Penguin Books Australia

What happens within us when we read a novel? And how does a novel create its unique effects, so distinct from those of a painting, a film, or a poem? Anyone who has known the pleasure of becoming immersed in a novel will enjoy, and learn from, this perceptive essay by one of the modern masters of the art. In this inspired, thoughtful, deeply personal essay, from his Charles Eliot Norton lecture...

In a small Australian country town, a young woman is accused of the murders of her own daughter and the local rat catcher's wife. As she stands to face the charges in court, a stranger enters, determined to explain her crimes.

This masterly story from Woman in a Lampshade perfectly displays Elizabeth Jolley's remarkable talent for character and story.

Beneath its peaceful exterior, the city of Adelaide and its surrounding areas have a dark history. From the disappearance of the Beaumont children to the Snowtown killings in the 1990s, it has been home to a long series of brutal and baffling killings and abductions. In The Element of Need , acclaimed author James Bradley uses this long history of violence as the basis of a fascinating exploration...

A classic short story from one Australia's most celebrated writers.

Squeaker, a selector, is slowly clearing his piece of the Australian bush. However, lazy and shiftless, he leaves most of the work to his uncomplaining and hardworking mate. When she is crushed under a falling yellow gum, Squeaker responds only with selfish impatience. Taught to endlessly endure by her harsh surroundings, Squeaker's...

When ordinary bloke Peter Mitchell took what he hoped would be a quiet public service job in the Department of Immigration in 1990, he couldn't imagine he would end up as manager of the infamous Villawood Detention Centre.

The detention of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants remains one of the nation's most divisive issues. Mitchell takes us behind the razor wire in the 'human misery industry', as...

The former leader of the Australian Greens, Bob Brown has long been one of Australia's most influential and admired environmental thinkers. Here he outlines the importance of a global, humane approach to the issue of overpopulation.
 
At once compassionate, intelligent and straightforward, this is a valuable and significant extract from Brown's memoir, Memo for a Saner World .

What does a house – and a home – mean to a writer?

Acclaimed author Sonya Hartnett is firmly Melburnian but has restlessly moved from suburb to suburb in her search for the 'Last House' – that special corner of the world in which to settle and find contentment. Viewing her life and work through the lens of real estate, she vividly recalls the places she has passed through on her way...

Ahead of the 2009 presidential elections in Afghanistan, Australian electoral advisor and Gruen Planet panellist Toby Ralph joined a UN team to assist local authorities unused to free and fair democratic processes – and in some cases, not keen on adopting them. Amid the 'War on Terror', resistance ranged from corruption and bureaucratic ineptitude to lethal violence.

A classic short story from one Australia's most celebrated writers.

A big old Victorian terrace in Jersey Road, Woollahra, is thought to be haunted by the two Darkling sisters from the 1920s. When a young family moves in, dark images of these sisters, and of relationships closer to home, hang over them.
 
Beautifully crafted and keenly observed, this story from Dorothy Hewett's acclaimed collection...

Leverson, a man who believes 'you get more magic from strangers', is fascinated by the misfits, hippies and straights that people sultry north Queensland. Under Leverson's ironical yet compassionate eye, tuba-playing 'Jesus freak' Lilian and odd-jobbing poet Fixer are brought together in a sudden and strange way.

From four-time Miles Franklin Award winner Thea Astley, North: Some Compass Readings:...

Caspar Jolley is a thrillseeker with a gift for always staying one step ahead. Doctor Evelyn Flowers is a woman of science – and sensuality. Brought together by an off-street speedboat-racing catastrophe, will they be able to overcome a bizarre and confounding injury?
 
Hilarious, inventive and ultimately moving, Ahead of the Game is a brilliant new story from one of Australia's most unique...

Each year the Emerging Writers' Festival brings writers, editors, publishers, literary performers and readers together for a festival that is fast becoming an essential part of Australia's literary calendar. In 2012, they launched the Monash University Undergraduate Prize for Creative Writing, a prestigious award for emerging literary voices, judged by award-winning Australian authors Ali Alizadeh...

A short shot of brilliant storytelling – one of the most celebrated modern Australian short stories is now available to read by itself, wherever you are.
 
Drunk, restless and excited, Kenny and Tom decide to continue their night with a swim in the local water tank. At first exuberant and elated, the teenagers' adventure takes a terrifying turn when they realise they are trapped in the tank...

A short shot of the unique genius of Shaun Micallef.
 
Feel that War and Peace went on a bit? Wish there were more laughs in Catcher in the Rye ? Then A Selection of Smithereens is for you. These pieces from one of Australia's funniest men (no, not John Clarke) feature the Borgias, Winston Churchill and the history behind cornflakes – and so much more!
 
Fresh from the updated 2011...

A short shot of brilliant storytelling – one of the most celebrated modern Australian short stories is now available to read by itself, wherever you are.
 
A young woman from Melbourne visits her parents, and Auntie Lorna, in Surfers Paradise. As she stays with them, and writes postcard after postcard home, she thinks back on relationships that have shaped her.
 

In homage to that most civilised of activities, letter writing, Marieke Hardy and Michaela McGuire created the literary afternoons of Women of Letters. Some of Australia's finest dames of stage, screen and page have delivered missives on a series of themes.

Haunted by the brutal murder of a local couple, David heads to his weekend shack with his new lover, Lydia, and his children from his recently crumbled marriage. Together they find escape, if only briefly, in the ocean and the bush.

The Bodysurfers , the title story of Robert Drewe's classic first collection, is a vivid evocation of love, passion, terror and the beauty of the beach.

A young Vietnamese-Australian named Nam, in his final year at the famed Iowa Writers' Workshop, is trying to find his voice on the page. When his father, a man with a painful past, comes to visit, Nam's writing and sense of self are both deeply changed.
 
Love and Honour and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice is a deeply moving story of identity, family and the wellsprings of creativity...

Juniper, living deep in the forest with her parents, is stunned to discover that the beautiful girl living isolated in a nearby tower is her sister. When the two girls meet, what begins as a fascination and a friendship ultimately develops into something truly sinister.

A story of jealousy, passion and power, Beauty's Sister is a dark and gripping reimagining of one of our oldest tales, Rapunzel...

When this book was first published in 1941, aircraft recognition was far more than just a pleasant pastime; it was often a matter of life and death…