FREE FEBRUARY 2016 BOOKS MUSIC FILM EVENTS THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2016 NEW IN FEBRUARY FIONA LEANNE BARRY THE YOUNG LUCINDA MCFARLANE HALL JONES MONTALBANO WILLIAMS $32.99 $16.99 $32.99 VOL. 2 $24.95 $49.95 $29.99 page 15 $27.99 page 18 page 17 page 7 page 12 READINGS MONTHLY FEBRUARY 2016 3 News THE READINGS FOUNDATION GRANTS ANNOUNCED The Readings Foundation has announced grants totalling $93,000 to support a range of projects and organisations within Victoria in 2016. This year the Readings Foundation grant funding will focus strongly on organisations that provide targeted grassroots assistance with literacy and education to the most disadvantaged Victorian communities. Readings donates 10% of its overall profit to The Readings Foundation each year, and the generous donations from Readings’ customers make a crucial contribution. The successful grant recipients for this year are: 3081 Angels ($10,000), Brotherhood of St Laurence ($11,750), Church of All Nations ($18,000), Mallee Family Care ($20,000), Melbourne Indigenous Transition School ($8,250), Preston Reservoir Adult Community Education ($20,000), and Victorian Indigenous Literary Festival on Australian authors. Host Isobel Moore Readings shops and online at readings.com.au. ($5,000). Readings will also continue to is the Children’s Specialist at Readings Offer ends 29 February 2016. support the Wheeler Centre Hot Desk St Kilda. She is a theatre producer and Fellowships for 2016. Please visit performer, loves to travel and takes both INDIE BOOK AWARDS SHORTLIST readings.com.au/the-readings-foundation for Harry Potter and Judy Blume VERY more information on each funded project. seriously. The first YA Book Club will be Showcasing another year of great held at Readings St Kilda on Wednesday 17 Australian writing, the Indie Book Awards February, from 7pm-8pm, where we’ll be have announced the category shortlists BLAK & BRIGHT – THE VICTORIAN discussing Lady Helen and the Dark Days for the best Australian books of 2015. The INDIGENOUS LITERARY FESTIVAL by Alison Goodman. Goodman calls her shortlisted titles for the fiction categories 2016 novel ‘Pride and Prejudice meets Buffy in are The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Passionate about Indigenous culture, stories English high society’. For more information Wood (Allen & Unwin), The Secret Chord and books? Curious? This is your festival. please contact Isobel at Readings St Kilda by Geraldine Brooks (Hachette), The Featuring masterclasses, panels, readings, on 03 9525 3852 . The Book Club is free, but Other Side of the World by Stephanie launches, a musical gala and more, this first please book at readings.com.au/events. Bishop (Hachette Australia) and A Guide Blak & Bright Victorian Indigenous Literary to Berlin by Gail Jones (Random House). The debut fiction shortlist includes Rush Festival will be coming to Melbourne’s READINGS STORY TIMES The Wheeler Centre from 18–21 February. Oh! by Shirley Barrett (Macmillan), Salt Readings offers free weekly half-hour story Throughout the festival you’ll have the Creek by Lucy Treloar (Macmillan), time sessions at our Carlton, Malvern and opportunity to hear from a range of writers Relativity by Antonia Hayes (Penguin) St Kilda stores, with the aim of promoting and storytellers, including Emma Donovan, and The Anchoress by Robyn Cadwallader Readings Monthly literacy and encouraging a love of books Bruce Pascoe, Anita Heiss and Ellen van (HarperCollins). Find out more about the Free independent monthly newspaper and bookshops in our newest generation. published by Readings Books, Music & Film Neerven. Most events are free. For more shortlists for other categories (non-fiction, These sessions commence at 10am on information, or to book tickets, head to children’s and young adult) at indies.com.au. Fridays at Readings Carlton, 10.30am Editor blakandbright.com.au. Readings is a proud The category winners and overall Book on Thursdays at Readings Malvern and Elke Power supporter of Blak & Bright. of the Year winner will be announced on [email protected] 10.30am on Saturdays at Readings St Kilda. Wednesday 23 March. To thank parents and children for attending Editorial Assistant READINGS BOOK CLUBS story time, Readings offers a 20% discount Alan Vaarwerk The Queer Book Club is back at Readings off all full-priced children’s books for [email protected] St Kilda for 2016, dedicated to fiction and half an hour after the completion of each select non-fiction books that represent story time session. Our children’s book Advertising aspects of LGBTIQ life. For more specialists would be happy to assist you in Stella Charls information about the book club, or to choosing books for your family, whatever [email protected] make a booking, please contact Amy their age, reading ability or interests. Please (03) 9341 7739 at Readings St Kilda on 