Songs from the Firefront

How do we keep going in a burning world? Songs from the Firefront is a vital and moving memoir in essays from Tim Winton, twice Booker Prize-shortlisted author of Cloudstreet and The Riders. A memoir in essays, Songs from the Firefront is a book about the sacred fragility of existence. Deeply personal, brimming with anger and humour and love – for family, for the beautiful, brutal Australian landscape – Tim Winton’s writing invites you into the world of one of our greatest living writers. Here he admits to stupidity alone in a vast canyon, paddleboards out to sea to visit the local dugong population, and tells of the horror and sadness of watching as his neighbourhood is lost to bush fires. He tells the story of how he became friends with Helen Garner, the travelling that allowed him to write Cloudstreet, and about the act of unconditional love a father might agree to after his beloved daughter has delivered her child. From memories of his own childhood to what he sees in his grandchildren’s future, Songs from the Firefront is a profound book about the world we live in and what we can hope to pass on. It’s a call for solidarity and a testament to the deep joys and sorrows of family life. Praise for Tim Winton: ‘Winton is just one of the best’ - Independent ‘Winton is a masterful storyteller with an enormous heart’ - Mariella Frostrup ‘He is a novelist, a great one, because against all evidence and odds, he reminds us what it is to be human, and reminds us to be proud of our humanity . . . Winton is a one-man band of genius’ - Los Angeles Times ‘Tim Winton is the real thing: a writer who can photograph a thought and pluck out the beat of a soul on a washing line’ - Scotland on Sunday ‘To read Winton is to be reminded not just of the possibilities of fiction but of the human heart’ - The Times