Presents poetry by Nathaniel Mackey.

When she was twenty-seven, Nell Stevens—a lifelong aspiring novelist—won an all-expenses-paid fellowship to go anywhere in the world to write. Would she choose a glittering metropolis, a romantic village, an exotic paradise? Not exactly. Nell picked Bleaker Island, a snowy, windswept pile of rock in the Falklands. Other than sheep, penguins, paranoia, and the weather, there aren’t many distractions, but as Nell soon discovers, total isolation and 1,085 calories a day are far from ideal conditions for literary production. With deft humor, this memoir traces her island days and slowly reveals the life and people she has left behind in pursuit of her writing. It seems that there is nowhere she can run—an island or the pages of her notebook—to escape the big questions of love, art, and, ambition.

'A masterfully told, character-driven novel that will have you laughing and crying in equal measures' THE AUSTRALIAN 'A deeply empathetic, humanising portrait of a mental health facility, and the souls that pass through it' THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLY 'Stunning . . . [A] unique novel that's so timely' DAILY TELEGRAPH Psychiatry registrar Doctor Hannah Wright, a country girl with a chaotic history, thought she had seen it all in the emergency room. But that was nothing compared to the psychiatric ward at Menzies Hospital. Hannah must learn on the job as she and her fellow trainees deal with the common and the bizarre, the hilarious and the tragic, the treatable and the confronting. Each day brings new patients: Chloe, who has a life-threatening eating disorder; Sian, suffering postpartum psychosis and fighting to keep her baby; and Xavier, the MP whose suicide attempt masks an explosive story. With intelligence, frankness and humour, eminent psychiatrist Anne Buist tells it like it is, while Graeme Simsion brings the light touch that made The Rosie Project an international bestseller. 'Anne Buist and Graeme Simsion explore mental illness with wit and wisdom' SUNDAY AGE 'Contains all the comforting trappings of a fast-paced medical procedural' SYDNEY MORNING HERALD 'Casts a non-judgemental but candid, informed and astute eye on the system . . . It arouses our sympathy and empathy, develops our understanding and increases our knowledge in areas long kept hidden or decreed taboo. And it's a darn good read' LIVING ARTS CANBERRA 'A racy, pacy ride through heartbreak and the occasional breathtaking miracle' COUNTRY STYLE 'An absorbing read that you'll want to stay up late to finish' INSTYLE AUSTRALIA 'A remarkable exposé . . . told with an engaging, light touch reminiscent of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and Simsion's The Rosie Project' BOOKS + PUBLISHING 'Highly engaging. Brings alive the frontline of mental health care' PROFESSOR PATRICK MCGORRY AO, AUSTRALIAN OF THE YEAR 2010 'Entertaining, enlightening, it embraces the complexity of what it means to be human' MEREDITH JAFFÉ 'A great read that combines laugh-out-loud moments with those that bring tears to your eyes. Anne Buist skilfully writes from her own experiences and co-author Graeme Simsion adds his inimitable Rosie Project style. An honest, sensitive look into mental health care in Australia' PROFESSOR JAYASHRI KULKARNI AM, Psychiatrist, Monash University 'Gripping, rich and insightful, and brimming with compassion. Shines a light on the grit and dedication of frontline workers, while giving a voice to everyone impacted by mental illness' ARIANE BEESTON, author of Because I'm Not Myself, You See

A critical look at transcendence and a radical delight with language

A stellar new collection of poems by “the Balanchine of the architecture dance” (The New York Times), and winner of the National Book Award in poetry. Nathaniel Mackey’s sixth collection of poems, Blue Fasa, carries forward what the New Yorker has described as the “mythological conception” and “descriptive daring” of his two intertwined serial poems. A long song that's one and more than one, this collection takes its title from two related black musical traditions, a West African griot epic as told by the Fasa, a clan in ancient Ghana, and trumpeter Kenny Dorham’s hard bop classic “Blue Bossa,” influenced by the emergence of Brazilian bossa nova. The book opens with the catch of the heart and the call of romance, as it follows a band of travelers, refugees from history, on their incessant migrations through time, place, and polity toward a truer sense of being and belonging.