Nonfiction at Frankfurt
Australian publishers are heading to Frankfurt with plenty of nonfiction titles on offer, from poetic memoirs to vibrant art books. Below, they share highlights they look forward to pitching at the fair.
Life writing, politics and society
Nonfiction specialists Black Inc. bring to Frankfurt ‘the gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her career-criminal son’ in Outrageous Fortunes: The Adventures of Mary Fortune, Crime-writer, and Her Criminal Son George (Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex, February) under the publisher’s La Trobe University Press imprint. Says the publisher: ‘After a time selling sly-grog and a bigamous marriage to a policeman, Mary Fortune became a pioneering journalist and author’, producing The Detective’s Album, ‘the first book of detective stories to be published in Australia and the first by a woman to be published anywhere in the world’.
Black Inc. will also be presenting Upswell titles White Hibiscus (Loribelle Spirovski), a ‘memoir-in-a-poetic-tone by the acclaimed young artist … that tracks a childhood in The Philippines and Australia and a Covid-period encounter with the memory of it’, according to Upswell publisher Terri-ann White; and Calendar (Vanessa Berry), of which White says: ‘Calendar, with its daily accounts of a life surrounded by objects (hand-drawn) across 365 days, covers the full gamut from whimsical to moments and matters as serious as your life.’
Travelling to Tomorrow: The Modern Women Who Sparked Australia’s Romance with America (Yves Rees, NewSouth) highlights ten unconventional Australian women who ‘headed across the Pacific to make their fortune’ and, in doing so, ‘reoriented Australia towards the United States, years before politicians began to lumber down the same path’, according to the publisher. ‘They were rebels, they were trailblazers, they were disruptors,’ says NewSouth. ‘Yves Rees’ tale of ten gutsy, globe-trotting women is a delight,’ adds NewSouth executive publisher Elspeth Menzies. ‘It turns what we thought we knew about early Australia–US relations on its head.’
From NLA Publishing, Dear Mutzi (Tess Scholfield-Peters) is the story of Harry Peters—formerly Hermann Pollnow, known to his family as Mutzi—who was born in Berlin in 1920. Says the publisher: ‘As a teenager, he fled Nazi Germany and landed in rural Australia. Harry’s parents, Edith and Max, never saw their son again. Edith perished at Theresienstadt; Max at Auschwitz-Birkenau.’ NLA adds that Scholfield-Peters has produced a debut that ‘skirts the edges of fiction and nonfiction’, as she weaves her research with her grandfather’s recollections ‘to envision the unknown’, telling his story with three intertwining threads: ‘a sketched-out history based on Harry’s testimony and documentary history; her engagement with this personal history from a third-generation perspective; and the present story of Harry’s growing infirmities and eventual death in early 2021 at age 100’.
Agapi: Ancient Greek Lessons on Love (Luka Lesson, February 2025) is, according to Pantera, ‘a truly unique take on an eternal question: What is love, and why is it so vital to the way we live?’ ‘A cross between Mythos and Heartsick, this will appeal to readers of smart narrative nonfiction, and those with an interest in love, friendship and relationships, as well as readers with interest in philosophy, ancient Greek culture and the retelling of Greek stories,’ adds the publisher. Says Pantera publishing director Lex Hirst: ‘This is a compelling exploration from a consummate storyteller, which will lead you on a lyrical journey through the intricacies of love in all its forms. Love will never seem the same again—it will be more vibrant, and its complexities and nuances more readily understandable through Luka’s lyrical prose.’
In Cult Bride (Pantera, May 2025), Liz Cameron’s story ‘of being brainwashed and indoctrinated into the destructive cult Providence, which originated in South Korea and currently operates in 72 countries across the globe’, is ‘an intriguing and powerful memoir’, that Pantera says ‘will appeal to readers of remarkable true stories, and smart, politically engaged nonfiction’. Says publisher Tom Langshaw: ‘Liz tells her story with grace and dignity, cleverly supported by research into cult operations and advocacy for policy change. Her memoir is a remarkable personal story of survival with a deeper and more purposeful meaning, exploring the extremes of coercive control and the cults that operate in plain sight.’
Also from Pantera, Labours of Love (Oceane Campbell, March 2025) is a collection of stories from a midwife that ‘explores the issues of consent, risk, misogyny and autonomy that women face as they go through the monumental transition from woman to mother’, which the publisher recommends for readers of medical narrative nonfiction such as Emotional Female and This Is Going to Hurt, as well as those navigating the medical system through pregnancy and childbirth. Says Hirst: ‘This is a warm, deeply human and powerfully feminist book about a truly unique job and the way it impacts so many of us. Oceane leads us through the intense joys and the enraging challenges of navigating childbirth, all grounded in the wonder of new life.’
