Wild Gestures wins Saboteur Award

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.

King of the Outback Book Launch

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!

A Cardboard Palace

A Cardboard Palace cover
A Cardboard Palace cover
by Allayne L. Webster

PB 144 | 198 x 128 | ISBN: 9781925227253
$17.99 | Fiction Ages 8-14 | Also available as ebook
MidnightSun Publishing | June 2017
Distributed by NewSouth Books

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

Timothy Ide

Timothy Ide
Timothy Ide

Timothy Ide is an Adelaide-based illustrator. He is best known locally for his work as a sketch artist for the TV News, capturing some of South Australia’s most notorious cases over the last thirty years.

Timothy has also illustrated a number of children’s books, one of which, Tom the Outback Mailman written by Kristin Weidenbach and published by Hachette in 2012 won the Eve Pownall CBCA award in 2013. His most recent children’s books are Continue reading Timothy Ide

Jennifer Harrison

Jennifer Harrison and friend
Jennifer Harrison
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 and Vanishing in November 2018, both written by Mike Lucas.

Mike Lucas

Mike Lucas
Mike Lucas

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 and Vanishing in November 2018, both beautifully illustrated by Jennifer Harrison.

Olivia’s Voice

Olivia's Voice cover
Olivia’s Voice cover

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

Today, like all days, Olivia wakes to a silent world. Outside her window, birds dance upon the branches of the giant gum tree. She follows the delicious smell of breakfast downstairs, walks to school with her friends and is greeted by her favourite teachers. In the music room, everyone knows which instrument she will choose. Continue reading Olivia’s Voice

King of the Outback

King of the Outback cover
King of the Outback cover

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

Allayne Webster

Allayne Webster
Allayne Webster

Allayne is the author of 10 books for young people. Her novel Selfie is currently shortlisted in the prestigious 2024 NSW Premier’s Awards for the Ethel Turner Prize for Young Adult Literature. In 2023, Allayne won an international prize: IBBY Outstanding Book for Young People with Disabilities for her novel Sensitive.

Allayne is a SA Premier’s Reading Challenge Ambassador, multiple arts grants winner, she sings and plays guitar, and sometimes she illustrates. Her books have been awarded in the: CBCA, Davitt Crime Awards, Australian Speech Pathology Awards, Children’s Peace Prize for Literature, Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature — to name a few. A Cardboard Palace (MidnightSun) was a CBCA Notable book and is published in Sweden.

Happy Birthday to us!

MidnightSun is turning five!

Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday!

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.

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

Patrick Allington
Patrick Allington

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.

Publishing Brilliance