Essays, Journals, Letters & Other Prose Works

The Girl From Revolution Road is based on the author's experiences growing up in New Zealand as an immigrant from Iran. It is part memoir and part story told with humour and drama while exploring the idea of living in-between. The stories range from a childhood in war-torn Iran i...ncluding the trauma of a night spent in prison as a four-year-old to learning English in order to make friends in the suburbs of Auckland to dating in the days of Corona. It is about growing up as a young woman torn between her immigrant roots and her desire to be like everyone else. The humour is sometimes off-cut with the more sombre reminder of the racism that has always existed in this country from misguided quips ('Is Saddam Hussein your dad?') to more serious stories of harassment including an altercation at a fast food joint on the streets of Glenfield. There are reflections on the impact of world events such as 9/11 and more recent mosque attacks and how they show that more than ever, marginalised voices are needed in our cultural discourse. Gazaleh's is an important new voice, with her writing exploring ideas surrounding homeland, ethnicity and identity. Through her accessible and humorous story-telling the migrant experience is brought vividly into focus.
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In Vesper Flights Helen Macdonald brings together a collection of her best loved pieces, along with new essays on topics and stories ranging from nostalgia and science fiction to the true account of a refugee's flight to the UK.

Before Fake News, there was the real Fake News. There was Truth. Hailed as `a fearless exposer of folly, vice and crime' when it first hit the streets in the 1890s, Truth was later condemned by a High Court Judge as `a wretched little paper, reeking of filth, injurious to the hea...lth of house servants and young girls'. Much later it earned the nickname `The Old Whore of La Trobe Street'. Truth was called many things but it was never boring. Adrian Tame knows that better than anyone as he worked for Truth for more than a decade as a reporter and news editor. In the years it was owned by the Murdoch family he worked alongside young Rupert as he cut his teeth on the shock horror scandals that graced the pages of Truth when it was selling a whopping 400,000 copies a week. Funny, often outrageous and always thoroughly entertaining, The Awful Truth is a rollercoaster ride through an colourful era of newspapers and larger-than-life reporters that we will never see the like of again.
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A true story of faith through troubled times that leads to hope, healing and freedom. "Reading Cindy's story is like a roller-coaster ride. Her honesty and resilience is inspiring as she holds the line and holds her faith in the face of huge personal challenges." - Julia Grace...-Singer/songwriter/speaker The young couple set off for a year in Europe. They find work. They have another baby. They marvel as God takes care of their every need. And then... a brutal attack leaves her husband with an undiagnosed brain injury. It's not until they arrive home in New Zealand that the true extent of the damage begins to unfold, and soon, the family find themselves living from one crisis to the next, a young mother managing a situation too horrific for words. And then . . . Cindy discovered the true nature of God. He saw the carnage. He heard her desperate prayer. He had a restoration story in mind. And it all started with a dream.
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The intimate journals (1957-1982) of iconic actor, singer, songwriter and model Jane Birkin