Several titles are on offer from Scribe’s nonfiction list. When Cops Are Criminals (ed by Veronica Gorrie) is ‘a powerful indictment of the criminal behaviour of police officers, and a call for institutional reform’, edited by the multi-award-winning author of the memoir Black and Blue. ‘This collection examines the widespread problem of police brutality from the perspectives of those who understand it in depth,’ says Scribe of the book, which it adds ‘pulls together the accounts of survivors, campaigners, and academics’.
Also from Scribe, Twenty-Two Impressions (Jessica Friedmann, October) is a collection of literary essays inspired by the Tarot de Marseille, a 16th-century set of playing cards on which the occult use of tarot was originally based. ‘When Jessica Friedmann bought her first pack, the unfamiliar images sparked a deep immersion in the art, symbols, myths, and misrepresentations of Renaissance-era tarot’, says the publisher, and her essay collection ‘blends historical research, art history, and critical insights with personal reflections, in the vein of Deborah Levy and Olivia Laing’.
Noble Fragments (Michael Visontay, October), another title from Scribe, is ‘part detective story and part memoir’, taking readers into ‘the arcane world of rare book collectors and their eccentric passions’. Says the publisher: ‘One hundred years ago, Gabriel Wells, a New York bookseller, committed a crime against history. He broke up the world’s greatest book, the Gutenberg Bible, and sold it off in individual pages. This is the story of a man’s hunt for those fragments and his family’s debt to an act of literary vandalism.’
From Exisle comes General Lucian K Truscott: ‘Quite a Talent for Fighting’ (Glyn Harper, July 2025), from the publisher’s Great Combat Commanders series. Exisle says: ‘The book traces Truscott’s rise as a senior American commander in various theatres of war, including the campaigns in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and southern France’, leading him to ‘become one of the United States’ greatest ever combat generals’.
Meanwhile, Corpus in Extremis: A Memoir (Loretta Smith, Spinifex) describes a life with intense and chronic pain. as the author lives with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, also known as brittle bone disease. ‘Smith has dealt with pain all her life, but it has not stopped her from writing a bestseller, A Spanner in the Works, or travelling overseas independently,’ says the publisher.
Arts, sciences and the environment
The Shortest History of Music (Andrew Ford, Black Inc.) is ‘a lively, authoritative tour through several thousand years of music … Packed with colourful characters and surprising details, it sets out to understand what exactly music is—and why humans are irresistibly drawn to making it’, says the publisher.
From Melbourne Books, Living Art in Papua New Guinea (Susan Cochrane, September 2025) is a ‘lavishly illustrated and exceptionally researched’ work that ‘brings alive the multiple contemporary realities of the country and its people through a celebration of arts and culture’, including over 100 photos. ‘Culture, politics, history, and identity are interlinking themes through which the book presents ideas about artists, creative processes and aesthetics, revealing Papua New Guinea’s diversity of cultures and environments’, says Melbourne Books, which is publishing the title to coincide with Papua New Guinea’s 50th anniversary of independence next year.
From NewSouth, Why Are We Like This?: An Evolutionary Search for Answers to Life’s Big Questions (Zoe Kean, November) takes readers ‘behind the scenes of the evolutionary paradoxes that make up life on this planet’. Exploring with scientists—from freezing in Tasmanian sleet to joining a laboratory of sleeping sharks in North Queensland—the book investigates how evolutionary mysteries ‘might just uncover the secrets of a better life for humans and the creatures we share the planet with’, says the publisher. ‘Kean’s love of science is infectious,’ says NewSouth publisher Harriet McInerney. ‘Enchanting and adventurous, this big-thinking book takes us around the world to answer the big questions of life, love, and the universe.’
Also from NewSouth, Humpback Highway: Diving into the Mysterious World of Whales is penned by wildlife scientist Vanessa Pirotta, who has been ‘mugged by whales, touched by a baby whale and covered in whale snot’. The book covers the humpback life cycle and the challenges humans present, ‘why whale snot and poo are important for us and the ocean’, as well as ‘the cutting-edge new technologies that allow us to see where they swim, listen to them talk and spy on them underwater’, making it clear why Pirotta is ‘the go-to scientist for all things whales’, says Menzies.
