{"title":"Tony Birch","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTony Birch\u003c\/strong\u003e crafts stories that delve deep into the complexities of human experience with a rich blend of \u003cem\u003ecrime, culture, and everyday life\u003c\/em\u003e. His works often explore themes of identity, community, and resilience, inviting readers into vibrant narratives that balance tension with profound emotional insight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom gripping thrillers to reflective literary fiction, Birch's writing captures the pulse of contemporary life while weaving in elements of history and social commentary. Expect compelling characters and evocative storytelling that resonate with authenticity and depth.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-white-girl-by-tony-birch-9780702263057","title":"The White Girl","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNow in B format, the superb novel from leading Indigenous storyteller Tony Birch explores the lengths we will go to in order to save the people we love.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e‘Odette, be sensible. Sissy cannot leave this town.’\u003c\/em\u003e Shea threw his hands in the air. \u003cem\u003e‘Listen to me, please, Odette. It's not as if your Sissy is a white girl.’\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOdette Brown has lived her whole life on the fringes of a small country town. Raising her granddaughter Sissy on her own, Odette has managed to stay under the radar of the welfare authorities who are removing Aboriginal children from their communities. When the menacing Sergeant Lowe arrives in town, determined to fully enforce the law, any freedom that Odette and Sissy enjoy comes under grave threat. Odette must make an impossible choice to protect her family.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eThe White Girl\u003c\/em\u003e, Tony Birch has created memorable characters whose capacity for love and courage is a timely reminder of the endurance of the human spirit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46511589163244,"sku":"9780702263057","price":27.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/274553482438.jpg?v=1748826913"},{"product_id":"blood-by-tony-birch-9780702265983","title":"Blood","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, \u003cem\u003eBlood\u003c\/em\u003e is a coming-of-age story set on the back roads of Australia.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom multi-award-winning author Tony Birch comes a masterful novel about the indelible bond between two siblings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eJesse has sworn to protect his sister, Rachel, no matter what. It's a promise that cannot be broken. A promise made in blood. But, when it comes down to life or death, how can he find the courage to keep it?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSet on the back roads of Australia, \u003cem\u003eBlood\u003c\/em\u003e is a boy's odyssey through a broken-down adult world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46513424040172,"sku":"9780702265983","price":22.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/303813482438.jpg?v=1748866031"},{"product_id":"women-children-by-tony-birch-9780702268489","title":"Women \u0026 Children","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA powerful, personal novel about women, children and justice, from one of this country's most loved and clear-eyed writers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt's 1965 and Joe Cluny is living in a working-class suburb with his mum, Marion, and sister, Ruby, spending his days trying to avoid trouble with the nuns at the local Catholic primary school. One evening his Aunty Oona appears on the doorstep, distressed and needing somewhere to stay. As his mum and aunty work out what to do, Joe comes to understand the secrets that the women in his family carry, including on their bodies. Yet their pleas for assistance are met with silence and complicity from all sides. Who will help Joe's family at their time of need?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWomen \u0026amp; Children\u003c\/em\u003e is a novel about the love and courage between two sisters, and a sudden loss of childhood innocence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46518535651564,"sku":"9780702268489","price":27.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/328873482438.jpg?v=1748958533"},{"product_id":"women-children-by-tony-birch-9780702266270","title":"Women \u0026 Children","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWomen \u0026amp; Children\u003c\/em\u003e is a powerful, personal novel about women and justice, from one of this country's most loved and clear-eyed storytellers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt's 1965, and Joe Cluny is living in a working-class suburb with his mum, Marion, and sister, Ruby. He spends his days trying to avoid trouble with the nuns at the local Catholic primary school. One evening, his Aunty Oona appears on the doorstep, distressed and needing somewhere to stay. As his mum and aunty work out what to do, Joe comes to understand the secrets that the women in his family carry, including on their bodies. Yet, their pleas for assistance are met with silence and complicity from all sides. Who will help Joe's family at their time of need?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWomen \u0026amp; Children\u003c\/em\u003e is a novel about the love and courage between two sisters, and a sudden loss of childhood innocence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46518540370156,"sku":"9780702266270","price":36.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/306683482438.jpg?v=1748958613"},{"product_id":"ghost-river-by-tony-birch-9780702263392","title":"Ghost River","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNow in B format, this stunning, prize-winning novel, set alongside the Yarra River, is heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eGhost River\u003c\/em\u003e delves deep into the mysteries of the river, a place abundant with history and secrets. For Ren and Sonny, two unlikely friends, the river represents freedom and adventure. For a group of storytelling vagrants, it is a refuge. And for the isolated daughter of a cult reverend, it becomes an escape.