'But I, while vineyards ring with the cicadas' scream, Retrace your steps, alone, beneath the burning sun.' Virgil's lyrical, wistful and often witty pastoral poems. Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 8... read more

'All those excessive, useless regrets...' A collection of nostalgic, erotic poetry from one of the greatest Greek poets to have ever lived. Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black ... read more

'To the utterly at-one with Sivathere's no dawn.'
Meditative, deeply personal poems to the god Siva, from four major Hindu saints.
Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little ... read more

Purple Prose introduces fifteen new works of non-fiction by Australian women writers, each responding to the colour purple. In their hands, purple takes on many meanings. From a story about King George's coronation gown to pigeon fanciers and the Dockers' Purple Haze, this is a book for... read more

"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me." This schoolyard rhyme projects an invulnerability to verbal insults that sounds good but rings false. Indeed, the need for such a verse belies its own claims. For most of us, feeling ... read more

POETRY Category Winner A collection of longish poems. In these talky poems, Bornholdt ranges over a wide variety of territory - love, death, children, illness, bread-making and the garden. All the big themes. First published October 2008.

'...a good bit of spice to give the critlings a flavour, and plenty of treacle to make the mince-meat look rich'
Radical Victorian reformer Henry Mayhew walked the streets of London interviewing ordinary flower girls,... read more

'The devil gave the woman a nudge: "Look at that belt full of money peeping out from under the butcher's shirt!"'
Written for a local German journal and publ... read more

A fill-in book from the San Francisco Writers' Grotto, authors of the best-selling 642 Things series Focus on a single aspect of the craft of writing with help from the San Francisco Writers' Grotto. Writing Sci-Fi and Fantasy ... read more

Gerald Murnane turns to poetry at the end of his literary career, writing frank, disarming poems that traverse the rich span of his life. I esteem / above all poems or passages of prose / those that put a lump in my throat. - Gerald Murnane, 'The Darkling Thrush' Geral... read more

'Their fruits be diverse and plentiful, as nutmegs, ginger, long pepper, lemons, cucumbers, cocos, sago, with divers other sorts...' Scholar, spy, diplomat and supreme propagandist for Elizabe... read more

Told with compassion and stunning honesty by indigenous Western Australian poet Charmaine Papertalk-Green, this collection of inspired and thought provoking poetry confronts issues affecting the indigenous community. Hard-hitting and intense, as well as compassionate and empowering, P... read more