Menzies is also enthusiastic about marramarra: Indigenous Artists Making History Visible (Brook Garru Andrew & Jessica Neath, NewSouth, November). The Wiradjuri word marramarra means create, make or do. This book ‘explores how contemporary Indigenous artists and their communities are revealing hidden histories and finding pathways to healing’, sharing conversations with leading contemporary artists, including Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin (Pitjantjatjara, Arrernte, Australia), Judy Watson (Waanyi, Australia), Rebecca Belmore (Anishinaabe, Canada), Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit and Unangax̂, Alaska) and Pauliina Feodoroff (Skolt Sámi, Finland). ‘marramarra is a landmark book that will prompt readers to see colonial history differently, along with the possibilities that lie ahead’, says Menzies.
From National Library of Australia (NLA) Publishing, The Bird Art of William T Cooper (Wendy Cooper) ‘shows an artist with astute observational skills, intent on capturing bird behaviour, an individual’s personality and the flora of a species’ habitat … taking the reader from the wet rainforests of northern Queensland to the arid grasslands of the dry country, from the birds-of-paradise of New Guinea to the hornbills of Africa’, says the publisher, which calls the book ‘a luxurious and beautiful gift book for lovers of birds, nature or art’.
Enchantment by Birds (Russell McGregor, Scribe, October) presents a ‘fresh appreciation of the magic of birds and how watching them fulfils a human need to connect with nature’, taking readers on ‘a series of excursions into birdwatching’s past’, and exploring ‘the emotional and aesthetic impulses behind the pastime, as well as its scientific and conservationist components’, with ‘stories ranging from wordy squabbles over bird names to the artistic finessing of field guides, and from the paradise parrot’s tragic extinction to the everyday enjoyment of a magpie’s carol’.
Finally, from Exisle, Dogs & Us (Gareth St John Thomas) is a ‘gentle, informed and fun look at the reasons why we love our four-legged friends’, says the publisher. Exisle adds: ‘With fascinating insights from organisations such as the Human Animal Bond Research Institute, [the book] brings brand new academic research together with playful quotes and images in a collection that will inform, intrigue and delight.’
Travel and personal development
Black Inc. is also highlighting Melanesia: Travels in Black Oceania (Hamish McDonald), a travelogue ‘in the genre of V S Naipaul’s nonfiction, going deeply into ideas, history and analysis, while meeting amazing places and people’. The book’s framework is ‘the narrative of a journey by land and sea (as much as possible) from Fiji to Papua New Guinea, encountering individuals and communities in the Melanesian world, home to some 1200 language groups’, says the publisher.
In the personal development sphere, Exisle has Beating Burnout: Helping the All-or-nothing Personality to Find Balance, ‘a comprehensive guide to the reasons behind burnout, with effective, practical ways to manage and prevent burnout to create a more balanced future’ from Aotearoa New Zealand clinical psychologist Mike McKinney; and Everything Anxiety Ever Told You Is a Lie: *Well, Almost Everything! (Toni Lindsay), a ‘practical and therapeutic guide to managing anxiety, written specifically for those aged 14–25 by a psychologist with over 15 years of experience working with adolescents and young adults’, says the publisher. ‘It emphasises that anxiety is completely normal, and something that can be managed by taking the steps that are right for you,’ adds Exisle, noting that the book ‘contains practical, effective activities and exercises that each reader can apply to their own set of circumstances’.
Mind, body, spirit
Also on offer at Frankfurt are several mind, body, spirit titles. Milk Thistle Moon Message Cards (Anita Inverarity, Five Kings Press/Animal Dreaming Publishing, December) includes a 24-page booklet alongside 70 message cards, each associated with a crystal, talisman, tool or totem ‘to imbibe your reading process with earth magic’; Celtic Devotional—Daily Prayer for People of Spirit (Caitlin Matthews, Five Kings Press) draws on ‘the inspiration of the seasonal unfolding of the year and on the ancestral environmental vision of the Celtic period’, creating ‘a framework for the daily rekindling and refreshment of the soul’ with ‘a combination of existing and newly composed prayers, blessings and ceremonies for people of all traditions or none’; and the Happiness Trap Cards (Russ Harris, Exisle) follows on from ‘the million-copy bestseller The Happiness Trap, introducing the principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in a fresh and accessible format’.
Pictured (L–R): Loribelle Spirovski and Luka Lesson.
Category: Think Australian feature
