Books published by Wild Dingo Press

Thomas, a 23-year-old student priest, emerges alone from the wilderness four days after surviving a plane crash. But a missing woman's footprints are found with his, near the crash site. What part did Thomas play in her disappearance? And why does he claim he can't remember?Sent to a psychiatrist by Church authorities to recover his memories, Thomas' life and world unravel in ways he could never have foreseen, shaking the very foundations of his faith, his loyalty to the Catholic Church and the vocation he had chosen.Grappling with impossible expectations and burdened with guilt, the flawed characters show the consequences of oppressive rules colliding with impulses that can't be tamed. This compelling and timely novel explores the underpinnings of a deeply conservative Australian Catholic community in the 1950s whose outward piety hides a shameful underbelly that dares not be exposed.

'It began to gnaw at him, at first an inkling, then an obsession: Farah Jama was truly innocent. Sonnet (Associate Crown Prosecutor) decided then that he didn't want to grant Jama a re-trial. He wanted to deliver him an acquittal.' How did a young Somali man end up in gaol for the rape of a woman he had never met, in an over-28s nightclub he was too young to be admitted to, in a Melbourne suburb he had never visited? In the style of literary non-fiction comes a gripping true story that will appeal to mystery, crime and 'CSI' aficionados and anyone interested in justice for all, in the midst of cultural diversity. In 2009, nearly 18 months after Jama's incarceration, his conviction was overturned when a mother's profound faith in her son's innocence, a defence lawyer's belief in his client and a prosecutor's tenacious pursuit of truth and justice brought forth revelations that overturned a shocking miscarriage of justice. Written by journalist and former lawyer, Julie Szego, The Tainted Trial of Farah Jama is an intriguing and confronting story about injustice, the heartache of migration and the trials of integration, cultural taboos, prejudice and gender politics. 'A brilliant chronicle that tells us simple justice is rarely simple - and takes the shine off the smugness of forensic evidence, like DNA-testing.' - Prof. Colin Tatz AO 'A fascinating account of what can go wrong if the presumption of innocence is just a catch-cry. This book shows how dangerous it is when DNA evidence is allowed to trump common sense. I did not know of this trial until I read the book: I could not wait to find out how it went so wrong. The DNA evidence made no sense; the verdict seemed irrational. The result was a terrible injustice. To everyone.' - Julian Burnside AO QC, barrister, human rights and refugee advocate, and author 'High quality journalism may have fallen away in our newspapers, but Julie Szego demonstrates its enduring vitality in this story of a grievous injustice redressed. She reveals in painstaking detail not only the various factors that, together, resulted in Farah Jama's conviction for rape, but also the complexity of his Somali culture striving to assert itself on Australia's multi-cultural stage. This is a book that deserves a very long shelf-life.' - Robert Hillman, award-winning biographer and fiction writer 'Two worlds collide and a man, no hero, is falsely convicted of a terrible crime and finds an unlikely saviour.' - James Button, award-winning journalist and author 'Unputdownable. A shocking true-life story that reads like a nightmare dreamt up by Kafka; a complex, cautionary tale that should be required reading for all law students, forensic scientists, and police cadets.' - Peter Goldsworthy AM, award-winning writer and poet

This is a true story about two boys, Frici and Istvan - one Jewish, one Catholic - living two kilometres but worlds apart in Timisoara, Romania, when World War 2 shatters their innocence and their lives. Spanning two continents and three generations of two families whose lives unexpectedly intersect in their adopted country, this book beautifully captures the loss and dislocation wrought by war; and the struggles and challenges of starting anew in another country. 'With Just One Suitcase' is a tribute to the courage and resilience of two men who bear the scars of war, who faced and overcame adversity while never surrendering their optimism for the future. 'Like many adult children of first generation Australians, I have grown to appreciate more deeply the momentous decision made by my parents in leaving their homes, their families and everything familiar to them to come to a new land. I believe Australia has benefited in so many ways from the trust and optimism fof those who migrated to our shores. Our richness as a migrant nation endures through the stories of our forbears, told and retold to new generations. This is one such story among many that make us who we are today.' - Tanya Plibersek, Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development.

Olfat Mahmoud's confronting autobiography asks when the world will deliver on its promise and allow her people to return home to Palestine.Olfat Mahmoud is a stateless Palestinian refugee. Born in a refugeecamp in Lebanon, she is a descendant of the Christian and Muslim people who were forced from their homeland at gunpoint by the Israeli military in the 1948's Nakba, 'Catastrophe', and who fled Palestine in the period leading up to - and after - the subsequent founding of the state of Israel in 1948.Tears for Tarshiha follows Olfat's career - as a registered nurse, the director of an international NGO, an internationally recognised peace activist, and most recently, the recipient of a doctorate - amid the death and destruction of Lebanon's many conflicts; she chronicles the Palestinian people's remarkable capacity for love and bravery in the most extreme conditions. Olfat's extraordinary story is emblematic of the Palestinian plight, illustrating their continued survival and determination that has become an inconvenience to the international community.

