Papa Sky

18 July, 2017 Editor-in-Chief Leave a comment

HB 32 | 300 x 250 | ISBN 9781925227291
$27.99 | Picture book
MidnightSun Publishing | October 2017
Distributed by NewSouth Books

Another stunning picture book from the
award-winning team who brought you One
Step at a Time, Honour Book in the CBCA
Awards 2016.

Papa Sky sits where earth meets sky, until one night the wind blows him down, down, down through the cloud forest, where he lands with a bump.

What will happen next? Who will help him? Continue reading Papa Sky →

Books, Reviews

Wild Gestures wins Saboteur Award

16 May, 2017 Editor-in-Chief Leave a comment

The MidnightSun team would like to congratulate Lucy Durneen on her win for best short story collection at the Saboteur Awards in the UK. We are so proud of her and of the collection, Wild Gestures, that is finding enthusiastic readers around the globe. Such wonderful news!

http://sabotagereviews.com/2017/05/14/saboteur-awards-2017-the-results/

Hear what the award voters had to say about Wild Gestures:

Lucy’s work is nothing less than exceptional. Her words and content take my breath away. She is also a hard working full-time academic, single-mother of four, who somehow still finds the time to dream and write. This alone should be worthy of an award.
Lucy’s collection is a tremendous work of humanity at its best and worst, its strongest and most vulnerable. Every story is packed with beautiful, unexpected and original imagery — to the point of enabling the reader to perceive a fresh perspective on their own life predicaments. This is a rare achievement in recent times and must be recognised and commended in the wider arena.
Because this is one off the most exquisite short story collections ever published. It is funny, sad, tender, cheeky, insightful and so, so clever. Lucy Durneen may be a new star in the literature hall-of-fame but she is certainly there to stay.

Books, Launches

King of the Outback Book Launch

15 May, 2017 Editor-in-Chief Leave a comment

MidnightSun launched Kristin Weidenbach’s and Timothy Ide’s gorgeous picture book King of the Outback yesterday. The hall was packed, the speech by Dyan Blacklock was strong and supportive, but most importantly the vibe was great! So many friendly faces in the crowd, many of them friends from the writing community. Thank you so much for once again supporting a local writer and publisher. Without you, there would be no books!

Books, Reviews

A Beautiful Review of Olivia’s Voice

11 May, 2017 Editor-in-Chief Leave a comment

‘Stunning, evocative, thought-provoking.’

Another amazing review for Olivia’s Voice. Congratulations Mike and Jennifer!
It doesn’t really get much better than that.

http://thebottomshelf.edublogs.org/?s=OLIVIA%27S+VOICE

Title

A Cardboard Palace

4 April, 2017 Editor-in-Chief 1 Comment

by Allayne L. Webster

Jorge lives in a shanty town on the outskirts of Paris. Bill, a controller, has an army of child thieves at his command—and Jorge is one of them.

But soon Jorge faces an even bigger threat. His home is to be bulldozed. Where will Jorge sleep? What will happen to his Continue reading A Cardboard Palace →

Author

Timothy Ide

31 March, 2017 Editor-in-Chief Leave a comment

Timothy has illustrated a number of children’s books, among them: Max Fatchen’s A Country Christmas and Fiona McIntosh’s Fantastica: Shapeshifter series. He is also known for his court sketching work for the Adelaide TV news networks.

MidnightSun published his children’s book King of the Outback in May 2017.

Author

Jennifer Harrison

31 March, 2017 Editor-in-Chief Leave a comment

Jennifer Harrison lives in Adelaide with her son Nathaniel. Since leaving university she has worked as a graphic designer, commercial artist and art director. Her illustrations have been commissioned for book covers, magazines and packaging for overseas and local markets and she has exhibited in Adelaide galleries.

MidnightSun published her children’s book Olivia’s Voice in March 2017.

Author

Mike Lucas

31 March, 2017 Editor-in-Chief Leave a comment

Mike Lucas is the author of several collections of humorous poetry for children and has had work published in anthologies and literary magazines. Originally from the UK, he now lives in Adelaide, where he works as an engineer and runs an independent book store with his wife, Becky. He has a passion for encouraging children to use imagination and creativity to produce original stories and poetry.

MidnightSun published his children’s book Olivia’s Voice in March 2017.

