In On Beauty, Susan Johnson explores the role of beauty in our lives, and in her life in particular: She writes of where her own search for beauty has taken her, how beauty enters the body like desire, and how beauty is nothing less than life's call to order, life's bid to save it from itself.

Australia has always prided itself on its luckiness. This book deals with this characteristic, and especially what happens when luck runs out.

A work on longing that examines the creative tension between writing and love.

This series pairs leading Australian thinkers and cultural figures with some of the big themes in life. Gay Bilson rose to fame as chef and owner of the influential Australian restaurant, Berowra Waters Inn. She has written a thoughtful meditation on food and writing.

With his trademark eloquence and humour, Robert Dessaix, one of Australia's eminent writers, tackles humbug in the modern world; the tide of mumbo jumbo where words fall short of what they mean and motivations are not always what they appear.

In On Passion, celebrated Australian poet Dorothy Porter delves headfirst into the passions, both literary and earthly. Written just before she passed away in 2008, On Passion is a wonderful, ultimately joyous, insight into the creative life of one of our best loved poets.