‘When a group of essays get together in a room they start talking to each other, often in surprising ways ... The existence of these voices – stylish, vital frequently wise – is a source of hope.’ —Anna Goldsworthy The Best Australian Essays showcases the nation’s most eloquent, insightful and urgent non-fiction writing. In her debut as editor of the anthology, award-winning author Anna Goldsworthy chooses brilliant pieces that provoke, unveil, engage and enlighten. From the election of Donald Trump to digital disruption, from the passing of rock gods to the wonders of Australian slang, these essays get to the heart of what’s happening in Australia and the world. Contributors include Shannon Burns, Barry Humphries, Stan Grant, Keane Shum, Richard Cooke, Nick Feik, Michael Adams, Micheline Lee, Mandy Sayer, Tim Flannery, Sonya Hartnett, Harriet Riley, John Clarke, Jennifer Rutherford, Amanda Niehaus, Sam Vincent, Lech Blaine, Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Moreno Giovannoni, Janine Mikosza, Melissa Howard, Helen Garner, James Wood, J.M. Coetzee, Robert Skinner, Sebastian Smee and Anwen Crawford. Anna Goldsworthy is the author of Piano Lessons, Welcome to Your New Life and the Quarterly Essay Unfinished Business: Sex, Freedom and Misogyny. Her writing has appeared in the Monthly, the Age, the Australian, the Adelaide Review and The Best Australian Essays. She is also a concert pianist, with several recordings to her name.

The best of the best This essential book takes a decade of Best Australian Essays and selects the cream of the crop. These are the pieces that have captured key events - from September 11 to Victoria's fires - changed the way we see the nation, for good or ill - from Anzac Day to Palm Island - investigated intriguing figures - from Oskar Schindler to Charles Darwin - or which simply represent a peak of the writer's art. Contributors include: Thomas Keneally, Chloe Hooper, Peter Porter, David Malouf, John Birmingham, Helen Garner, Inga Clendinnen, MJ Hyland, Barry Humphries, David Marr, Clive James, Robyn Davidson, Christos Tsiolkas, Craig Sherborne, Kevin Brophy, Frank Devine, Barry Oakley, Jessica Anderson, Alan Frost, Gary Hughes, Christine Kenneally, JM Coetzee, Simon Leys, Anna Goldsworthy, Brenda Walker, Anne Manne, Shane Maloney, Noel Pearson, Tim Flannery, Robert Manne, Richard Flanagan, Gay Alcorn, Mark Riley, Nicolas Rothwell, Robert Dessaix, Anna Krien, Tim Winton, Kate Jennings, Benjamin Law and David Foster

In The Best Australian Stories, acclaimed writer Maxine Beneba Clarke brings together our country’s leading literary talents. Herself an award-winning short-story writer, Beneba Clarke selects exceptional stories that resonate with experience and truth, and celebrate the art of storytelling. Previous contributors include Kate Grenville, Tony Birch, David Malouf, Kirsten Tranter, Anna Krien, Georgia Blain, Peter Goldsworthy, Fiona McFarlane, Elizabeth Harrower, Ryan O’Neill and Romy Ash. Maxine Beneba Clarke is an Australian writer of Afro-Caribbean descent. In 2015 her short fiction collection Foreign Soil won the ABIA for Best Literary Fiction and the Indie Award for Best Debut Fiction, and was shortlisted for the Stella Prize. Her critically acclaimed memoir, The Hate Race (2016), was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award, the Indie Award for Non-Fiction and the Stella Prize. She is also the author of a picture book, The Patchwork Bike (2016), several poetry collections, and is a contributor to the Saturday Paper.

Award-winning poet, critic, editor and academic Sarah Holland-Batt takes the helm again as editor of this year’s Best Australian Poems. Previous contributors include Judith Beveridge, Stephen Edgar, Fiona Wright, Clive James, Lisa Gorton, Robert Adamson, Dorothy Porter, John Kinsella, David Malouf, Cate Kennedy and Les Murray. Sarah Holland-Batt is the author of The Hazards (UQP, 2015), which won the poetry prize at the 2016 Prime Minister's Literary Awards, and Aria (UQP, 2008), which won the Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize, the Arts ACT Judith Wright Award, and the FAW Anne Elder Award and was shortlisted in both the New South Wales and Queensland Premiers’ Literary Awards. She is presently a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the Queensland University of Technology and the poetry editor of Island.