Kicking off in time for the Rugby World Cup, Griffith REVIEW is excited to launch the first of a series of digital ‘Singles’ with a rugby-themed memoir:

Looking Back: a self-portrait by award-winning writer Lloyd Jones.

Priced at only $4.95, Singles are selected essays, memoir and reportage from Australia’s best literary magazine, showcasing individual authors and making it easier and more affordable for readers to choose their favourites.
Their release is an important step for Griffith REVIEW to reach readers who have made the switch to e-readers.
Editor Julianne Schultz AM said, ‘The rapid uptake in e-readers and social media has been a boon for long form writing that is too long for traditional magazines but too short for a book. Griffith REVIEW has always had a specialist and a generalist audience for our themed editions, and the ease of digital publishing means that we can now offer readers a series of Singles, to select and curate the content as they wish.’

The first Single is a 10,000-word memoir by Commonwealth Prize winner and rugby tragic Lloyd Jones. It is also the lead essay in Edition 33: Such Is Life, which includes new memoirs by Debra Adelaide, Frank Moorhouse, Carrie Tiffany and others, and is available now as an ebook and print book.

In Looking back: a self-portrait, Jones explores how childhood rugby games and reverence for the All Blacks shaped his adult sensibilities and helped create the internationally acclaimed author he has become.
Jones is best known for his novel Mister Pip (Text, 2007) which won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.
His previous writing about Rugby includes The Book of Fame (2000) a fictionalised account of the All Blacks’ 1905 trip to England, which rocketed the team to fame. His most recent novel is the highly acclaimed Hand Me Down World (Text, 2010).

The Singles have been developed in consultation with Griffith REVIEW’s publisher Text Publishing. Publisher Michael Heyward said of Jones’ essay, ‘This is a wonderful piece of writing which draws you in, whether or not you believe you are a rugby fan, and is the perfect melding of sport and arts, the very definition of culture. We are delighted to launch the Singles series with such a timely and engaging memoir.’

The Single will be released on 29 August in the lead up to International Rugby season and the start of the Rugby World Cup matches in New Zealand. It will be available as an ePub through all major online retailers such as Amazon, Kobo, Whitcoulls, Dymocks, booki.sh and more, for AUD$4.95.

Details:
Looking Back: a self-portrait $4.95 eISBN 9780987164803
Griffith Review 33: Such Is Life $27.95 ISBN 9781921758225