Title

Olivia’s Voice

8 March, 2017 Editor-in-Chief Leave a comment

written by Mike Lucas, illustrated by Jennifer Harrison

HB 32 | 210 x 297 | ISBN: 9781925227192
$26.99 | Picture book
MidnightSun Publishing | March 2017
Distributed by NewSouth Books

In March, MidnightSun released Olivia’s Voice, the stunning debut picture book from author/illustrator team Mike Lucas and Jennifer Harrison. With evocative language and beautifully detailed illustrations, Lucas and Harrison bring to life the vivid experiences of Olivia as she explores a silent world full of vibrant colour, friendship and Continue reading Olivia’s Voice →

Title

King of the Outback

8 March, 2017 Editor-in-Chief Leave a comment

From the award-winning writer/illustrator team who brought you Tom the Outback Mailman.

by Kristin Weidenbach, illustrated by Timothy Ide

HB 32 | 260 x 290 | ISBN 9781925227246
$26.99 | Non-fiction picture book
MidnightSun Publishing | May 2017
Distributed by NewSouth Books

Sidney Kidman runs away from home at thirteen and travels to the outback on a one-eyed horse. He finds stray cows in the scrub, swims across rivers by hanging on to a bullock’s tail and dreams of having the biggest herd of cattle in Australia.

Many years later, when the workers on Sid’s cattle station organise a giant rodeo for Sid’s birthday party the cattle from the bush take fright in the city. People panic and horses bolt. Can the Kidman stockmen save the day? Continue reading King of the Outback →

Author

Allayne Webster

8 March, 2017 Editor-in-Chief Leave a comment

Allayne Webster is Adelaide based Children’s and Young Adult Fiction author who grew up in rural South Australia. Her middle grade title Paper Planes was a 2016 Children’s Book Council Notable Book and shortlisted for the 2016 Children’s Awards for Literature. Allayne is the author of two Young Adult novels (plus a third with Penguin Random House – due for release Feb 2018) and the author of two Junior Fiction novels with Omnibus Scholastic. Allayne is also the proud recipient of three South Australian Arts Grants. She travelled to Paris in 2010, and suitably inspired, she wrote A Cardboard Palace.

Uncategorized

Happy Birthday to us!

9 February, 2017 Editor-in-Chief Leave a comment

MidnightSun is turning five!

From our humble beginnings, with Anna Solding’s The Hum of Concrete in 2012, we have grown to one of the largest publishers in South Australia, publishing everything from picture books to adult literary fiction. So many people have helped along the way: designers, writers, illustrators, editors and readers. 2017 looks to be an incredibly exciting year with at least seven books published. It’s our Year of Stories so three of them will be short story collections, beginning with Lucy Durneen’s exquisite Wild Gestures. To thank you all for your support, we are having our first ever sale. We’d like to offer all our books at 20% discount from 9-11 February 2017. Don’t hesitate. Just go to our web shop and put in the coupon code HappyBirthday.

Appearances

Patrick Allington’s launch speech for We. Are. Family.

2 November, 2016 Editor-in-Chief Leave a comment

Patrick Allington launched Paul Mitchell’s We. Are. Family. with a terrific speech in Adelaide on Friday 9 September 2016. Several people have asked for the speech, so here it is, in all its glory:

What can I tell you about Paul Mitchell’s We. Are. Family? … What I won’t do is introduce the characters or give you a detailed account of the plot. You should experience those things for yourself. The story unfolds less like a flower opening (despite the arresting cover image) and more like the pulling of sticks, one at a time, from a great pile of wood. And when you read this book, Continue reading Patrick Allington’s launch speech for We. Are. Family. →

Uncategorized

Call for submissions – Love anthology

21 October, 2016 Editor-in-Chief 4 Comments

DEADLINE EXTENDED! Submissions now due Friday 2 December 2016!

MidnightSun has teamed up with Flinders University to create a short story anthology in 2017. The theme is ‘Ain’t Love Grand’ because it’s about romantic love, in any of its guises. We would particularly love unusual interpretations of the theme. Word length is max. 3000 words. Submissions will be judged blind, so please don’t put your name on the submission itself. Continue reading Call for submissions – Love anthology →

Books, Reviews

Wild Gestures Review

4 October, 2016 Editor-in-Chief Leave a comment

The first review of Lucy Durneen’s short story collection Wild Gestures has appeared in Books+Publishing and we couldn’t possibly be happier:

‘This is an intriguing collection of short stories where things are seldom what they seem and characters are preoccupied by their past actions. Shaped less by plot than by precise and evocative imagery, they are psychologically acute portraits of people dealing with grief or change.’

‘The stories can be bleakly funny; when one character’s heart freezes over, she compares the spread of ice with the spread of cancer, coolly remarking that both seem inevitable if you don’t heed the standard warnings.’

‘There is something vicious at the heart of these stories, something dark which Continue reading Wild Gestures Review →

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