03 9525 3852 note, this is not a child-minding service. We or [email protected]. The ask that parents stay with their children for Graphic Design Contemporary Fiction Book Club is also the reading. Cat Matteson [email protected] coming back to Readings St Kilda this year. For more information or to make a 20% OFF OXFORD DICTIONARIES booking, please contact Belle at Readings Front Cover & REFERENCE BOOKS St Kilda on 03 9525 3852 or belle.katavatis@ Readings Monthly cover design by Cat Heading back to school? To help you Matteson.. readings.com.au. Sessions for both book clubs will commence in February. get prepared for the academic year, we are offering 20% off a select range Cartoon of Oxford dictionaries and reference Oslo Davis READINGS YA BOOK CLUB books in our shops and online. The sale oslodavis.com Kicking off this February, the Readings includes English dictionaries, foreign Readings donates 10% of its profits each YA Book Club is an informal monthly language dictionaries, pocket dictionaries, year to The Readings Foundation: gathering for enthusiasts of all ages to thesauruses and more. The sale is on in- readings.com.au/the-readings-foundation discuss young adult literature with a focus stock items only while stocks last at all Oxford Dictionary Sale /ˈɒksfəd/ˈdɪkʃ(ə)n(ə)ri/seɪl/ noun 1. Readings are offering 20% off a select range of Oxford dictionaries and reference books in our shops and online. The sale is on in-stock items only, while stocks last. Offer ends 28 February 2016. “get ready for the school year with the Readings Oxford Dictionary sale!” 4 READINGS MONTHLY FEBRUARY 2016 Mark’s News and views from Readings’ Managing Director, ‘The ease with which the pope speaks Say Mark Rubbo to the concerns of ordinary people… Those of you who know me will be well aware of how pleased I am with The Readings is rooted in a heartfelt sense of humility.’ Foundation and the projects it supports. Since we started in 2009, we’ve given away almost The New York Times $1 million. The money comes from Readings’ profits, some private donations, and the gold coin donations our customers make when we gift-wrap their purchases. The gift- For the first time, in an intimate and personal wrap donations alone add up to around $25,000 per annum. The Foundation supports organisations working in the areas of literacy and the arts, with an emphasis on literacy conversation with Vatican reporter Andrea projects. At the moment the focus is on supporting projects in Victoria, but we do support Tornielli, Pope Francis reveals the core the Indigenous Literacy Foundation which works in remote communities in Northern of his papacy and his message for the Australia and SEAM, a literacy project in Papua New Guinea set up by the writer Drusilla Holy Year of Mercy, 2016. Modjeska. In 2016 we are providing ongoing support for several of our previous partners, including Mallee Family Care who support marginalised families in Mildura through their Reading Discovery program, which focuses on language, literacy, school readiness and resilience building. A grant from The Readings Foundation will again enable Carlton’s Church of All Nations to extend their successful after-school Family Learning Program. The program will expand to include adult literacy, holiday programs, pre-school transitions and tertiary support. Another of our longstanding partners is the Brotherhood of St Laurence. The Foundation is supporting the organisation again in 2016 through their literacy project, the Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters (HIPPY). HIPPY works with children and families, often for whom English is not the primary language, to deliver a hugely successful home-based early learning and parenting program. We’ve also supported the Wheeler Centre’s Hot Desk Fellowships for the last 4 years and we’ll support them again this year. The Fellowships provide writers with a space to write at the Wheeler Centre and also offers them a small stipend. I’m very excited that two Hot Desk Fellows have books coming out this year: Jennifer Down’s novel, Our Magic Hour, is out next month with Text, and Rajith Savanadasa’s novel, Ruins, will be published by Hachette in July. A new Foundation grant recipient is the Melbourne Indigenous Transition School (MITS) and our grant will help them build their library. We met recently with the school’s executive director, Edward Tudor, who told us about the objectives of the school, which has its first intake this year. Many families in remote communities would like their children to have wider educational opportunities which are often not easily accessible. Individual city schools and programs have offered scholarships for Indigenous pupils, but with mixed success. Students from remote communities thrown straight into a city school often struggle to adapt to the curriculum and the new lifestyle away from friends and family.