From the first novel published in mainland Australia in 1838, women have been writing it for themselves. Among them are poets, prolific novelists such as Rosa Praed, and botanists like Louisa Atkinson. From household names to obscurity, A Bright and Fiery Troop rediscovers the rich treasures of Australia’s literary tradition. It is the first critical analysis of the major Australian women...

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Mrs Angel Rendle-Short said that a book given to her daughter, Francesca, as an English textbook at school would teach her to be a permissive rebel.—Courier Mail, 1975

Bite Your Tongue is a story of great heart. It is the story of a teenage girl’s growing up in Queensland during the 1970s, the daughter of a morals crusader: Angel Rendle-Short / Mother Joy Solider. The tale is...

Marou and Claire met at a bar in Tokyo. Separated by seventeen years in age, by their cultural origins and by the requirements of visas, they have managed to maintain their relationship through these vicissitudes. Autobiography, duography, love story, cross-cultural reflections and lesbian history, Love Upon the Chopping Board explores the personal and political of lesbianism in Japan and...

Based on the highly successful ABC television documentary of the same name, this book excavates the history of thousands of women who worked on farms during World War II. City-bred, in the main, and only reluctantly taken on by farming communities, the women proved themselves to be tough, resourceful and indefatigable workers whose efforts kept Australian agriculture alive at a critical time. ...