In 1930, John Maynard Keynes spelt out a vision of the impending utopia. Work, he said, will become a thing of the past. 'For the first time since creation,' he predicted, 'man will be faced with his real, his permanent problem - how to occupy the leisure which science...will have won for him.'So where did this vision of future past go? Like baco-foil suits and meals of protein pills, it proved to be a concept that withered on the vine. Instead of an excess of free time to be enjoy...

The eternal question 'Who am I?' must be weighed against an even deeper question: 'Who are we?' We are writing each other's stories as much as we are writing our own.In his bestselling book, The Good Life, Hugh Mackay argued that kindness and respect for others are the hallmarks of a life well lived. Now in The Art of Belonging Mackay shows how strong communities develop our moral sense and build our emotional security. H...

This visionary and unflinching novel is about a black woman who has spent her life carefully navigating cutthroat worlds of privilege in her career and relationships—until one day she is pulled up short by a life and death decision.Come of age in the credit crunch. Be civil in a hostile environment. Go to college, get an education, start a career. Do all the right things. Buy an apartment. Buy art. Buy a sort of happiness. But above all, keep your head dow...

Grace Tame has never walked on middle ground.From a young age, her life was defined by uncertainty - by trauma and strength, sadness and hope, terrible lows and wondrous highs. As a teenager she found the courage to speak up after experiencing awful and ongoing child sexual abuse. This fight to find her voice would not be her last.In 2021 Grace stepped squarely into the public eye as the Australian of the Year, and was the catalyst for a tidal wave of conversation and actio...

Money makes the world go round, but does it make us happy?Money is one of the most fraught subjects; it raises powerful emotions in all of us. Too much money often corrupts people - too little can make people feel desperate.Growing up in rural Queensland, journalist Rick Morton has known poverty from the inside. Now he isn't poor, but his spending habits and attitude to money are still informed by growing up without it. In On Money, Morton examines...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2017 VICTORIAN PREMIER’S LITERARY AWARDS FOR NON-FICTIONImagine the document you have before you is not a book but a map. It is well-used, creased, and folded, so that when you open it, no matter how carefully, something tears and a line that is neither latitude nor longitude opens in the hidden geography of the place you are about to enter.Since the publication of her prize-winning memoir, Craft for a Dry Lake, in 2000...

This book is designed for people who are learning English as a foreign language and wish to improve their use of English conversation phrases. This set of conversation phrases contains many similar entries to the 101 connectives book in the 'English 101' series.This book contains 101 conversation phrases that are frequently used in English, arranged alphabetically. Each conversation phrase is provided with two examples of its use. The examples are provided as answers to questions f...

"Hide your phone, stop hustling for a second, and read this passionate argument for the importance of unstructured pre-digital hang." —PeopleLoneliness is an epidemic; it feels harder than ever to connect with others meaningfully. What can we do to remedy this? Sheila Liming has the answer: we need to hang out more.With the introduction of AI and constant Zoom meetings, our lives have become more fractured, digital and chaotic. Hanging Out: The...

101 great drama games for use in any classroom or workshop setting. Part of the Nick Hern Books Drama Games series.A dip-in, flick-through, quick-fire resource book, packed with 101 lively drama games suitable for players of all ages, with many appropriate for children from age 6 upwards. Whilst aimed primarily at school, youth theatre and community groups, they are equally fun - and instructional - for adults to play in workshop or rehearsal settings.'An e...

Funny, poignant, charming and deeply sad at times, this is a fascinating insight into a teaching life.With his sharp wit and poet's eye, Tim Heath writes of a forty-year career, mostly in New Zealand but also in Samoa. He's worked in small country schools, in big city schools, at the Correspondence School, in primary schools and in secondary schools. He's been a principal and a deputy principal.Teaching wasn't his first choice, but once in the classroom he ...

‘Where have all my friends gone?’When Max Dickins decided to propose to his girlfriend, he realised there was no one he could call on to be his best man.He quickly learned that he wasn’t the only man struggling with friendships. For decades, countless studies from across the world have confirmed that men have fewer close friends than women – and the problem gets worse the older men get. But what goes wrong? And what can men do about it? Dickins is going to ...

WINNER OF THE 2023 AGE BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD FOR NONFICTIONTo essay means to try, to endeavour, to attempt — and to risk failure. For Kim Mahood, it is both a form of writing and an approach to life.In these finely observed and probing essays, award-winning artist and writer Kim Mahood invites us to accompany her on the road and into the remote places of Australia where she is engaged in long-established collaborations of mapping,...