Category: Behind the book

Anne-Louise Willoughby’s biography Nora Heysen: A Portrait celebrates the life of a woman propelled by her drive to paint. Nora Heysen was in 1938 the first woman to win the Archibald, Australia’s national portrait prize, and continued to push boundaries to be appointed this country’s first female Official War Artist.

Caitlin Maling’s most recent poetry collection, Fish Song, is rich and diverse, exploring physical landscapes as well as historical and socio-cultural aspects of place. In these poems, she travels the coast of Western Australia, writing about what the ocean provides and questioning what poetry might offer by way of solace and reconnection in an age […]

Women of a Certain Age recounts the stories of 15 women who have struggled with identity and survival, all on their journey to becoming more certain of who they are and where they want to be. Below is an extract from ‘Everyday Sadness’ by international acclaimed author Liz Byrski, who knows exactly what it’s like […]

True West is a new crime novel by David Whish-Wilson set in late 1980s Perth against the backdrop of hate crimes associated with Jack van Tongeren’s Australian Nationalist Movement that included the firebombing of Asian businesses, as well as the dog-whistle comments made by then federal Liberal opposition leader John Howard associated with ‘slowing down’ […]

The Workers’ Art Guild was a radical cultural and political force in Perth in the 1930s and 1940s. The Guild’s innovative approaches to theatre and art were praised by critics, but its left-wing politics, were denounced by many. This extract is from a new book by Dylan Hyde called Art Was Their Weapon.

As it comes to the end of the school year, we know that teachers everywhere will be getting ready to enjoy the Christmas holidays after a busy year. To acknowledge you for all the hard work you do day in day out, we asked four Fremantle Press authors to share their stories of teachers who […]

In The Lost Stone of SkyCity, HM Waugh’s brave heroine Sunaya faces five Dragon Tests to prove she is a worthy guardian of the princess of the Ice-People. Here, Waugh explains how her own learning led her to create these tests from skills that all children need to succeed.

The poems of writer and environmental activist Nandi Chinna tease out and explore her own experiences of change, in her body and in the plants, animals and ecosystems around her. In The Future Keepers, Chinna invites us to consider our role as custodians of a precious planet – and how what we value, how we […]

Brush up on some incredible details about Perth’s most iconic buildings from the book Built Perth by Tom McKendrick and Elliot Langdon and you’ll be an architecture guru in no time.

Art Was Their Weapon: The History of the Perth Workers’ Art Guild is Dylan Hyde’s first book with Fremantle Press, and is a comprehensive look at this radical and creative organisation.

Fiona Burrows might have only recently released her debut picture book as both author and illustrator, Violet and Nothing, earlier this year, but she’s been writing and drawing since she was in school.

Julia Lawrinson’s new novel, Maddie in the Middle, is the story of schoolgirl friendships, peer pressure and the notion of right and wrong. When Maddie makes friends with new girl Samara, she finds herself stealing chocolate to raise money to help Samara’s family. But when they get caught, Maddie ends up taking the blame. Did […]

Moira Court’s stunning new picture book Antarctica helps pre-primary and early primary school readers discover some of the amazing animals and birds that exist on this chilly continent.

Steve Hawke’s first novel, The Valley, received such critical acclaim when it was first published in October last year that it’s now on its third print run.

Helen Milroy isn’t your average children’s author. Not only was she the first Aboriginal person in Australia to become a doctor, she’s also an illustrator, psychiatrist and university professor.

Como resident Rebecca Higgie won the inaugural Fogarty Literary Award for her manuscript The History of Mischief at a special ceremony at the ECU Spiegeltent on Wednesday 22 May 2019. Chosen from a field of 64 manuscripts by Western Australian writers aged 18 to 35, Higgie won a $20,000 cash prize from the Fogarty Foundation […]

Dr Antonio Buti is a professor of law at UWA and MLA for Armadale. His latest book, A Stolen Life: The Bruce Trevorrow Case, explores the story of the only member of the Stolen Generations to win compensation for his removal from his family.

I think it is important for fictional characters to live in real places, which is why I have set my stories in locations I have visited. Often an interesting-looking town – or island, in this case – can be the spark that inspires the whole story. The Cocos Islands, approximately 2,750 kilometres north-west of Perth, […]

Michael Burrows is an author and poet from Perth. Here, he reads from his first novel, Where the Line Breaks, and talks about how it was inspired by an Anzac Day experience in Gallipoli, the search for Australian war poetry and his love for Western Australia.

Fremantle Press author and new mum Fiona Burrows explains how she came up with the idea of her new picture book Violet and Nothing, and why it’s never too early to encourage children to be creative.

Fremantle Press author Kathryn Lefroy doesn’t just write about alpacas, she loves everything to do with them. Her new children’s book Alex and the Alpacas Save the World sees these adorable creatures take centrestage, and why not when they’re this cute to look at.

Dave Warner’s latest crime novel River of Salt comes complete with its own music, and you can listen to it right now.

Teach Australia’s colonial history through the eyes of a 12-year-old boy embroiled in one of the greatest criminal underworlds in the Gold Rush era. Or start a discussion around grief and loss in young people with a beautifully written literary novel.

Anne-Louise Willoughby is the author of Nora Heysen: A Portrait. She gave a presentation on Nora Heysen in Melbourne on Sunday 10 March as part of NGV Australia’s launch of its new major exhibition Hans and Nora Heysen Two Generations of Australian Art.