Hunting the Wild Pineapple

Leverson, the narrator at the centre of these stories, calls himself a 'people freak'. Seduced by north Queensland's sultry beauty and unique strangeness, he is as fascinated by the invading hordes of misfits from the south as by the old established Queenslanders. Leverson's ironical yet compassionate view makes every story, every incident, a pointed example of human weakness – or strength.

Miles Franklin Award-winning author Thea Astley (1925 2004) was one of Australia's most respected and acclaimed novelists. She won the Miles Franklin Award four times and in 1989 she was awarded the Patrick White Award. Her titles include Hunting the Wild Pineapple and It's Raining in Mango both are published in audio by Bolinda.

Poetry collections by James Wright (1927-80) include "The Green Wall "(1957), which won the Yale Series of Younger Poets award, "Saint Judas" (1959), "The Branch Will Not Break" (1963), "Shall We Gather at the River" (1968), and "Two Citizens" (1973). Wright was elected a fellow of The Academy of American Poets in 1971, and the following year his "Collected Poems" received the Pulitzer Prize. He died in New York City in 1980, having served on the English faculties at the University of Minnesota, Macalester College, and Hunter College (CUNY).