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEach time they visit, another secret slips into its ancient waters. But change and trouble are coming – both to the river and to the lives of those who cherish it. Who will have the courage to fight, and what will be the cost?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46544664723692,"sku":"9780702263392","price":24.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/277903482438.jpg?v=1749782866"},{"product_id":"ghost-river-by-tony-birch-9780702253775","title":"Ghost River","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'You find yourself down at the bottom of the river, for some it's time to give into her. But other times, young fellas like you two, you got to fight your way back. Show the river you got courage and is ready to live.'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe river is a place of history and secrets. For Ren and Sonny, two unlikely friends, it's a place of freedom and adventure. For a group of storytelling vagrants, it's a refuge. And for the isolated daughter of a cult reverend, it's an escape. Each time they visit, another secret slips into its ancient waters. But change and trouble are coming—to the river and to the lives of those who love it. Who will have the courage to fight and survive and what will be the cost?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eGhost River\u003c\/em\u003e explores these themes with richness and depth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePraise for Tony Birch:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Throughout \u003cem\u003eThe Promise\u003c\/em\u003e there's the sense of a writer who has landed in the sweet spot of his gift.' – \u003cem\u003eWeekend Australian\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'\u003cem\u003eBlood\u003c\/em\u003e is a humanist masterpiece that has been worth the wait.' – \u003cem\u003eAustralian Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46544668033260,"sku":"9780702253775","price":34.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/181733482438.jpg?v=1749783007"},{"product_id":"common-people-by-tony-birch-9780702265822","title":"Common People","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this unforgettable collection, Tony Birch introduces a cast of characters from all walks of life. These remarkable and surprising stories capture common people caught up in the everyday business of living and the struggle to survive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom two single mothers on the most unlikely night shift to a homeless man unexpectedly faced with the miracle of a new life, Birch's stories are set in gritty urban refuges and battling regional communities. His deftly drawn characters find unexpected signs of hope in a world where beauty can be found on every street corner—a message on a T-shirt, a friend in a stray dog or a star in the night sky.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCommon People\u003c\/em\u003e shines a light on human nature and how the ordinary kindness of strangers can have extraordinary results. With characteristic insight and restraint, Tony Birch reinforces his reputation as a master storyteller.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46546172182764,"sku":"9780702265822","price":24.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/302203482438.jpg?v=1749827951"},{"product_id":"dark-as-last-night-by-tony-birch-9780702266331","title":"Dark As Last Night","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA multi-award-winning story collection from bestselling Indigenous writer Tony Birch.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDark as Last Night\u003c\/em\u003e confirms, once again, that Tony Birch is a master of the short story. These exceptional stories capture the importance of human connection at pivotal moments in our lives, whether those occur because of the loss of a loved one or the uncertainties of childhood.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this collection, we witness a young girl struggling to protect her mother from her father's violence, two teenagers clumsily getting to know one another by way of a shared love of music, and a man mourning the death of his younger brother, while beset by memories and regrets from their shared past.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThroughout this powerful collection, Birch's concern for the humanity of those who are often marginalised or overlooked shines bright.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46546837537004,"sku":"9780702266331","price":27.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/307293482438.jpg?v=1749851528"},{"product_id":"pictures-of-you-by-tony-birch-9780702268922","title":"Pictures of You","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom Australia's master storyteller comes this retrospective of his best short stories from the past two decades.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ePictures of You\u003c\/em\u003e - Collected Stories brings together the best of acclaimed writer Tony Birch's short fiction from the past two decades. Cherrypicking from across his oeuvre, this anthology showcases his skills at finding the extraordinary in ordinary lives, and the unexpected connections and kindnesses between strangers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHis work is by turns poignant, sad, profound and funny - and always powerful. Throughout this stellar collection, Birch's preoccupation with the humanity of those who are often marginalised or overlooked, and the search for justice for people and the natural environment shines bright.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46546976702700,"sku":"9780702268922","price":50.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780702268922.jpg?v=1749860484"},{"product_id":"shadowboxing-by-tony-birch-9781921640155","title":"Shadowboxing","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eShadowboxing\u003c\/em\u003e is a collection of ten linked stories depicting the life of a boy growing up in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy in the 1960s. A beautifully rendered time capsule, it captures a period of decay, turmoil, and change through innocent, unblinking eyes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMichael's family, led by his long-suffering mother, live as though under siege, surviving his father's drinking and rage as well as the forces of 'urban renewal'. Their neighbourhood is a world of simple pleasures as well as random brutality; of family life and love as well as violence and tragedy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs Michael experiences all this with a combination of wonder and fear, he matures into a sensitive adult who can forgive but never forget. \u003cem\u003eShadowboxing\u003c\/em\u003e is a riveting story of loss and permanence, power and weakness, stoicism and resistance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn a spare, understated style, it captures the essence of working-class life in inner-city Australia.