Arts and Literature
EXTRACT: Barbara Tucker and Heide
Posted on 30 Jan 2024 under Miegunyah PressNew releasesArts and LiteratureWriting
In the late 1990s Barbara and Albert Tucker made the magnanimous and bold decision to donate a significant proportion of their personal collection to the nation. While this generous gesture included a select number of gifts to state institutions and the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, they determined to transfer the major part of the collection to Heide Museum of Modern Art in their hometown of Melbourne.
EXTRACT: Emmett Stinson interviews Gerald Murnane
Posted on 2 Aug 2023 under Arts and Literature
"In the past, books themselves were a sort of internet. Some bloke would write to me from California and say, ‘I found a second-hand copy of Landscape with Landscape in a bookshop in San Francisco. It’s an amazing book.’ And I thought, how did it get there? But he’s read it and he has written to me, so I knew this was happening."— Gerald Murnane
MUP takes top honours within Australia's prestigious literary awards landscape.
Posted on 19 Jul 2023 under Arts and Literature
Melbourne University Publishing has received two honours for its published titles.
Melbourne University Publishing at Brisbane Writers Festival
Posted on 30 Mar 2023 under Politics and Current AffairsArts and Literature
The Brisbane Writers Festival has a slew of MUP authors this year dedicated to sharing their personal memories, discussing timely political issues, examining cultural abuse, disseminating government systems and demystifying gender. Scroll through our blog post to uncover all we have on offer at BWF this year.
Q & A with Justin Clemens and Thomas H. Ford—Authors of Barron Field in New South Wales
Posted on 14 Mar 2023 under AcademicArts and Literature
Read our Q & A with authors of Barron Field in New South Wales, Justin Clemens and Thomas H. Ford. Explore the revelations uncovered about Barron field's life, the impact he had on Australia as a poet and Judge, and the importance of analysing Barron Field as a person through the analysis of his poetry.
Q & A with Stuart Kells—Author of MUP: A Centenary History
Posted on 14 Feb 2023 under AcademicArts and Literature
In our latest Q & A, author of MUP: A CENTENARY HISTORY, Stuart Kells discusses the history of the press, the interesting stories he unearthed during his research and the most notable books published across 100 years of the press.
A Letter from the Publisher
Posted on 6 Feb 2023 under AcademicMiegunyah PressNew releasesPolitics and Current AffairsArts and LiteratureWriting
Dear friends, Shortly after I arrived at MUP in 2019 Professor Joy Damousi suggested that with the centenary of MUP coming up we should publish a press history. Perhaps not surprisingly I read many memoirs and histories about books and publishing, so I thought this a fine idea. But who to do it? Eventually the back part of my brain spat out the ideal candidate: Stuart Kells, a fellow book and publishing history enthusiast (some would say obsessive) who has written an award-winning account of Penguin, among other works on the subject. As Jason Steger put it, in an early notice of the book’s appearance: 'Stuart Kells knows his way around the book world like the back of his hand’.
Gideon Haigh launches Cannon Fire: A Life in Print
Posted on 28 Nov 2022 under Miegunyah PressArts and Literature
' "Cannon Fire" instead reeks of ink and ingenuity, that so-rare combination in Australia, and this country's tradition of auto-didacticism, never scarcer. There's an old joke about the Australian who's asked whether he can play the violin. "I don't know," he replies. "I've never tried." I can pay "Cannon Fire" no greater tribute than that reading it makes you want to roll up your sleeves, get busy, have a go, and not be sorry should it not quite work out.'
Read an extract from Cannon Fire: A Life in Print
Posted on 2 Nov 2022 under Arts and Literature
Read an extract from Cannon Fire: A Life in Print—Life Revisited by Michael Cannon
Melbourne University Publishing announces Esther Anatolitis as the next Editor of 'Meanjin'
Posted on 8 Oct 2022 under Arts and Literature
Melbourne University Publishing announces Esther Anatolitis as the next Editor of 'Meanjin'
EXTRACT: Julieanne Lamond Interviews Amanda Lohrey
Posted on 18 Aug 2022 under Arts and LiteratureInterviews
Tasmania’s Parliament House is a graceful Georgian sandstone building facing the Hobart waterfront. It is here, on the steps of the parliament, that Amanda Lohrey suggested we meet for the interview, so that I could see at firsthand the docks and backstreets of the waterfront that constituted the setting of her first novel, The Morality of Gentlemen. Lohrey has a frank, straightforward manner and a penetrating gaze. There is a steadiness about her, as though others can flap about all they like and she’ll wait until they have finished. She has a remarkable voice, deep and sonorous, which holds a calm authority but is very ready to register a wry humour.
Q & A with Leah Lui-Chivizhe—Author of Masked Histories
Posted on 1 Aug 2022 under Miegunyah PressArts and Literature
Read our Q & A with author of Masked Histories Leah Lui-Chivizhe.
Q & A with David Walker and Li Yao—Authors of Happy Together
Posted on 30 Jun 2022 under Arts and Literature
Read our Q & A with authors of Happy Together David Walker and Li Yao. Uncover what sparked their relationship, what aspects of their culture and identity they hope to convey to readers and what has been the highlight of writing Happy Together.
Q & A with Nathan Hobby—Author of The Red Witch
Posted on 20 May 2022 under Arts and Literature
Read our Q & A with author of The Red Witch Nathan Hobby. Find out the surprising memories he uncovered while sifting through Katharine Susannah Prichard's letters, the images of Katharine he hopes to leave with readers and what has been the highlight for him during the writing process.
MUP at Sydney Writers' Festival 2021
Posted on 23 Apr 2021 under Politics and Current AffairsArts and Literature
Sydney Writers' Festival has returned to Carriageworks for 2021 and we are very pleased to have three Melbourne University Publishing authors showcasing their expertise and literary talents this week.
Who was William Guilfoyle?
Posted on 28 Aug 2018 under Miegunyah PressArts and LiteratureWriting
Enter the world of William Guilfoyle: the intrepid ‘plant hunter’ responsible for the transformation of Melbourne’s Botanic Gardens into one of the world’s most spectacular botanical landscapes.
Celebrate the Mirka story: A culinary affair at Tolarno's Eating House
Posted on 27 Jul 2018 under NewsMiegunyah PressArts and Literature
Mirka Mora is one of Melbourne's best known and loved artists. Join us for a night to celebrate the Mora's story at Tolarno's Eating House.
Q & A with James Jeffrey – Author of My Family and Other Animus
Posted on 25 May 2018 under Arts and LiteratureWritingInterviews
"The moment I realised my children were not just delightful, but that they had grown into excellent human beings." – James Jeffrey on his proudest moment as a father.
What We're Reading this Autumn
Posted on 16 May 2018 under Arts and Literature
To be constantly reading is truly a dream. MUP staff share what they're currently reading and the incredible books that are being worked on while the weather gets colder.
Letters of note: stories that come from letters
Posted on 10 Apr 2018 under Miegunyah PressArts and LiteratureWriting
Are letters a dying art, foresaken in the digital era? These are the stories and books that originated from letters, journals and diaries. With these books, we show authors who have been able to pull out stories out of letters, including beloved books such as Dear Quentin, The Secret Ingredient, The Forgotten Notebook and Christina Stead's volumes of letters.