Sometimes you need to go deep into the past, to make sense of the present.   Alice had not expected to spend the first twenty years of the twenty-first century writing about Leonard Woolf. When she stood on Morell Bridge watching fireworks explode from the rooftops of Melbourne at the start of a new millennium, she had only two thoughts. One was: the fireworks are better in Sydney. The other was: was the world’s technology about to crash down around her? The world’s technology did not crash. But there were worse disasters to come: Environmental collapse. The return of fascism. Wars. A sexual reckoning. A plague. Uncertain of what to do she picks up an unfinished project and finds herself trapped with the ghosts of writers past. What began as a novel about a member of the Bloomsbury set, colonial administrator, publisher and husband of one the most famous English writers of the twentieth century becomes something else altogether. Complex, heartfelt, darkly funny and deeply moving, this is Sophie Cunningham’s most important book to date – a dazzlingly original novel about what it’s like to live through a time that feels like the end of days, and how we can find comfort and answers in the past.​

Tippy and her baby Jellybean live in a beautiful eucalyptus forest. One day, they wake up and sniff the air. It's smokey, hot and windy. Kangaroos and wallabies are bounding. Lizards and snakes are slithering. Wombats are heading to their burrows. The cockatoos take off in an enormous flock. Tippy can't hop. Or run. Or fly. Instead she shelters her baby in the only way she can... This is the uplifting story of a mother koala who saved her baby from a bushfire, and the dedicated vets who look after them until they are healed and ready to go home. Proceeds from this book will raise money for the Bushfire Emergency Wildlife Fund.

'It's very funny, very clever and surprisingly moving too.' - Guardian 'I loved this book. I absolutely loved it.' - Christos Tsiolkas, author of The Slap and Barracuda Sometimes you need to delve into the past, to make sense of the present Alice had not expected to spend most of the twenty-first century writing about Leonard Woolf. When she stood on Morell Bridge watching fireworks explode from the rooftops of Melbourne at the start of a new millennium, she had only two thoughts. One was: the fireworks are better in Sydney. The other was: is Y2K going to be a thing? Y2K was not a thing. But there were worse disasters to come. Environmental collapse. The return of fascism. Wars. A sexual reckoning. A plague. Uncertain of what to do she picks up an unfinished project and finds herself trapped with the ghosts of writers past. What began as a novel about a member of the Bloomsbury Set, colonial administrator, publisher and husband of one the most famous English writers of the last hundred years becomes something else altogether. Complex, heartfelt, darkly funny and deeply moving, this is Sophie Cunningham's most important book to date - a dazzlingly original novel about what it's like to live through a time that feels like the end of days, and how we can find comfort and answers in the past.

Flipper and Finnegan live on a beautiful island. Every morning they hunt for fish in the clear blue ocean waters. Every evening they waddle up the beach together with all their friends - it's a penguin parade. But one day, when Flipper comes up for air she gets covered in something that is black and smelly and sticky - and Finnegan is nowhere to be seen... This is the miraculous true story of how a viral knitting campaign helped save the lives of Millowl/Phillip Island's Little Penguins.

In our penultimate 70th birthday edition, Meanjin wonders what it takes to make a city: Diana Wells visits Melbourne's ever-shifting outer edge and David Nichols takes a walk through the early housing commission suburb of Doveton. Elizabeth Glickfeld considers Melbourne's latest logo and corporate culture; Rachel Weaver reminds us that, not so long ago, morgues were a place a town's citizens went to be entertained; Michael Harden looks at the impact of the law and policy on the bar and restaurant industry; Chris Womersley talks about place in writing; Ben Eltham paints a portrait of the Nicholas Building, Melbourne's informal artistic hub; and Noni Sharp revisits the legend of the Little Wanderers. In our latest CAL essay Paul Daley investigates the truth behind the Anzac Day myth, Jeremy Fisher surveys e-books and Australian publishing for Meanland and John Potts defends the book from declarations of death. As well, Sophie Cunningham talks to the great travel writer, William Dalrymple, George Dunford diagnoses Second Novel Syndrome, Anthony Macris considers that great film, All About Eve, Maria Takolander comes to understand the lessons she's learnt from literature and Matthew Ricketson looks at long form journalism and the legacy of Truman Capote's, In Cold Blood. We have fiction by Jennifer Mills, Simone Lazaroo, Cathy Cole, Natalie Sprite and Belinda Rule.