On a whim John Purcell, The Booktopia Book Guru, asked the twittersphere and facebookland what they thought were the ‘must read’ Australian novels. In a matter of hours hundreds of titles were suggested. He then made a long list of these offerings and asked the world to vote for their favourites. A fellow on twitter suggested he allow one title per author, to ensure the list wasn’t swamped by Wintons, Careys, McCulloughs and Courtenays. The title which received the most votes would be that author’s single listing. Purcell thought this a good idea. (Tim Winton would have swallowed up the Top Ten otherwise. Good on ya, Timmo.)

So here it is, the Top 10. Let us know what you think? Do you agree or have we missed a great Australian novel? Click here for the full list.

1.Cloudstreet by Tim Winton
2. Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
3. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
4. Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner
5. My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin
6. The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas
7. My Brother Jack – by George Johnston
8. The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay
9. The Harp in the South by Ruth Park
10. The Man Who Loved Children by Christina Stead

The Refugee Art Project presents fear+hope, a group exhibition by asylum seekers who live within Australian detention centres. Our friends at Design Federation caught up with Safdar Ahmed & Anton Pulvirenti to ask them about this exhibition that kicks off at the Mori Gallery in Sydney on Monday, 20th June 2011. Here is a snippet of what they had to say!

How did the Refugee Art Project begin?

Safdar: Anton and I both come from a fine arts background. We met and became friends at art school, in the year after I had finished high school, and have always shared a passion for talking and thinking about art. Last year I was speaking to a friend (the co-founder of this project, Dr Omid Tofighian) about refugee issues and it then occurred to us that an art exhibition might be a great vehicle for understanding the position of refugees in Australia. We started to visit the Villawood detention centre for art classes shortly thereafter, and Anton soon joined us to assume a teaching role.

Anton: My involvement began with an invitation from Safdar to join the project. As a long time friend, he was well acquainted with my art practice. He was also aware of the thesis I am completing at The Sydney College of the Arts on my grandfather’s internment at Loveday camp during the Second World War in South Australia. He thought that going inside Villawood would help me shed light on my grandfather’s experience in Loveday of which little is known.

How did you meet artists inside the Villawood detention centre and who are they?

Anton: Safdar had already met some artists. I knew no-one on my first visit. I sat simply sat down, commenced a portrait, and soon made new friends! The artists are predominantly from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Iran and Iraq. They have all escaped some form of religious or political persecution.

Read the rest of the interview here.

What: The Refugee Art Project – Fear & Hope
Where: The Mori Gallery
168 Day Street, Sydney (5 mins from Town Hall)
When: 22 June – 8 July 2011
Open Tuesday, Thursday – Sunday, 11am – 5pm
Late night Wednesday, 11am  – 8pm
Cost: Free

The 2011 Sydney Writers’ Festival proudly presents some of the world’s finest poets, novelists and authors of literary nonfiction, including 2010 Man Booker Prize winner Howard Jacobson; Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hours and By Nightfall, Michael Cunningham; the acclaimed David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet) and Aminatta Forna (The Memory of Love), as well as internationally renowned Australians Peter Robb, Kim Scott, Markus Zusak, Sonya Hartnett and John Tranter.’ Read more here.

It promises to be a powerful and engaging lineup. Catch one of the many events, the festival is running now & finishes on the 22nd May 2011.

From Australia’s first MasterChef comes the Pink Ribbon Edition of the phenomenal bestseller, Our Family Table. Support Breast Cancer research ith $1 from every copy sold going to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Our Family Table is a mouth-watering collection of recipes from Julie and her family and features a blank chapter at the back for you to add the recipes from your own family’s table.

The mother from the Central Coast that captured the heart of Australia brings you home cooking at its finest. From breakfast to dinner parties, Christmas to camping, sweet treats to preserves – this book is set to become a permanent fi xture on your cookbook stand.

Also featuring a foreword by Margaret Fulton. You can get your hands on a copy in May!

Some of Australia’s best known writers compete with a number of talented first time authors in an intriguing and eclectic shortlist for the 2011 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, the nation’s oldest, richest and most prestigious State literary awards.

Finalists this year include popular comedian Anh Do; novelist and screenwriter Melina Marchetta; academic, poet and translator Ouyang Yu; two-time Booker Prize winner Peter Carey and former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. For more than 30 years, the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards have honoured hundreds of established and emerging novelists, playwrights, poets, scriptwriters, social commentators and writers of children and young people’s fiction.

