Wakefield Press

It was a warm and memorable celebration this past Sunday as Wakefield attended the lovely launch of Being a Creature by Helen Parsons in the leafy streets of Wayville! You can purchase Being a Creature via our website, by contacting your local bookshop, or by visiting us at our Mile End store! 🍃 -- At a time of great loss and isolation in his life, the British artist Stanley Spencer found himself drawn to portray Jesus during his forty days in the wilderness. In Being a Creature poet Helen Parsons sensitively engages with Spencer's vision of Christ alone in nature, confronting the beauty and complexity of our creaturely human life. 📸 Carney Sims

HOT OFF THE PRESS –– The Night Parrots By Stephen Orr __ 1922. In the remote Australian outback, Pastor Martin Gerlach's health fails. With no way in or out of his mission, his family and friends devise a plan to move him to the railhead at Oodnadatta. His son, fourteen-year-old Benjamin 'Benno' Gerlach, helps organise a cart and supplies and, along with his mother, the schoolteacher Ignatz Beck, Blind Silas and Jamy, the journey into uncertainty begins. All the time, Benno is forced to move beyond childhood as he faces the loss of his father, as he finds ways to articulate his love, and faith, and navigate a landscape of fire, flood, and his own secret fears. Now available in store and online 📚

Exhibitions & Events 🎨 Visit a selection of events featuring artists from our Wakefield title 𝘽𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙏𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨: 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙮 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙥 𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨. 1. @jamfactoryau Wednesday Talk with Jess Dare 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘫𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱 (𝘌𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 1985). 𝘑𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘞𝘦𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘦. Event Info: → Wednesday 20 May → 12:15 pm – 1 pm → Adelaide University: Jeffrey Smart Building 2. Beautiful Tensions: In conversation with Gray Street Workshop artists 𝘑𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘍𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘰, 𝘚𝘶𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘘𝘝𝘔𝘈𝘎 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘵 𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘙𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘬. 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬. Event Info: → Sunday 31 May → 11 am – 12.30 pm → Queen Victoria Art Gallery at Royal Park, Launceston | TAS Exhibition: → Saturday 30 May – Sunday 27 September Beautiful Tensions is available at wakefieldpress.com.au 📚

📜 South Australian History Festival 🕊 𝘒𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘊𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘔𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘺𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘒𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘥𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵. 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨. 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤. 𝘕𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵. A Wakefield Press book stall will feature at these events. Event Info: Session 1 → Monday 11 May → 11 am – 12.30 pm → @themercury.adl Session 2: → Sunday 17 May → 4 pm – 5.30 pm → @themercury.adl Head to wakefieldpress.com.au > Events to find out more info and register 📚

A reminder of some of our Anzac Day related titles we have in stock 🌹 🌹Anzac Biscuits: The power and spirit of an everyday national icon by Allison Reynolds 🌹Anzac Day: The Undying Debt by J.G Pavils 🌹The Australian War Memorial: A century on from the vision by Steve Gower 🌹An Unsentimental Bloke: The life and work of C.J. Dennis by Philip Butterss 🌹Valour and Violets: South Australia in the Great War by Robert Kearney and Sharon Cleary 🌹Long Flight Home by Lainie Anderson You can purchase these titles at wakefieldpress.com.au, at our Mile End store or by phoning us on (08) 8352 4455 📚

We've loved seeing all the recognition surrounding Apron-Sorrow / Sovereign-Tea by Natalie Harkin this year so far: • Shortlisted for the Indigenous Writers' Prize in the 2026 @statelibrarynsw Literary Awards • Longlisted for the 2026 @thestellaprize • Longlisted for the ALS Gold Medal 2026 𝗡𝗦𝗪 𝗟𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 | 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘀' 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴, (Apron-Sorrow) 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵. 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯’𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥? 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥? 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵. While Apron-Sorrow / Sovereign-Tea is currently out of stock due to high demand, we are expecting another delivery within the next week, so please stay tuned if you are after a copy! 📚 📸: Carney Sims #nswla

📜 South Australian History Festival 🕊 Join Peter Goers and special guests including Paula Nagle for Stories of Salisbury. Hear panel members from the Salisbury Storytelling Project share personal memories that bring local history to life. Enjoy selected short films from the project, a community postcard exhibition, and the chance to share your own Salisbury story. Presented by City of Salisbury Library Service Event Info: → Wednesday 13 May → 2 pm – 3 pm → Salisbury Community Hub Head to wakefieldpress.com.au > Events to find out more info and register 📚

Books for sale! Beautiful day at @laurafolkfair

📜 South Australian History Festival 🕊 Travel back to 1948 with Don Loffler as he explores life in post-war South Australia and the dramatic arrival of the Holden car. From rationing and austerity to the design in Detroit and the grand launch in Fishermen’s Bend, discover the story behind Australia’s first car. Presented by City of @charlessturtsa Event Info: → Friday 8 May → 2 pm – 3 pm → Ngutungka Henley Head to wakefieldpress.com.au > Events to find out more info and register, or to purchase Don’s collection of Holden titles, including his latest, Holden FX and FJ Handbook 📚

As the final days of @kirsten_coelho_ ’s exhibition at @sullivanstrumpf Singapore come to a close, we thought it was the perfect time to revisit Kirsten and Wendy Walker’s 2020 Wakefield Press title: Kirsten Coelho. Kirsten Coelho works in porcelain creating functional forms and vessels of a distilled and otherworldly perfection, which represent her preferred fusion of the formal with the abstract. Deeply grounded in North-Asian ceramic history and the powerful legacy of the British studio movement, her refined interpretations of humble domestic wares nevertheless possess a distinctly contemporary and Australian sensibility. You can purchase this title at wakefieldpress.com.au or at our Mile End store 📚 📸: Carney Sims

Exhibition: Silver is the Moon by Julie Blyfield Julie Blyfield has always worked with silver: sometimes palely shining, sometimes oxidised to black, always wrought with formidable skill. In India, though, during her first visit to the sub-continent in January 2025, Blyfield came to see silver with fresh eyes. In Silver is the Moon, she presents a new body of delicately wrought silver pieces. Event Info: → 22 April – 30 May → 9 am – 5 pm → Gallery Funaki, Melbourne → More info > @funakigallery Julie Blyfield's 2024 Wakefield Press title, Chasing a Passion, is available at wakefieldpress.com.au 📚

📜 South Australian History Festival 🕊 Step into Australia’s past with Rosamund Burton as she discusses Whispering Wire, a memoir of her epic trek along the Overland Telegraph Line from Adelaide to Darwin. From cycling through the Flinders Ranges to navigating remote dirt tracks, her journey reveals forgotten stories and the spirit of the outback. Event Info: → Tuesday 19 May → 11 am – 12 pm → Ngutungka West Lakes, @historyfestival → Tickets (free) via Eventbrite Head to wakefieldpress.com.au > Events to find out more info and register 📚