LAUNCH



After enjoying a wonderful first launch back in May, Invisible Women of Prehistory is having a second inauguration, this time in Townsville. 

Come and join Susan Hawthorne, Maree Hawken, and Angela Burrows as they discuss the ideas in the book, and the academic resistance they met.

Friday July 19
6.00pm
Mary Who? Bookshop
414 Flinders Street
Townsville, Queensland 

If you have any questions, feel free to contact (07) 4771 3824

 

Susan Hawthorne's new verse novella, Limen, enjoyed a second book launch on July 13; this time in the author's home-base of Mission Beach, Queensland. Thanks to all who turned out at the Healthy Harvest for a spirited reading by Susan. 

AWARDS



Merlinda Bobis's Fish-Hair Woman is a 2013 Davitt Awards Finalist! 

The Davitt Awards are presented by Sisters in Crime Australia, and recognises the best crime and mystery books written by Australian women in 2012.

Fish-Hair Woman is set in 1987, in the Philippines and concentrates on the militarised village of Iraya, and a young woman called Estrella. Amidst the dying and violence, Estrella falls in love with an Australian called Tony McIntyre, who disappears during the conflict. Ten years later, Tony's son comes looking for his father.

A shortlist will be announced in late July, and winners will be announced at a gala dinner in Melbourne on August 31. 

Well done, Merlinda!


NOW AVAILABLE 

 

There was plenty to celebrate in the Spinifex office this week, as two much-anticipated books arrived hot-off-the-press! 

RU 486: Misconceptions, Myths and Morals is a re-release of the 1992 book, written by Janice Raymond, Lynette Dumble and Renate Klein. Upon its initial release, RU 486 was Highly Commended in the Human Rights Awards. This 2013 edition of the book has a new preface by Renate Klein, and it can't come a moment too soon - in June 2013 Federal Health Minister, Tanya Plibersek, announced that RU 496 (mifepristone) would be added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. This book continues to question RU 486 as a second-rate, unpredictable chemical that has spectacularly failed: heavy bleeding, transfusions, vomitting, severe pain and infection are among the adverse effects of the drug, and women have died from sepsis and cardiovascular events.
RU 486: Misconceptions, Myths and Morals is now available. 

Not a Choice, Not a Job: Exposing the Myths about Prostitution and the Global Sex Trade is the explosive new book from Janice Raymond. And it's already generating a great deal of buzz; Sigma Huda, former UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, has this to say: "Janice Raymond has written a thoroughly documented book on combating prostitution in all its forms. I have no doubt that the book will greatly benefit not only governmental authorities and human rights activists, but also academics and researchers in understanding the complexity of this 'crime against humanity', and methods to eradicate it." 
Not a Choice, Not a Job is officially released in August, but copies can now be purchased through the Spinifex website. 

EVENTS



Susan Hawthorne is kicking off the inaugural event 'Local Women Writers Talk' at North Melbourne Library on July 30. She'll be reading from her new verse novella, Limen, and discussing her writing process. 
Bookings are essential. 




The 2013 Melbourne Writers Festival Program was launched last night - and we can finally reveal some of the wonderful Spinifex authors who will be part of the festivities! Be sure to book tickets now, because spots are limited and these tickets always go fast.

 

Anne Østby is the author of Town of Love; a book that paints a vivid picture of some of the world's most vulnerable women and children. In this town they are "women of love"; young women who make up a workforce tasked with feeding their families by selling their bodies. Even baby girls are welcome in this town of love, because one day they will be breadwinners, following in their mother's footsteps ... Only one woman dares to break free of this legacy. Her name is Tamanna, she is nineteen-years-old and she will risk everything for freedom. Even her daughter.

Anne is coming to Melbourne for the Festival, and will take part in the panel Bookwallah: Good Girls, Bad Girls and Terrible Truths, concentrating on the plight of women in India by sharing stories of modern Indian women. 

When: Friday August 30, 10AM
Where: ACMI Studio 1
Code: 4901
BOOK HERE 



Francesca Rendle-Short, author of Bite Your Tongue, has two wonderful sessions at the Festival this year.

Between Friends (Friday August 23, 10AM) puts female friendships under the microscope. 

Style Versus Content (Friday August 23, 1:30PM) will see Francesca chairing a discussion, exploring the novel's rich possibilities beyond conventional narratives.

REVIEWS

Me, You, and Books has written a wonderful review of Merlinda Bobis's Fish-Hair Woman, calling it "one of the best books I have read all year." She goes on to say; Merlinda Bobis is a poet as well as a novelist. She works magic with words, playing with them, repeating them and exploring their meanings. 

Write Readerly also reviewed Fish-Hair Woman this month, calling it "a novel about memory and forgetting..." 

Town of Love by Anne Ch. Ostby was reviewed in The Age Life & Style, with Cameron Woodhead saying: "The ambition and sensitivity of Ostby's vision open the mind to the plight of a society demeaned by how it treats its most valuable members." 


IN THE NEWS



Rachel Moran's book Paid For: My Journey Through Prostitution is discussed in the Limerick Post, in the article 'Former prostitute tackles the myths of the vice trade.' In this article, Moran shares her deeply personal and traumatizing 'defining moment' that saw her turn her life around. Rachel is also featured in the Limerick Leader, revealing the city's seedy underbelly where she worked for a number of years as a prostitute. 

Spinifex Director, Renate Klein, and Publicist, Helen Lobato were published in On Line Opinion. Their article was 'Australia must also caution on Gardasil'; discussing the side-effects of the vaccine and the young women who have become ill after taking it. 

Steve Biddulph gave a shout-out to Big Porn Inc in The Age this week, in his article 'How to raise boys in the era of internet porn.' Biddulph mentions Maggie Hamilton's chapter 'Groomed to Consume Porn: How Sexualised Marketing Targets Children' when he pointed to research about video games hooking children and preparing them for porn consumption. 

Vandana Shiva was celebrated as a Food Hero by RAW: selected her as someone who has kickstarted a global food and farming revolution. Indeed she has; check out all of Vandana's wonderful books that go a long way to revolutionizing the politics of food. Vandana was also interviewed by TEMPO this month, discussing how Ecology and Economy come from the same root word. 

Gail Dines, author of Pornland, gets a mention in this wonderful article by Sara Israelsen-Hartley called 'Ubiquitous assailaint: The dangerous unasked questions surrounding pornography.' 

AUTHOR NEWS



Poet, Sandy Jeffs, will help launch the Dax Poetry Collection on Thursday August 15.
To RSVP, email: info@daxcentre.org or telephone: 9035 6258 by Thursday August 8. 

Zohl De Ishtar continues her beautiful blog series on Aboriginal culture with The Dancing Sisters and Grinding the Stone: Dreaming Track Trip. 

HUNGRY FOR MORE?

For more Spinifex news, visit our News page, visit us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter: @spinifexpress