Please note that this year the People’s Choice Award, which gives readers an opportunity to vote for their favourite shortlisted book in the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, will be open for the first time to all Australians (in previous years only NSW residents were eligible to vote).  Voting is via the website: http://www.pla.nsw.gov.au/  There are great prizes to be won by voting.

2011’s shortlisted writers were selected from more than 570 nominations across 10 categories. Prizes of up to $315,000 will be presented at the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards dinner on 16 May, the first celebratory event of the 2011 Sydney Writers’ Festival (16-22 May).

For more details on shortlisted individuals, please visit http://www.pla.nsw.gov.au.

Media enquiries please contact: April Murdoch, Publicist; mob: 0434 581 944 & email: aprilmurdochmedia {at} yahoo.com(.)au

The Big Issue is a fortnightly, independent magazine, which is sold on the streets around Australia. It’s a high-quality, general interest publication that features arts and entertainment, humorous columns, current affairs, lifestyle, personal experiences and there own particular brand of irreverence. The editorial team is headed by Walkley Award-winning journalist and author Alan Attwood.

The magazine is sold by authorised vendors on the streets of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra and regional Victoria. Vendors come from a range of backgrounds including mental illness, homelessness, long-term unemployment, intellectual and physical disability, drug and alcohol dependency, family breakdown and others suffering from social isolation, such as refugees.

Get onboard & buy an issue, it’s an awesome read!

The State Library of Western Australia announces the Call for Entries for the 2010 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards including a new category, the Digital Narrative Award.

Entry is open to books, scripts and digital narrative which have been published/produced between 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2010. To be eligible authors must be citizens or permanent residents of Australia or whose work has Australia as its primary focus. The closing date for entries is 5pm Monday 31 January 2011.

There are 8 categories in the Awards: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Children’s Book, Writing for Young Adults, Poetry, Scripts, State Library of Western Australia West Australian History Award and the new Digital Narrative Award which recognises the use of new media in storytelling/writing. An additional Premier’s Prize of $25,000 is presented to the overall winner, chosen from the category winners.

Prize money is made available by the Western Australian Government. The West Australian History Award is sponsored by the State Library of Western Australia. Short listed entries will be announced in June 2011.

fluoro are giving away yearly subscriptions to four lucky Two Flat White and Design Federation visitors to celebrate the release of fluoro8 which hits stores around Australia late December 2010. To enter click here.

Read all about the fluoro yearly subscriptions comp»

Our competition for the Design Federation Book ‘The Annual’ has now closed. Thank you to everyone that entered we had an overwhelming response. The winners are listed below and your prizes will be sent this week. Thanks again to Design Federation for your generous support!

Joy Constantino – Mt Gravatt East, QLD
Brad Kennelly – Richmond, VIC
Justin Sugar – Newcastle, NSW
Maggie Frederick – Gold Coast, QLD

Two Flat Whites in conjunction with our friends at Design Federation are giving four (4) lucky people the chance to win a copy of the Design Federation Book ‘The Annual’, which is being released on the 25^th November 2010.

The Federation Annual will be released at an exclusive launch party sponsored by Peroni and Nespresso at The Art Lounge kicking off at 7pm on the 25th November 2010. Design Federation called upon the many talents of their readership and supporters (the “Friends of the Federation”) for submissions to feature in this exciting inaugural departure from the virtual to the actual.

This print debut will serve as a striking visual showcase of the community in a beautiful, full-colour inspiration book. The theme of the book was “1” to celebrate the first book of its kind and demonstrate Design Federation’s solidarity with the Aussie design community.

All profits from The Federation Annual will be going to Mission Australia’s Creative Youth Initiative (CYI). Based in Sydney’s Surry Hills, CYI is a unique service that provides young people aged 16-25, who are facing many and varied challenges in their lives, such as homelessness, mental health issues, substance abuse, family breakdown, unemployment and early school leavers the opportunity to access professional and accredited creative programs. Design Federation has partnered with CYI to raise awareness for the program and promote their inspirational work.

The Federation Annual is available for $34.40 pre-order via the DF Big Cartel site.

For your chance to win this great prize, simply email your name, postal address and the code word to info {at} twoflatwhites(.)com . Remember you need to be signed up on the Two Flat Whites fan page on Facebook to win and also grab the code word.

Competition closes Sunday, 28^th November 2010.