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46551653941484,"sku":"9781921640155","price":34.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/4812673482872.jpg?v=1750007283"},{"product_id":"the-promise-by-tony-birch-9780702249990","title":"The Promise","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this breathtaking new work, Tony Birch affirms his position as one of Australia's finest writers of short-form fiction. Using his unflinching creative gaze, he ponders love and loss and faith.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA trio of amateur thieves are left in charge of a baby moments before a heist. A group of boys compete in the final of a marbles tournament, only to find their biggest challenge was the opponent they didn't see coming. Two young friends find a submerged car in their local swimming hole and become obsessed by the mystery of the driver's identity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAcross twelve blistering stories, \u003cem\u003eThe Promise\u003c\/em\u003e delivers a sensitive and often humorous take on the lives of those who have loved, lost and wandered.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46672352477420,"sku":"9780702249990","price":27.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/143883482438.jpg?v=1752842246"},{"product_id":"on-kim-scott-by-tony-birch-9781760644796","title":"On Kim Scott","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn illuminating essay on the author of the Miles Franklin Award-winning novels \u003cem\u003eBenang\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThat Deadman Dance\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eI value Kim Scott's fiction so highly because I feel that his approach is to put the flags aside. \u003cem\u003eThat Deadman Dance\u003c\/em\u003e asks us not to consider who we were so much as who we could be, collectively, in the future.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNoongar writer Kim Scott has won the Miles Franklin Award twice for his novels. In this moving essay, Tony Birch shows how Scott uses fiction as a pathway to truth. We meet a writer who \"inhabits a range of guises, faces he wears to interrogate the complex and messy frontier history of colonial encounters\". The result is \"new stories\" for the nation. This, says Birch, is the work that Kim Scott has been doing for many years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePublished by Black Inc. in association with the University of Melbourne and State Library Victoria.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47082338091244,"sku":"9781760644796","price":26.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/23834903482814.jpg?v=1765273515"},{"product_id":"smoke-encrypted-whispers-by-samuel-wagan-watson-9780702268571","title":"Smoke Encrypted Whispers","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNow included in UQP's First Nations Classics series with an introduction from Tony Birch, \u003cem\u003eSmoke Encrypted Whispers\u003c\/em\u003e is a stunning collection of exhilarating poems, urban songlines and ancestral ties that have become the hallmarks of this poet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReading this book is, as Tony Birch points out, 'like witnessing Bruce Springsteen meet the Dreamtime'.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSmoke Encrypted Whispers\u003c\/em\u003e showcases Samuel Wagan Watson's imaginative brilliance and exceptional poetic skills. In this book, which also includes work from three previous collections, his poems pulse with the language and images of a mangrove-lined river city, the beckoning highway, the just-glimpsed muse, the tug of childhood and restless ancestors. Wagan Watson's poetry is the work of an artist who speaks to a sense of our common humanity, and to a communal attachment to place.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47082556326124,"sku":"9780702268571","price":24.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/329693482438.jpg?v=1765275560"},{"product_id":"broken-teeth-by-tony-birch-9780975249222","title":"Broken Teeth","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey are not just words whistling on the wind. They come laden with other gifts. With a whole place: Melbourne. It makes you wonder what elements must thus congeal to sustain the songs, the poems, across all these pages without once faltering, without missing a beat. Perhaps it is in what they call 'tone'—no pun intended, mate.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDon't think you'll get away with lightly reading these Tony Birch poems. They are not just words whistling on the wind. They come laden with other gifts. With a whole place: Melbourne. Objects proliferate in \u003ci\u003eThe Anatomy Contraption\u003c\/i\u003e sequence, where, in a singular assemblage of technology, modern science and early-twentieth-century eugenicism it is easy to coolly dissect 'three infant hearts' for a cabinet of curiosities, which 'congeals together \/ like a song.' It makes you wonder what elements must thus congeal to sustain the songs, the poems, across all these pages without once faltering, without missing a beat.\u003c\/strong\u003e - Stephen Muecke\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47595873108204,"sku":"9780975249222","price":24.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780975249222-broken-teeth.jpg?v=1777909791"},{"product_id":"whisper-songs-by-tony-birch-9780702263279","title":"Whisper Songs","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA timely and important collection of poems by the award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eThe White Girl\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eBlood\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this stunning collection, Tony Birch invites the reader into a tender conversation with those he loves—and has loved—the most. 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