A collection of poignant stories and poems of seven East Timorese families living in Melbourne. Since 1975 to 1999, men, women and children, and even grandparents, have been forced to flee their beloved homeland, their culture, their language, their families--and the graves of those murdered in repeated massacres over those years.Until now, their stories, written by people in their community, have not been recorded and published. With a heritage tied so closely to Australia in so many ways, this collection represents an essential part of the great story of migration, whether voluntary or forced, to this country particularly in the last 50 years. The reader will be moved by these remarkable, courageous, and resilient people, who endured so much, just on our doorstep.

This is a gripping, previously untold story, which throws a chill light on the secrets and lies that flourish in the fertile soil of dehumanising beliefs and practices - in this case in the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is a memoir by Sydney-based doctor and writer/translator, Kooshyar Karimi, who in 2000 managed to flee, with his family, escaping certain torture and death which stalked him on a daily basis in his native Iran. Karimi's sin was his Jewishness and the fact that he helped desperate girls and women, who had been raped, terminate the resulting pregnancies. Kooshyar Karimi is a father, a doctor, a writer, and translator. In 1998, he is kidnapped from the streets, blindfolded, and tortured. When he is eventually released, it is only as a spy for the Islamic Secret Service. This is the story of his survival.

The second thrilling instalment of the Victor Cavalier series. The first book in this series The Honourable Assassin finishes with freelance secret agent, Victor Cavalier, wondering if his daughter - kidnapped by a notorious Mexican drug warlord - is still alive. Now, in The Assassin on the Bangkok Express, Cavalier has heard that his daughter is alive but is a sex slave of the Mexican drug gang operating in the Golden Triangle. Through his contacts, he manages to uncover the fact that the Mexicans plan to secretly leave Thailand in the next few days on the Bangkok Express, along with their accumulated fortunes from drugs and sex slave trafficking. Their imminent departure is prompted by intel from their insider contacts that the Americans, led by the CIA and involving Navy Seals, may be closing in on them. Fearing that his daughter will be taken out of the country along with the booty, Cavalier makes plans to rescue her with whatever it takes. During the night journey, a professional assassination occurs on the Express which disrupts the Mexicans' plans and gives Cavalier the chance to see if his daughter is indeed on board. All parties' plans, however, are about to hit the worst possible obstacle. Tipped off about the huge booty of gold and cash, the IS-linked rebels attempt to hijack the train when it passes through their Muslim stronghold in Malaysia.

The diary arrived addressed to me, bearing a message: We live forever through our stories. Tell ours. And so began the author's journey into the life and legends of the Naga - a forgotten people living in the far north-east of India, struggling to survive in the modern world. With sensitively poetic prose, Doherty deftly draws the reader into worlds of parallel realities. The love story, desperate and damned, destined for tragedy; forged and upheld against the wishes of family and the dictates of culture, with a backdrop of violence and reprisals amidst the brutality of communal conflict. Alongside this is the story of life in the beautiful mountain state of Nagaland where traditions, loyalties and beliefs collide with modern imperatives that, for many, lead inexorably to poverty, dislocation, drug addiction, disease and despair. Seamlessly woven throughout, Naga legends and myths connect these disparate worlds. Poignant and profound, the reader is left with a yearning nostalgia for a past where eternal truths prevailed, to be gleaned from ancient fables and sages; where a people lived in communities richly endowed with cultural and spiritual certainties, and were valued members of large family and tribal networks. Except, of course, if you choose not to follow the rules… Former foreign correspondent, The Guardian's Ben Doherty, launches onto the literary world with his enthralling debut novel.

In May 2009 Sri Lanka's long and dreadful civil war was finally brought to an horrific end. Ruthlessly driven to a small strip of land on the tip of the island's north-east coast, tens of thousands of innocent civilians died, smashed by artillery, killed by snipers, denied medical treatment and starved to death beneath the baking sun. This ferocious battle consolidated and highlighted the terrors of the preceding twenty-six years of war, characterised by vicious murders and desperate acts from both sides, where civilians were bombarded, kidnapped, raped and tortured with impunity.In such a vicious war, was there any room for humanity?Para Paheer's story could be one of tens of thousands, except that he lived to tell the world of the horrors; but more importantly, to record and pay tribute to those, often courageous, people without whom he would probably not be alive. He was thirty-one when he was rescued from the Indian Ocean while sailing to Australia to seek asylum. While in Christmas Island Detention Centre, Para became penfriends with Alison Corke, a member of the Apollo Bay branch of Rural Australians for Refugees, in Victoria. On his release from detention in 2011, Para moved in with the Corke family. The Power of Good People is the literary collaboration between Para and Ali.