Hybrid Publishers

01/10/2025

Great podcast, The Crime Couch, with Rochelle Jackson speaking with John van Groningen, author of 'Prisons: The good, the bad, the mad and the sad'

John Van Groningen has over 50 years' experience in the prison and corrections system. He's been a Prison Officer and Commissioner, academic researcher and teacher, bureaucrat, expert commentator and a ministerial and government advisor. John's lectured extensively and worked as a criminal justice c...

04/09/2025

Great to see 'Chalk and Cheese' in the list of 10 latest books, SMH! 'Chalk and Cheese weaves a rumbustious satire of political polarisation into a gentler probing of social issues surrounding ageing and end-of-life care.'

Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction releases.

28/08/2025

Revised edition just released! 'Within These Walls' by award-winning author Robyn Bavati
‘Live, Miri. Don’t let the N***s wipe out our entire family, our entire people … Don’t think of anything but survival … Promise me, Miri. Promise me you’ll try to survive.’
I nodded slowly. And promised.

Miri’s happy life is interrupted when the Jew-hating Germans march into Warsaw. Soon, she and her family must move to the ghetto. She hopes that now they will be left alone, but what the N***s have planned is far worse than she could have ever imagined.
Based on true events, 'Within These Walls' gives a realistic account of what it was like to be a Jewish child in Warsaw during the Holocaust. Written for teenage readers, with Teachers' Notes available.

25/08/2025

'Revolting residents: Elders unite in "Chalk and Cheese"'– Does it take an odd couple to write about an odd couple? Read Phil Brown's review
https://www.indailyqld.com.au/inreview/books-poetry/2025/08/26/revolting-residents-elders-unite-in-chalk-and-cheese

29/07/2025

For those in Brisbane, you're invited to the launch of 'Chalk and Cheese'! https://avidreader.com.au/pages/12510-ChalkCheese-RossFitzgeraldIanMcFadyen

28/07/2025

Now out!
'PRISONS: The Good, the Bad, the Mad and the Sad' by John Van Groningen
A fascinating memoir of a former sociologist/criminologist in the United States and Australia. Rather than a chronological memoir, this book provides anecdotes and accounts, often serious, sometimes funny, about life in the prison system. It includes questions and answers, a photo section and an appendix titled ‘Who is to blame?’.
With a foreword by Jon Faine.
https://www.hybridpublishers.com.au/product/prisons-the-good-the-bad-the-mad-and-the-sad/

25/07/2025

‘… a rare gem – an intricate fabrication that is profoundly human’
– Dr Michael Briody
Ross Fitzgerald and Ian McFadyen's powerful new fiction, 'Chalk and Cheese', is a tale of two 80-year-old former radio stars, Bill and Ben, who hate each other, but who end up in the same nursing home.
This revealing novel explores elder issues and shows how (with the aid of their grandchildren), Bill and Ben join together to protect and enhance the lives and circumstances of the elderly.
Even though 'Chalk and Cheese' can be seen as a wry comedy using clear-eyed satire, it is also a compelling story which challenges our views on life in nursing homes and how the elderly are treated.
https://www.hybridpublishers.com.au/product/chalk-and-cheese-a-fabrication-by-ross-fitzgerald-and-ian-mcfadyen/

15/07/2025

'Chalk and Cheese' coming soon!

"As a comic novel with serious intent, Chalk and Cheese is a rare gem – an intricate fabrication that is profoundly human. It is, without question, the best novel I have read this year,: writes book reviewer MICHAEL BRIODY.

07/07/2025

"I opened a book and in I strode. Now nobody can find me. I've left my chair, my house, my road, my town and my world behind me." -Julia Donaldson

"Quiet Time in Favorite Chair" Artist Gina Brown (ginabrownart.com)

01/05/2025

Melbourne Jewish Book Week
Welcome to the latest episode of Writing Lives. Our guest is award-winning Israeli author, Shifra Horn, in conversation with Melbourne-based author and writing mentor, Dr Lee Kofman. This conversation with the internationally renowned Shifra Horn focuses on her latest book 'Scorpion Dance' and her life as a writer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s51w1jUixkE

01/05/2025

Great night at the Artists' Bar in Brunswick for the launch of 'With Sappho in the Antipathies' by James Harpur! Photos by Nicholas Walton-Healey.

16/04/2025

Congratulations to poet James Harpur on becoming Recipient of a Cork City Council residency in Paris! https://www.corkcoco.ie/en/news/cork-county-council-and-centre-culturel-irlandais-announce-james-harpur-as-recipient-of-artist
Read his recently published book, 'With Sappho in the Antipathies'.

Cork County Council Library and Arts Service has announced that West Cork-based poet James Harpur has been selected as the recipient of the artist residency at Ireland’s cultural headquarters on the European mainland.