Home
Search
thewest.com.au‌‌
EntertainmentChevron Right Icon

Books

Author Nadine Browne shares an exclusive first-person piece ahead of her Gone Guru book release.

EXCLUSIVE I grew up waiting for the Rapture. It never came

Leaving a doomsday community at 16 meant rebuilding a brain from scratch for Nadine Browne. In a first-person piece for STM, the Perth author writes about faith, doubt and the road from WA to NYC.

Nadine Browne

2026 Premier's Book Awards Book of the Year and Emerging Writer of the Year winner Mabel Gibson.

BooksPremiumSignificant double win for First Nations storyteller

First-time author and Yamatji woman Mabel Gibson has taken home the top prize for Book of the Year at the 2026 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards with her debut micro memoir CryBaby.

Tanya MacNaughton

Albany author Amy Ullrich with her Heroes of Wessex trilogy.

Great expectationPremiumAmong the Valiant by Amy Ullrich about to hit the shelves

Amy Ullrich is launching the final book in her Heroes of Wessex series this month, wrapping up in one last adventure the fiction she has woven around the life of Alfred the Great.

Claire Middleton

Author David Wray with his debut novel Diamond of the Desert.

albany 2026Fiction and fact combine to tell story of colonialism in WA

The bicentenary of WA’s oldest city is the perfect time to dig into the State’s colonial past, historical fiction author David Wray says.

Jacki Elezovich

Paperbark Merchants' Leisa Morton with the new releases.

Open bookPremiumReading between the lines to serve Albany’s literary tastes

She’s living the dream, a prolific reader who spends her days surrounded by books.

Claire Middleton

Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) starred in the film at the centre of a bizarre legal battle in Brisbane. Jonathan Olley

MOVIESPremiumAussie author’s war on Disney film backfires

An author claiming the makers of the final Indiana Jones film stole her work has faced harsh words in her fight against the Mouse House.

Kate Stephenson

Kirra Pendergast and Maggie Dent with their book, Digital Freedom.

NationalPremiumNew book reveals how parents can navigate kids’ screen time

Renowned parenting expert Maggie Dent has teamed up with leading online safety expert Kirra Pendergast for a new book which aims to help parents navigate one of the biggest issues facing families today.

Rhianna Mitchell and Caitlin Vinci

Author Liane Moriarty.

BooksLiane Moriarty on taking her characters back from Hollywood

A decade after HBO got hold of them, the Monterey five are Aussies again. The author explains how she wrote a sequel to a book that became a phenomenon on screen.

Jade Jurewicz

Jennifer Miller, Jane Taylor, Olivia Miller, and Didy and Chris Wallace with Voices Of The South: Reflections 2026.

Albany 2026Big crowd supports bicentenary book launch

The Albany Town Hall hosted the launch of Voices Of The South: Reflections 2026 on Thursday night, a new anthology featuring a host of Albany writers’ perspectives on the city’s bicentenary.

Jacki Elezovich

Roger Guinery, editor of Voices of the South: Reflections 2026, which launches at Albany Town Hall on Thursday.

Albany 2026Voices of the South: Reflections 2026 launches at Town Hall

More than 60 writers with a deep affection for Albany have contributed their stories, poems and memoirs to Voices of the South: Reflections 2026, which launches on Thursday night at the Town Hall.

Claire Middleton

Maggie Dawkins with her book To Be Believed.

Book launchPremiumMaggie Dawkins launches new book To Be Believed in Albany

Brave survivors of the former St Andrew’s Hostel came forward last week in Albany to listen as Maggie Dawkins launched her book detailing the harrowing failures that allowed abuse to occur for so many years.

Amy Towers

Not Supplied

NewsPremium‘Feels strange’: Rapper wins Miles Franklin

A writer, rapper, artist and poet from Queanbeyan has won the 2026 Miles Franklin Literary Award.

Emma Kirk

Omar Musa has won the prestigious $60,000 Miles Franklin Literary Award. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP PHOTOS)

BooksPremiumSix years, 21 drafts earn hip-hop poet top book prize

Author and hip-hop artist Omar Musa moved to Borneo to write his second novel Fierceland, which has taken out Australia's premier literary award.

