Women of Letters have conquered the world with their passion for correspondence. Taking their literary salons on a global tour, they've collected an astounding and sweeping array of contributions from some of the world's brightest talents.From Ubud, award-winning author Lionel Shriver writes with unexpected nostalgia about her days as an unknown novelist.Musician Moby pays tribute from Los Angeles to his favourite David Bowie song, even while acknowledging the frustration o...

What dark gastronomic slip does Annabel Crabb have to confess to an unsuspecting guest?How did Mary Anderson change the life of Frank Woodley – despite the fact the two of them have never met?How did a plate of steak teach Missy Higgins a firm lesson about not being too hard on herself?The act of letter writing allows us to slow down and truly connect, with a person, a subject, an idea. At their hugely popular Women of Letters events, Marieke Hardy and Michaela McGuir...

Dear Madonna,Thank you for showing me that it is okay to be both a devoted mother and on a podium drenched in glitter.Love, Em RuscianoDear Mum,My life is so much more fortunate than yours was and I'm sorry if my unplanned arrival was a part of that.Love, Anthony AlbaneseDear Leigh Sales,What kind of psychopath is unmoved by fairy wrens?Love, Annabel Crabb

'Letters, we have witnessed firsthand, stir some unusually beautiful things in people,' write Women of Letters curators Marieke Hardy and Michaela McGuire. In From the Heart, the full power of letter-writing is on display.Rock star Amanda Palmer thanks a song for reminding her of the importance of music, and the importance of love.Torn between wanting to encourage and wanting to warn, Senator Penny Wong tells of the 'amazing highs and terrible lows' of choosing a ca...

When Jill Meagher went missing and was then found murdered in 2012, the city of Melbourne was shaken to the core. Emotional responses ranged from grief to guilt to rage to defensiveness, but no one was left untouched.The media coverage was unrelenting and overwhelming, constantly updating readers and viewers on the latest awful details, and friends and neighbours couldn't help but discuss it. Here acclaimed writer Michaela McGuire eloquently describes how, as the story continued to ...

In homage to that most civilised of activities, letter writing, Marieke Hardy and Michaela McGuire created the literary afternoons of Women of Letters. Some of Australia's finest dames of stage, screen and page have delivered missives on a series of themes.Published here for the first time are Deborah Conway writing about the ups and downs of being a dog owner in A Letter to the Best Decision I Ever Made; Ita Buttrose imagining an alternative life as an opera singer in A Letter to ...

With sold-out live events around the country and a bestselling book, Women of Letters have revived the gentle art of letter writing. In this all-new collection of missives, a dazzling array of noteworthy Australians share their wisdom, wit and wildest dreams.Here Marieke Hardy and Michaela McGuire have preserved a year of captivating correspondence. The irresistible line-up features Kate Miller-Heidke writing 'A love letter' to her twelve-year-old self; Di Morrissey recounting a dra...

Writing a letter can be an act of confession or celebration, while receiving one can bring joy, insight and vivid memories. Ambassadors for correspondence Marieke Hardy and Michaela McGuire have lured some of our best and brightest to the literary afternoons of Women of Letters to write and read missives of all kinds.Bestselling novelist Hannah Kent exchanges letters about books, editing and synchronicity with her publisher Alex Craig.Intimate and outrageous declarations of...

From childhood dreams of prostitution to her unabashed passion for heavy drinking, from growing up wide-eyed on the set of Australian soaps to her infatuation with Bob Ellis, these are the outrageously entertaining and deeply revealing reminiscences of a multimedia star. He was wearing a pair of leather pants that clung like terrified orphans to his muscular thighs, and a revealing black mesh t-shirt. The outfit seemed at odds with the cream-coloured settee and floral print curtains. From ...

Haunted by the brutal murder of a local couple, David heads to his weekend shack with his new lover, Lydia, and his children from his recently crumbled marriage. Together they find escape, if only briefly, in the ocean and the bush.The Bodysurfers, the title story of Robert Drewe's classic first collection, is a vivid evocation of love, passion, terror and the beauty of the beach.

In this haunting story, two Australian men are hired to clear the ubiquitous manuka scrub in a bleak and rain-swept New Zealand gully. As their wide open homeland and dreams of teaching the locals how to break in horses begin to seem increasingly remote, the backbreaking, monotonous work and isolation soon take their toll, on body and mind.

Winner of the 2015 Melbourne Prize Best Writing Award.A novel about memory, music, friendship, family rifts and reconciliation, this is a beautiful, intelligent read.Nina Jameson, an international consultant on memorial projects based in London, has been happily married to Daniel for twelve years. When her life falls apart she accepts a job in her hometown of Melbourne. There she joins her sister, Zoe, embroiled in her own problems with Elliot, an American biographer of lit...