Books published by Ginninderra Press

'Courage and inspiration are what you feel when you read these exceptional stories of everyday families coping with what life has dealt them. The harsh reality of organ and tissue donation is that we are dealing with life and death. The courage of donor families at a time of tragedy is magnificent and the inspiration donor families receive at a later time from transplant recipients must truly be the circle of life.' - Robyn Hookes

Spending time in nature and with grandchildren, we are able to observe the smaller things in life - the opportunity to observe nature, enjoy holidays and watch little people enjoy their surroundings. Recording those observations as poems provides memories for children and opens the window to another life for them to see. These poems were inspired by watching children, sitting in the garden, observing the small details and the lessons and history that reside within the words.

wild /waild/ adj. 1. living in a state of nature, as animals that have not been tamed or domesticated. 2. growing or produced without cultivation or the care of humans, as plants, flowers, fruit, honey, etc… 3. uncultivated, uninhabited, or waste, as land. 4. a. native to Australia and New Zealand: wild violet; wild cat. b. escaped to the wild… 5. living in an uncivilised state. 6. of unrestrained violence, fury, intensity, etc… 7. characterised by or indicating violent excitement, as actions, the appearance, etc. 8. frantic; distracted, crazy, or mad… 9. violently excited: wild with rage, fear, or pain. 10. undisciplined, unruly, lawless, or turbulent… 11. unrestrained, untrammelled, or unbridled: wild gaiety; wild orgies. 12. disregardful of moral restraints as to pleasurable indulgence. 13. unrestrained by reason or prudence: wild schemes. 14. extravagant or fantastic: wild fancies. 15. disorderly or dishevelled: wild locks. 16. wide of the mark: a wild throw. 17. Colloquial intensely eager or enthusiastic. 18. Cards (of a card) having its value decided by the wishes of the players or the player who holds it. -adv. 19. in a wild manner; wildly. -n. 20. (often plural) an uncultivated, uninhabited, or desolate region or tract; a waste; a wilderness; a desert. -phr. 21. in the wild, in natural surroundings or habitat: animals in the wild. 22. run wild, a. to grow without cultivation or check. b. to behave in an unrestrained or uncontrolled manner… (From Macquarie ABC Dictionary)Join 159 poets from across Australia in an exhilarating and often surprising foray into the many facets of 'wild' - human, animal, environmental and metaphorical.

New Year's Eve 1969. Feisty, red-haired Julia King places her drunken arm around the shoulders of shy Shane McCarthy and invites him to join her band the Moonbirds. Man has just set foot on the moon; huge crowds march through the capital cities of the world to protest against the Vietnam War. Both teenagers are from the backwaters of Portmagee, a coastal town in south-west Victoria. Their homeland is dotted with hallowed grounds, where, if you listen, you can hear the hymns of land and tide. Julia's clan come from the Dreamtime and shipwrecks; Shane's, Irish migrants fleeing the Famine. Music courses through the blood of both of these kids. A rock band offers the opportunity to realise the ultimate dream. Together they create a unique sound which they take to the rest of the world. Join their odyssey of love, ambition and creativity, where they conquer, but pay an unforeseen cost.

Tony Steven Williams, a Canberra poet, describes his maiden poetry collection Sun and Moon, Light and Dark as ';not unlike our journey through life, where we constantly steer through the contrasting dimensions of sun and moon, bitterness and sweetness, feast and famine, steepness and gentleness, life and death, freedom and persecution, joy and sorrow. Such are just a few of the dualities that dominate our human existence.' In these refreshingly multifarious poems are to be found ';small clusters of like-minded pieces of meandering content such as narratives, travel, observations, moods, ekphrastic comments and outright fun, reflections on how life works a voyage through the light and the dark'.

After years of living in the harsh Australian outback, Iris Bloom returns with her ailing husband to her hometown in the south. Old memories surface and begin to disturb and haunt her. Iris tries to make sense of her murky past through her writing. But she discovers that dangerous writing can sometimes have fatal consequences. Fearing she might reveal a dark secret they buried long ago, Iris's family refuse to accept her back into the fold. After her death, Iris leaves her unpublished manuscript - dedicated to someone called Rose - in the hands of her solicitor. Iris's letters are interwoven with her stories about intriguing but deeply troubled characters. Just what is fact and what is fiction in the stories Iris leaves behind? Why does this matter so? And who is Rose? Immensely readable, this psychological mystery is both emotionally shocking, but captivating until the end.'The spirit of Australian Gothic survives and thrives in Mary Pomfret's Hard Seed, although few rural mysteries are as profound, or as captivating.' Laurie Steed