Liz Hobday

Sisters Heather Waugh and Cristy Burne have been shortlisted as finalists in WA Premier’s Book Awards 2026.

BooksPremiumTwo Perth sisters recognised in major WA author awards

Perth sisters who grew up with a simple love of reading have now been recognised in the State’s leading literary awards for their latest books. 

Eliana Hullett

Maggie Dawkins' book documents the abuse perpetrated by Dennis McKenna at what was then called St Andrew's Hostel.

Katanning bookPremiumTo Be Believed reveals Katanning hostel’s abusive history

A new book is shedding light on one of the Great Southern’s darkest chapters, documenting the abuse at Katanning’s former St Andrew’s Hostel and the survivors who fought for justice. 

Amy Towers

Novelist Tasma Walton’s book I Am Nannertgarrook has been shortlisted for fiction book of the year as part of the 2026 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards.

BooksAncestral labour of love makes Premier’s shortlist

Having her second novel I Am Nannertgarrook shortlisted for the 2026 WA Premier’s Book Awards’ fiction book of the year is a twofold honour for Geraldton-born-and-raised author and actor Tasma Walton.

Tanya MacNaughton

Author Geraldine Mellet in Albany with her debut novel.

Right readPremiumMellet celebrates first novel with book club meet in Albany

Her career started in Albany, a place where she said she felt instantly at home, and it was where Geraldine Mellet came last week to promote her first novel Things I Cannot Say.

Claire Middleton

Rosanne Dingli’s book, Chance and Necessity: A novel of Narrogin and Williams, has been shortlisted in the 2026 WA Premier’s Book Awards.

Book awardNarrogin and Williams based book shortlisted for State award

The history and character of two Wheatbelt towns have helped inspire a novel that has earned Rockingham author Rosanne Dingli a place on the shortlist of one of WA’s highest literary honours. 

Amy Towers

Mem Fox.

BooksEscape into a world of fiction

The Festival of Fiction 2026 program is announced for the biggest year yet of the literary event at ECU Joondalup.

Tanya MacNaughton

Tasma Walton's book I am Nannertgarrook is shortlisted for the WA Premier's Book Awards.

Book awardsNovel detailing Bald Head imprisonment shortlisted for award

A novel telling the story of Aboriginal women imprisoned on islands off Albany’s coast has earned author Tasma Walton a place on the shortlist for WA’s highest literary honours.

Amy Towers

Albany author Mabel Gibson shortlisted for WA Premier's Book Award.

Book awardPremiumAlbany’s Mabel Gibson’s book shortlisted for State award

A deeply personal memoir tracing one young woman’s journey through identity, grief and belonging has earned Albany author Mabel Gibson a place on the shortlist for one of WA’s highest literary honours.

Amy Towers

Celia Cooper Bevan, Kevin Gomm and Dave Price. Jacki Elezovich

albany 2026New book celebrates Great Southern bands and music history

Ever wondered what the Great Southern music scene was like 50 years ago? Kevin Gomm’s comprehensive book is your newest guide to the region’s glittering musical history. 

Jacki Elezovich

Former Albany postman Glenn Thompson with his newly published memoir The Postie Chronicles.

postie talesMail, mischief, mayhem in Glenn Thompson’s Postie Chronicles

A former Albany postman is reflecting on more than two decades of service at Australia Post in his memoir The Postie Chronicles, giving readers a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of the men with the mail. 

Jacki Elezovich

Former SAS commander Ben Pronk pictured at his Mosman Park home, Perth, on Wednesday. Ben has written a book on happiness titled ‘We’re All Going to Die’. Carwyn Monck

opinion
opinion
Ben HarveyPremium
opinion
What a former SAS commander can tell us about happiness

Ben Pronk is an annoying over-achievers who blows the grade curve for the rest of us. He is a former SAS commander who now runs a successful corporate advisory business, sketches and reads about philosophy.

Ben Harvey

Ben Harvey