Books published by Ginninderra Press

As a child I drove my mother to distraction with my constant question, Why? After a stream of these endless whys I can still hear her exasperated voice saying, ';Why because.' and I knew that was the time to stop at least for a while. Nothing has changed. I am still asking questions. These days I know there are no specific answers but it can be fun exploring possibilities. Wise woman or philosopher? Is there a difference? I have no piece of paper that says I'm qualified to be either or both, but my life has been an amazing journey of experiences and in this collection of essays I am using them to try and understand the world I live in and perhaps be more aware of how I might be affecting others.

Margaret Clark's poetry moves comfortably between cosy domesticity, family relationships, art, religion and occasionally politics. She finds inspiration in simple things (a walk in the park, coffee with friends, domestic chores), which reminds us to look for the poetry in the everyday. The metaphor is wielded with great aplomb (Scotland and England as a dysfunctional couple, a mountain range as a sleeping serpent) and the love and respect she has for Australia's impressive landscape is evident in poems such as ';October Storm' and ';Namatjira's Way'. These are straightforward, straight-talking nuggets of joy and wisdom and although Clark is not afraid to tackle the bigger issues, the pages twinkle delightfully with her quirky sense of humour. Alison FlettMargaret Clark's poetry is enriched by wide life experiences and keen observations. We are transported north with apt imagery of time spent living in Alice Springs, a thousand miles from tides, where the grey green casuarinas fuss and whisper in the breeze. A woman of the outback, Clark reveals the art, the beauty and the dangers of the natural world. She recalls Cyclone Tracy, leaving a city littered with tinsel and wrapping paper. She is not afraid to confront pain and hardship; she sees the irony of feral animals shot by feral man. Poems in Frayed Edges also capture scenes from her homeland in the UK and take us on literary journeys, paying tribute to writers and poets from biblical to contemporary times. Clark is a poet of wisdom and depth, making sense of science, domesticity, history and society with a refreshing sense of grace, empathy and often humour. Jude AquilinaMargaret Clark's poetry intelligent, wry observations of places and people is candid but elegant, gritty but lush. Patrick Allington

Cynthia Sidney Hallam grew up in Lismore in the Northern Rivers district of New South Wales. Her poems, short stories and articles have appeared in magazines and anthologies. Her poems have been read on ABC radio and performed on stage. She now lives in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.

I acknowledge with deep respect the Wiradjuri Elders past and present, traditional custodians of the land that bore me and where the words I write were formed. The stories in these poems are all true and all come from that land between the three rivers - far western New South Wales - where my ancestors too lie buried.

'One feels accompanied by the poet in these pages; through gardens, along country roads and city streets, along windswept coastlines and out on the water. You will encounter many invitations to pause, to share an observation of something tiny close-up or to admire some distant expanse. We also ponder occasional memories and wonderings about times long ago. There is karumi here, that delicate quality of lightness and simplicity where things are presented without embellishment, subjects without interpretation, where the wonder of things is allowed to speak for itself. And in judicious balance, other haiku indulge in subtle suggestion, offering hints of the extraordinary within the ordinary and even allude to the numinous. Most delightfully we meet the poet in these words as we find ourselves moved by that which moves her, sharing a few moments along this winding path, where it leads…' - Simon Hanson

the moon's reminder explores five realms of 'm', from maps to moths. Here are poems where 'sea is breathing' and 'sky bleeds', where a 'night for knots' feels 'the weight of silence' - poems for unexamined moments.

Avril Smith brings a lifetime of keen observation to the stories in A Fragment of Time, her second collection. The protagonists are often flawed beings, struggling to make sense of the predicaments in which they find themselves; Cedric Percival, who prefers green jelly and Belgian beer to oysters and football, can barely cope with his own life, but always finds a way to help others, and finds love in the process. Tales of the indignities and constraints of old age are counterbalanced with discoveries of the joys modern technology can offer as long as you have a Mr Percival to sort out computer problems. Now in her tenth decade, the writer has had plenty of experience in accepting and quietly supporting those who don't quite fit in. Her warmth for life's misfits shines through in her writing as does her sharp wit, humour and appreciation of the quirky and inexplicable. Anna Buck

Jeanell Buckley is a writer of short stories and novels in the area of speculative and historical fiction. She is the winner of the Vice-Chancellor's Commendation for Academic Excellence (Macquarie University) for her novel Chalet Heat and is currently working on a series of short stories set in Sydney. Stretcher Bearer was based on research into the diaries of Australian soldiers who fought in the First World War. In 2016 she was published in an anthology by Allen & Unwin.

Daniel Neumann was born in England in 1951 of German-born parents, and has lived most of his life in Australia, in Canberra and then in Melbourne, where he works as a psychologist and as a musician. His poems respond to landscapes, texts, paintings, music, and conversations real or imaginary. They inhabit spaces from Australia to ancient Greece, and hear voices ranging from bush hermits to opera; and they speak with a feeling for distance and the passage of time.

Slices, a title taken from Zola's description of good drama as ';a slice of life', contains sixteen stories that explore a range of often capricious and sometimes predictable responses to the challenges life presents. The stories explore the nature of memory and imagination, friendship and love, decline and loss, searching and fulfilment, and even the ridiculous. Collectively, they offer insight into the human condition, and pose challenging questions for the reader.

