Louis Nowra

Two girls survive a terrible flood in the Tasmanian bush and are rescued by a pair of Tasmanian tigers who raise them in the wild. Their story of survival is remarkable, as they adapt to the life of the tiger, learning to hunt and to communicate without the use of human language. When they are discovered and returned to civilization, neither can adapt to being fully human after their extraordinary experience. Totally believable, their story will both shock and captivate readers as it explores the animal instincts that lie beneath our civilized veneer and celebrates the ways of the tiger.

Into That Forest

A semi-autobiographical play set in a mental institution in 1970.

Louis Nowra Cosi (play)

The Goodbye Party

Cressy, Mae and Nona are half sisters with little in common bar the ghosts from their childhood. They come together for their mother's funeral with the tropical Queensland landscape a spectacular backdrop for their turbulent and often humourous reunion. As the sisters struggle to find common ground they discover a bond that is stronger that the pain of their history. This edition includes the stageplay and the screenplay, as well as an introduction by the author detailing the transition between the two. Also included are stills from the play and the AFI-award-winning film. Told with passion, humour and warmth, this bittersweet story burns a colourful and mysterious imprint on the mind's eye. (2 acts, 3 women).

The Play and the Screenplay

Radiance

Takes an affectionate look at madness and mayhem (3 acts, 5 men, 4 women, 2 boys, 3 girls).

Summer of the Aliens

The Golden Age

Yes, Sydney can be vulgar, corrupt, facile, ugly, brash and mindlessly hedonistic, but it is also visually beautiful, sensual, playful, dynamic, with a sense of unrestrained optimism. I fell in love with it as only someone who wasn’t born there could. In Sydney, acclaimed playwright and writer Louis Nowra — author of Kings Cross and Woolloomooloo — expands his gaze to explore the dynamism and pulsating sense of self-importance of his adopted city. This big, bustling portrait of Sydney is told through profiles of people high and low — a cast of criminals and premiers, ordinary folk, entertainers, artists, writers, thieves and visionaries. Along with its people, Nowra surveys the city’s landscape, its architecture and its global identity. And as Sydney’s history unfolds throughout the twentieth century and beyond, Nowra revels in its neon lights, music, skyscrapers, sense of optimism and the many disparate elements that shape Sydneysiders’ view of themselves. ‘Nowra captures the everchanging spirit of what is arguably — to most, and inarguably to Nowra — Australia’s pre-eminent city.’ — BOOKS+PUBLISHING

a biography

Sydney

Palu

It was no wonder I was glad to be down in Woolloomooloo. The Old Fitzroy reminded me of how Kings Cross used to be. Told in his vivid and entertaining style, Louis Nowra writes Woolloomooloo’s biography, drink in hand, from the vantage point of the Old Fitzroy Hotel, the cosy, eccentric and wonderful pub on Dowling Street, Woolloomooloo. It’s a world of sex, sin, sly grog, sailors, razor gangs, larrikins, workers, artisans, murderers, fishermen, activists, drinkers, fashion designers, tradies, artists and the downright dangerous. It’s also a story of courage, resilience, tolerance, compassion. And though the pub has a real theatre, it’s the cast of real-life characters that are the stars of this show. Woolloomooloo’s past wraps around its present. Louis - often accompanied by Coco the Chihuahua and other two-legged locals, often walks the streets, uncovering history - some official, some never revealed. He stumbles across pockets of beauty and charm, and the derelict and abandoned. Unforgettable - and unspellable - Woolloomooloo in this book is a place as fascinating as its name.

A Biography

Woolloomooloo

A longtime resident of Kings Cross, celebrated Australian author, playwright, and screenwriter Louis Lowra, in an ode to the neighborhood, cajoles readers into reimagining the most infamous and misunderstood place in Australia, a magnet for bohemianism, cosmopolitanism, and organized crime. In a wildly energetic book that walks the streets, sits in bars, chats with locals, and spends time in clubs and apartments where the walls, if they could talk, would tell a story or two, Nowra traverses the history and the future of his beloved neighborhood. He burrows beneath the sensationalist narrative of an underbelly of sex and sin to reveal stories and a cast of characters too astonishing to be fictitious. Backpackers, prostitutes, strippers, chefs, poets, beggars, booksellers, doctors, gangsters, judges, artists, and others live side-by-side in Kings Cross, and eyewitness, historian, and man-about-town Louis Nowra is the perfect guide to a no-holds-barred place that is as much physical as it is a state of mind.

Kings Cross

Black parachutes fall from the sky: young soldiers - and a dog - on a rescue mission in a remote part of Afghanistan. But the mission ends in chaos, and Mark and Prince embark on a perilous journey through enemy territory. They depend on each other to survive. A dramatic and powerful story of war and the bond between a young soldier and a dog, from the acclaimed author of Into That Forest.

Prince of Afghanistan

Autobiography of Australian playwright, novelist and screenwriter, focusing on his childhood and adolescence. Tells of his demanding mother and mad grandmother, the obsessions of his boyhood and the dark secret of his mother's past. Author's other publications include 'Map of the Human Heart' and 'Radiance'.

Louis Nowra

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