irischen Gangsterbande hausen. Nur Inspektor Napoleon Bonaparte ist kühn genug, sich unter falschem Namen in die Gemeinschaft zu schmuggeln. Was er herausfindet, beunruhigt Bony nicht allzusehr: Schwarzbrennerei, handfeste Prügeleien - doch plötzlich stößt er auf einen Mord ...

Arthur W. Upfield (1888-1964) wanderte mit neunzehn Jahren nach Australien aus. Seine Erfahrungen als Pelztierjäger, Schafzüchter und Goldsucher fanden Eingang in seine Romane. "Upfields Krimis gehören zum Besten, was die australische Literatur zu bieten hat."
Reclams Kriminalromanführer

Arthur W. Upfield gehört zu jenen Autoren, die von den Geschöpfen ihrer dichterischen Phantasie an Popularität weit übertroffen werden. Wer weiß schon, daß er der geistige Vater des berühmten Inspektors Napoleon Bonaparte, genannt Bony, ist? Bony hingegen erfreut sich bei zahlreichen Lesern in vielen Ländern ungewöhnlicher Beliebtheit. Und das auch zu Recht, ist er doch von all den großen Detektivhelden der Kriminalliteratur vielleicht der sympathischste und liebenswerteste, bestimmt aber ist er kein furchteinflößender Superman. Als Sohn einer eingeborenen Mutter und eines weißen Vaters vereint er in sich auf glückliche Weise die altüberlieferten Fähigkeiten der australischen Ureinwohner mit dem modernen Wissen der zivilisierten Welt. So nimmt es nicht wunder, daß er bei Fällen eingesetzt wird, an denen sich andere bereits die Zähne ausgebissen haben, und er darf mit berechtigtem Stolz behaupten, daß er noch nie versagt hat. Oft muß er inkognito auftreten, um ungestört seine Nachforschungen betreiben zu können, und im buchstäblichen Sinn schwere Arbeit leisten.
Der hier vorgelegte Roman zeigt ihn als Zaunarbeiter im wüstengleichen Innern Australiens, wo er es nicht nur mit einem Amok laufenden Kamel aufnehmen muß, bevor er dem Mörder die Hand auf die Schulter legen kann. Es erübrigt sich zu erwähnen, daß Bony auch diesmal seinen Ruf als letzte Waffe der Polizei mit Glanz verteidigt

A powerful story of Australia's great sheep farms.

Gripped By Drought is a powerful story of a man's battle not only with the elements of nature which threatened the ruin of his huge Australian sheep-farm, but also with a loveless and unhappy marriage. For Frank Mayne, master of well-nigh a million-acre sheep station, life assumed its most dreary aspect. No rain for his farm, a wife who involved him in an orgy of spending and entertainment, and with disaster just round the corner, there seemed little prospect of happiness. Yet in the darkest hour of all, after the many unexpected and sometimes thrilling situations, the darkest hour of the drought gave way to rain and Mayne's tribulations became of the past.

From life in small New South Wales country towns to the glitter of Sydney, this memoir explores life in a changing Australia, from age 7 to 17. Especially written and recorded for ABC radio, this book evokes an innocent Australia through a quietly comic delivery, where we witness again holidays in quiet seaside villages, the days when newspapers were king, Decimal Currency Day was a big thing and Beatles haircuts were all the rage. When teenagers were inspired by pop music to a fresh idealism, protest and groovy gear. When man walked on the moon. A journey through the drama and excitement of an Australia now known only by memory. This is the first publication of Growing Up in the 60s as broadcast on ABC's Nightlife several times, and on many ABC regional stations including Broken Hill, Wagga Wagga, Camberra, Upper Hunter, Tamworth and Darwin.

 

- Jane Cadzow, The Australian

Idriess was a trooper with the Light Horse at Gallipoli, all the way to Beersheba, and his diary was published as The Desert Column. Drawing on his military experience, this is one of six manuals written for soldiers and civilians in 1942, when invasion by the Japanese seemed imminent.

 

A catalogue of Hall Thorpe coloured woodcuts, including a Foreword by Richard King, Introduction (Hall Thorpe: A Consideration of His Work) by Robert and Ingrid Holden, and 'On Colour in the Cottage' by Hall Thorpe, R.B.A., reproduced from The Studio Year-Book of Decorative Art 1919.

Alister Kershaw was a member of the lively crew of poets, painters, musicians and marginal madcaps who made up Melbourne's artistic avant-garde in the Thirties and Forties. In this book he recalls some of the people he knew in those distant heydays.

Here are Albert Tucker and James Gleeson, who were savaged by Kershaw in a notorious satirical poem but who later became good friends of his. The youthful Max Harris is depicted with affectionate irony although his fellow publisher John Reed gets thoroughly roughed up, as does the Marxist critic Bernard Smith. Sir Sidney Nolan's admirers will be scandalised by Kershaw's disrespectful attitude, in marked contrast to his admiration for Adrian Lawlor - writer, painter and sublime eccentric.

»Bony spürte eine warnende Kälte im Nacken und fuhr herum. Zwei Krähen schienen den Verstand verloren zu haben; sonst gab es nichts zu sehen. Er ging im Kreis um den Schacht herum und fand das große Loch, einsfünfzig im Durchmesser und ungefähr in der Mitte einer kahlen, flachen Platte aus Kalkstein. Hinter ihm bellte Lucy wütend. Wieder drehte er sich rasch um, und die Kälte in seinem Nacken wurde zu Eis.«
Bony sucht eine Frau, die spurlos aus dem Zug verschwunden ist. Und er findet inmitten der australischen Wüste eine eigene geheimnisvolle Welt mit eitenen Gesetzen und eigenen Verbrechen: die Höhle des Schweigens.
Ein ungewöhnlicher Fall für Inspector »Bony« Bonaparte, jetzt erstmals in deutcher Sprache.