'This book showcases the tanka of four contemporary Japanese poets. It emerges at a time when global interest in the genre is flourishing and it offers guidelines and inspiration by example for those who read and write this genre in English. Its editor, Saeko Ogi, has selected the contributors carefully. The poetic voices of two men and two women of diverse ages, backgrounds and interests come together in unity but retain individuality. Their writing demonstrates just how effectively this diminutive genre can document our lives, address humanitarian concerns, and home in on the essence of all we experience or observe. When shared, they can promote harmony and understanding around the world.' - Beverley George

'Some poets have the ability to capture a mood, a feeling, a happening in a few well-chosen words. Pam Cole has been touching my soul for more years than I can remember. She is an astute observer of her surroundings and the people who inhabit her world. This collection of poems takes the reader on an intimate journey through her life. Each page deserves to be consumed in a quiet place, on your own, allowing time to digest the meaning behind the magical words.' - Dale Lorna Jacobsen'Pam Cole's writing has a sensibility which brings out the continuity of life in all its forms, a talent for telling how things were: a country childhood, the poignancy of ageing, the loss of people, absence of children, the joys of grandchildren, landscapes, and dreams, all subtly and movingly told.' - Judy GoldbergPam Cole was born in 1935. She and her husband have lived in many parts of Australia, but now divide the year between their farmlet in Victoria and the New England country of northern NSW.

For me, poetry is observational and emerges from personal experience. This book contains a selection of poems that I have written over the years - a kind of distillation of things I have seen that have moved me, interspersed with poems that I simply like. You may notice that a significant number of the poems are to do with various aspects of the ocean and the coast. That's because I am intimately connected to it; and although my bones are beginning to creak, I still surf and am endlessly fascinated by the changeability of the ocean and the exquisite complexity of the interaction between waves, rocks and sand. I hope you enjoy these poems.

defenestration, n. the act of throwing a person or thing out of a window. - The Random House Dictionary of the English LanguageIndrani Perera - a fresh and exciting voice - explores the passion of contemporary life, love and loss.'…apt and enjoyable image and rhythm…deftly made…' - The Canberra Times

I read once that on its way to the moon Apollo 11 was only on course for about 3% of its journey. But land on the moon it did, as we all know. Live is not linear. It requires constant adjusting. Each one of us experiences hills and valleys, straights and narrows, corners and roundabouts. We all take chances and miss opportunities. What counts at the end of the day is our willingness to reassess our coordinates and make a choice to stay our course. I hope that my poetry empowers you and, in a small way, contributes to navigating the roadmap of your own life.

It's a fact not yet universally acknowledged, that everybody should at some point in their lives attempt to follow in the footsteps of the explorers Hume and Hovell down the Hume Highway, preferably in the company of Captain Cook, Henry Lawson, Caroline Chisholm and Ned Kelly. Backseat Drivers is a hilarious and biting satire on the intersection and byways of the past, the present and the future.';A most wonderful endeavour' Captain James Cook';Such is strife!' Edward Kelly';I wish I'd written it' Henry Lawson

';Word Fall demonstrates Betty McKenzie-Tubb's love and mastery of language in very accessible poems written in various styles. The book also reveals the poet's wisdom, compassion and her wry, often self-deprecating sense of humour. The collection is arranged in three sections: Loss and Love, With Serious Intent and Froth and Bubble. I was moved to tears, deep contemplation or laughter as I read these poems that have arisen from a rich and well-lived life.' Robyn Mathison';The poems in Word Fall capture Betty McKenzie-Tubb's refreshing and warm hearted style. In a voice both unafraid and elegant, she offers her wit and wisdom with open hands. Curiosity, understanding and insight are crafted into disciplined lines provoking laugher or deep reflections. We travel with the writer as she gleans and gathers stories from each facet of her round and ready life. This precious collection is both moving and uplifting.' Elizabeth Goodsir

';With Orpheus in the Undershirt, Kevin Densley has produced his best book yet: sharp but not cutting, tart but not cynical, the collection weaves lyric, barb and lament into a marvellous, prickly garment that soothes as it stimulates. Don't like small, evocative poems as clear and complex as rockpools? Dive into an eight-page outlaw fistfight roaring with dust and despair. Not interested in ';When Johnstone's Circus Came to Town'? (Though why wouldn't you be, with its ';toupeed ringmaster/in a red lame suit' and aromatic ';strong whiff of manure'?) Explore instead the death of a bantam ';inside the chookhouse/among the warm chooky smells'. Unlike most collections which attempt to blend ';high' and ';low' culture, to find the charge of destiny in the nuts and bolts of the everyday, Orpheus does it effortlessly, without need of gimmicks or creaky, overbearing conceits. Here Kevin Densley fuses the marvels and mundanities of life into a witty, searching collection that sings the subtleties of both.' James Roderick Burns, Other Poetry