In the frantic days of the Victorian gold rushes, few made their fortunes. Most did not. Storm Over Bakery Hill concerns some of those people. A widow, endeavouring to create a life after the death of her ex-convict husband. Her son, determined to reject his fathers legacy. A policeman seeking revenge. A bullock driver. And those miners, the battlers, who, bullied and frustrated by authorities, were to take up arms and create one of the iconic moments in our history, the Eureka Rebellion.

War, as everyone will attest to, is horrific. Yet we continue to indulge in it under the guise of ';defence' or ';peace keeping' or whatever. And we continue to glorify the stupidity of war (there can be no other term to be applied to Paschendale or Balaclava or Gallipoli or ';weapons-of-mass-destruction' Baghdad) with our annual parades and our demonstrations of patriotism and our pontifications on sacrifice and honour and moral debt, while learning nothing more than new ways to destroy. Janey Mac goes to war on war. And not just the boys' game of war, but the war closer to home: the war in the home, the war that has always existed in the male's attempt at domination over the female. War is more than one nation's land grab for oil or for power or for eco-political gain. It is fought daily on an individual level and the vanquished are often those without a voice, without an ally. Janey Mac tries to illuminate the wars that go unreported, as well as those that are reported in a way reminiscent of earlier poets, but at the same time, with a new eye. Lyrical poetry, this is not: it is narrative poetry and prose hoping for a lyrical response.

Determined to uncover the truth behind her brother's sudden death, a young woman returns to the haunting landscape of her youth to confront the town she thought she'd left behind and the secrets they'd rather stay hidden.';Black Mountain is a deftly written novella- effortlessly building tension as it draws the reader in. Simultaneously delicate and visceral, this is a compelling work.' Judges' Citation, Shortlisted Seizure Viva la Novella IV

Stephen Mallick is a Tasmanian poet and artist. The poems of Just a Moment explore times past, events and memories of childhood and adolescence, the natural world, and the child's insights into a family in pain. The poems have a rich lyricism, employing subtle rhyme and rhythm rooted in the natural cadences of everyday speech. Deceptively simple, the poems build within the collection to a powerful meditation on the pains, joys and coming-to-terms of growing up.

';Raymond Evans's poetry sings with lyricism. His poems melt and explode with love, lust and clear-eyed honesty, revealing the beautiful and brutal undercurrents of a passionate life.' Venero Armanno';This collection offers a powerful and touching insight into the interior life of a well-regarded Queensland historian. Poignant childhood memories, everyday personal observations, commitment to truth in history-telling, the intricacies of love, involvement in humanitarian and political activismthese are all here, described in poetry that is authentic, unpretentious and fired straight from the hip.' Linda Stevenson';Raymond's poems provide an intimate glimpse into the challenges, hardships and sensual pleasures of a well-lived life. Sometimes they serve to illuminate one's own experiences. At others, the poetry carries one away on a compelling journey: Their emotional provocation and illustrative skill fashion an evocative and hypnotic pastiche of writings that transport the reader to worlds far beyond the anticipated and familiar. That is what these poems do.' Em O. Tomasi';Lost in deep thought as I imagine Evans's Bardon boyhood as he floats tin canoes down the neighbourhood stream. The detail commands that no stone is left unturned as magical adventures take shape and Brisbane beckons.' Fiona Foley';Raymond Evans's Half Century brims full of humble treasures. His fifty ';personal and political' narrative poems take us on a journey through time and space from the adventures of a Welsh migrant boy arriving in the raw new land of Australia; to the burgeoning sexuality and social awareness of a teenager exploring the freedom of the 1960s; to the grown man's deepening realisation of his role in history, society, and relationships. All recounted with humour, compassion and wisdom. A delight.' Michele Seminara

Jack Oats (aka Baker) is a man of all trades. Under various pseudonyms, he has been a teacher, ornithologist, conservation biologist, bureaucrat, father, grandfather and husband. He has published lots of science and years ago, he managed Biodiversity Conservation Science for the NSW Department of Environment and Conservation. Nowadays, Jack Oats makes short fictional and factual word creations as part of the Recovery Plan for the Semi-colon. In this, his first published collection of poetry, he pokes fun, casts doubts, celebrates Australia's natural heritage, shares hope and gives love.

Bella was only seventeen when her mother Elie died. Jack and Katie were even younger. Each dealt with the loss in different ways: Bella became the surrogate mother, the responsible one; Katie the arty rebellious eternal wild child; and Jack never settled, changing jobs and girlfriends, looking for the next adventure. When Bella discovers Elie's diary stashed away among her father's belongings, she and her siblings spend the next year reading it together and within its pages are given the chance to remember their childhood through their mother's eyes, challenge family narratives and discover the secrets and wisdom she didn't have time to tell them. It is a gift from her to challenge the past and face the future with a new perspective. Whispers on the Trampoline is a beautiful tale about a mother who turned everyday events into magical stories; and the chance, over a dozen years later, for her three children to finally finish the story she started telling