Aurealis Awards 2022

Posted on 14 April 2022 by Parra Reader

The Aurealis Awards were established in 1995 by Chimaera Publications, the publishers of Aurealis magazine, to recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror writers. The awards originally comprised four categories: science fiction, fantasy, horror, and young adult. A fifth category for children’s fiction was added in 2001. The YA and children’s categories cover works in all three speculative fiction genres. The list of finalists and winners have increased the profile of Australian science fiction, fantasy, and horror, and provide an essential reading list for anyone interested in these genres.

The 2022 Shortlist titles are below, the winners for each category will be announced on Saturday 28 May. Why not borrow and read one or more before the award ceremony and see if you can pick the winner(s)!

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Stella Prize 2022 Longlist

Posted on 24 March 2022 by Parra Reader

The Stella Prize is a major literary award celebrating Australian women’s writing. The $50,000 prize is awarded annually to one outstanding book deemed to be original, excellent, and engaging. Announcing the 12 exceptional books by Australian women and non-binary writers in the running for the tenth annual Stella Prize. The 2022 Stella Prize longlist includes novels, short fiction, memoir, social history, a book-length essay, a graphic novel, and – eligible for the first time in 2022 – poetry collections. Why not reserve one or more now and see if you can pick the winner before is announced Thursday 28 April.

Coming of Age in the War on Terror by Randa Abdel-Fattah (NewSouth Books)
Take Care by Eunice Andrada (Giramondo Publishing)
Dropbear by Evelyn Araluen (University of Queensland Press)
She Is Haunted by Paige Clark (Allen & Unwin)
No Document by Anwen Crawford (Giramondo Publishing)
Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down (Text Publishing)
Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray by Anita Heiss (Simon & Schuster)
Stone Fruit by Lee Lai (Fantagraphics)
Permafrost by SJ Norman (University of Queensland Press)
Homecoming by Elfie Shiosaki (Magabala Books)
The Open by Lucy Van (Cordite Books)
Another Day in the Colony by Chelsea Watego (University of Queensland Press).

Tales of Love

Posted on 10 February 2022 by Parra Reader

It is that time of year, with Library Lovers’ Day (perhaps better known as Valentine’s Day) just around the corner on 14 February when you may be inspired to pick up a tale of love. The library has romantic titles of all kinds and for all ages from sweet romance to shifter romance to sexy romance and everything in between. Here are just some of the tales of love we have in our libraries.

For those of you who enjoy listening and reading online to a book then why not visit the ‘Escape into Love‘ list on our BorrowBox site or for even more eBook titles visit the ‘Love is in the air‘ list on our Wheelers site.

Finally don’t forget that if you visit one of the City of Parramatta Libraries from Friday 11 February to Monday 14 February, borrow one of our ‘blind date’ books and ‘rate the date’ you can enter our Library Lovers’ Day promotion to win a great prize.

Books that made us

Posted on 25 January 2022 by Parra Reader

Fans of Australian authors received a treat late last year when Claudia Karvan embarked on a literary journey to celebrate our love of books, met some of our most beloved and brilliant writers, and explored our Australian identity through the place, its people and the power of our stories in ‘Books that made us’ from the ABC. In this 3 episode series Claudia highlighted a diverse range of both modern and past Australian classic stories. The series is available to stream for free via iview so why not (re)watch the series and be inspired to read one or more of the amazing titles featured. The Library has all of the books mentioned in the show available for reserve, simply click on a cover or title. Continue reading →