Book launch: The Idealist by Nicholas Jose

PRESENTED BY NO WAVE AND GIRAMONDO PUBLISHING

You’re invited to a celebration of The Idealist, the new work of fiction by the celebrated novelist and essayist Nicholas Jose, set against the turmoil of the independence movement in East Timor.

Run as a special edition of No Wave, and hosted by Jane Turner Goldsmith, the event will take place on Wednesday 1 November at The Wheatsheaf in Adelaide. The Idealist will be launched by Jennifer Mills, acclaimed writer, essayist, and author of novels including The Airways, Dyschronia and Gone. The event will feature readings from both Jose and Mills.

Attendees are invited to arrive at 7pm for a 7.30pm start. Copies of The Idealist will be sold on the night through Imprints Booksellers, with light refreshments provided.

This event is free, but RSVP is strongly encouraged.

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ABOUT THE IDEALIST

Set in Australia, East Timor and Washington in the lead up to the East Timorese independence referendum in 1999, The Idealist is a novel which explores the entanglement of private and public life: it is a political mystery, a portrait of a marriage, a reflection on friendship, and a study of a personality as it breaks down under pressure.

Jake, an Australian defence analyst, is torn between his support for the people of East Timor, whose commitment to independence in the face of mounting violence he has experienced personally, and his responsibility for and complicity in the actions of his government. When he is found dead in the garage of his Washington home, his wife Anne is determined to see justice done. Atmospheric, tender, subtle in its portrayal of conflicting allegiances, The Idealist takes the reader into the space of the personal and political with a rare artistry.

Order the book.

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ABOUT NICHOLAS JOSE

Nick Jose has published seven novels, and three collections of short stories. His non-fiction includes Chinese Whispers: Cultural Essays and an acclaimed memoir, Black Sheep: Journey to Borroloola. He has written widely on contemporary Asian and Australian culture. He was Cultural Counsellor at the Australian Embassy Beijing from 1987-1990 and Chair of Australian Studies at Harvard University. He is an Adjunct Professor in the Writing and Society Research Centre, Western Sydney University and Emeritus Professor of English and Creative Writing at The University of Adelaide.

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ABOUT JENNIFER MILLS

Jennifer Mills is the author of the novels The Airways (Picador, 2021), Dyschronia (Picador, 2018), Gone (UQP, 2011) and The Diamond Anchor (UQP, 2009) and a collection of short stories, The Rest is Weight (UQP, 2012). Her novels have been longlisted and shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, Australia’s most prestigious prize for literary fiction, as well as many other prizes. Mills’ fiction, essays and criticism have been widely published, including in Australian Book Review, Best Australian Stories, Best Australian Essays, Griffith Review, The Guardian, Heat, Island, Lithub, Meanjin, The Monthly, New Australian Stories, Overland, Review of Australian Fiction, The Saturday Paper, The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney Review of Books, and The Washington Post. She is a regular writer for Overland literary journal, where she was fiction editor from 2012-2018.

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ABOUT NO WAVE

No Wave is a poetry reading series held on the first Wednesday of every month at The Wheatsheaf Hotel. Follow them on Twitter here.

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