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WILDE, Diana

Aug 11, 2020 | *, *Featured books, *listed, Design, Memoir, Western Australia

Diana Wilde self-published author I don't wear step-ins anymore book cover
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ISBN 978-1-922452-98-6
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I Don’t Wear Step-Ins Anymore.

A step-in or girdle was worn in the 50s and 60s to control the flab of a female body. Dianne escaped the control of a conservative and Christian middle class family in Sydney and sailed to England in 1968. On arrival, she disposed of her constrictive clothing and began living a swinging London life. A year later, and after a visit from her parents, she moved to a Swiss Village for 6 months. Finally, she travelled home overland by Sundowners bus from London to India in 1970.

This memoir is from letters documenting her overseas journey of discovery. In January 2012 aged 64, she re-read and transcribed at least 300 letters and aerogrammes, after being told by an older cousin, she had been adopted at birth. She re-discovered the controlling mother she couldn’t stand growing up, and even while bringing up a family of her own.

Her adoptive mother Ruby was the one who gave her back all the letters written to her, suggesting she may wish to write a book one day about her travels. This memoir is a homage to her, and also to her adoptive father George, who constantly encouraged her to take off the step-ins and try everything in life.

MARTINO, AFROZ

Aug 10, 2020 | *, *Featured books, *listed, Fiction \ Novel, Photography, Poetry, South Australia

Bringing my Words to Light by self-published author Afroz Martino
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ISBN 978-1-922452-91-7
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Bringing my Words to Light

I have so much to say, so much to put on a page, but all I see are dancing words. So, one morning I got up and decided to simply allow the words to fall on the page; and with these words I have written this book from my heart.

Five Pebbles in a Pond by Afroz Martino
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ISBN 978-1-922722-73-7
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Five Pebbles in a Pond

It is a story of sacrifice and love.

Five exceptional women originating from diverse backgrounds meet each other at university and strike an everlasting friendship. Despite their differences in language and heritage, they become one in spirit. They name their sisterhood ‘SAKTE’, each letter representing their name.

As they struggle through life, the foundations of their friendship stand strong. Five Pebbles in a Pond is a story of a unique friendship between friends who struggle with identity, dual culture and traditional values.

It is a story inspired by true events.

Afroz Martino Author

About the Author

Afroz is the eldest daughter of the late Dr A K M Amzad Hossain Mian and Begum Firoza Hosneara Mian, born in Pabna, Bangladesh. Her parents moved her and her sister, Azmiri Mian, to Greece when Afroz was 8 years old for her father to complete his doctorate. After, they could not return to Bangladesh as civil war broke out, so they immigrated to Australia.

Afroz graduated from Flinders University with a Bachelor of Science and then worked many different jobs, travelled, and eventually pursued a career helping disadvantaged children. She married David Martino, and together they have four daughters and two grandchildren.

Writing poetry has given Afroz a sense of belonging, understanding of being a woman and is a way to make sense of her world.

Testimonials

A book to touch your soul. Raw experiences told from the heart. This is how it touched me when I read it. It was very powerful.

Georgina Williams

First-generation Australians will empathize with Author’s struggles between traditional cultural values and  Australian values. We were there and at the time it seemed insurmountable, now our children take pride in their multicultural backgrounds.

Josie Allocca

Such meaningful poems! Bringing my words to light took me on a journey through my own life, the struggles and what makes life what it is, unique for each and everyone of us.
 
Katrina Stratos

In every poem I read I felt the Author’s emotions and it touched my heart. It made me cry while reading author’s wonderful words. So touchy the whole writing in this book that’s why I loved it.

Marufa Gaffar

Afroz Martino’s beautifully written poetry collection Bringing my words to light is about her love, relationships, nature and many more aspects of life. The boldness and frankness in her writing is very rare to find. This is very enjoyable to read about Afroz’s adventurous journey of life through her poetries.

Firoz Mannan

…very beautiful… very clear… nicely organized… practical and I guess it’s a deep thoughts of every woman…

Nusrat

This book is a good book to read. Afroz penned her sadness, and her struggle with two different cultures and her pride and love for her family, so well, that I could feel all her emotions in this book.

Nancy Kirby

WILCE, May

Jul 15, 2020 | *, *Featured books, *listed, Biography, Memoir, New South Wales, Philosophy
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ISBN 978-1-922337-59-7
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A Little Bit of the Past

Ivy May Wilce is also known as May, Mum, Ma ma, or Nanna, depending on who you talk to. She is a woman of incredible strength, respect, devotion, and compassion. As the wife of a Presbyterian minister (whose service extended over a 50 year period) May’s service to the Lord, His Church, and His people is inspiring. We are incredibly lucky that May has put pen to paper so that all those who love and admire her can treasure her recollections. This is a memoir put together for May’s family, although the stories and historical insights have and can be enjoyed broadly. As you read through you are sure to marvel at her incredible memory, her thoughtfulness in acknowledging the efforts of others, and the wonderfully full life that she and her husband Neville have lived.

JAMIESON, Dean

Jul 8, 2020 | *, *Featured books, *listed, Autobiography, South Australia
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ISBN 978-1-922337-60-3
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They Called Me Lightning

They called me Lightning is the story of Dean Jamieson. Born in Adelaide in 1940, Dean left school at sixteen to chase a childhood dream of becoming a real-life cowboy.

This is the story about a young teenage boy who decides to leave Urrbrae High School in Adelaide and begin a new life working on an outback station. From stepping off the Old Ghan at Abminga rail siding in the middle of the night, to living off the land with Aboriginal people in the Simpson Desert, to mustering cattle on foot, to chasing brumbies along the Birdsville Track, to how he earned his nickname “Lightning”; Dean recounts these and other entertaining stories about early sexual encounters, drought, isolation and near-death experiences.

Told in Dean’s own words, They called me Lightning describes tales of fear, adventure, survival and growing up whilst working on outback stations in South Australia and the Northern Territory in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

About the Author

DEAN W. JAMIESON was born in Adelaide in 1940 and worked in outback stations in the Northern Territory and South Australia as a teenager and in his early 20s. Now in his late seventies, Dean lives in Victor Harbor, South Australia with his wife Jennifer. They called me Lightning is his first book.

JOHNS, Andrea

Jun 23, 2020 | *, *Featured books, *listed, Autobiography, Memoir, South Australia
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ISBN 978-1-922337-58-0
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ISBN 978-1-922629-09-8
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Like a Dandelion in the Wind

Andrea endured many hardships in her life while travelling around Australia with her lovable rascal of a father. She was taught cunningness, survival, love, gambling, hunting and fishing, unlike any education you get from sitting in a classroom. Taken out of school at 13, married at 16 and a mother at 17. War and a traumatic birth of her second child only made her stronger. Evacuated to London, she spent two harrowing years trying to return to her beloved Australia. Once back, she fought the biggest battle of her life, saving her children from an evil spirit.

Her limited education would not deter her from documenting her life’s journey.

These are her own words, based on her memories. Any reference to anyone passed or living is purely coincidental.