Wild & Woolley

Wild & Woolley is an Australian book publisher founded in 1974 by Pat Woolley and Michael Wilding. The first books published by the firm were Zimmer's Essay (Adamson & Hanford) and Wrappings by Vicki Viidikas.

Authors published by the firm include Robert Adamson who became Australia's first Professor of Poetry in 2012 at the University of Technology, Sydney, Dennis Altman one of Australia's living treasures, Glenn A. Baker the rock brain of the universe, Faith Bandler, Lee Cataldi, Ron Cobb, Fred Cress, Laurie Duggan, Pam Brown, David Foster, Billy Jones, Kris Hemensley, Antigone Kefala, Stephen Knight, Rudi Krausmann, Jack Lindsay, Bruce Petty, Nigel Roberts, Katherine Susannah Prichard, Jon Silkin, Colin Talbot, Albie Thoms, Christine Townend, Pi O, Vicki Viidikas and Michael Wilding. The firm also acted as Australian distributors for various foreign publishers including Black Sparrow Press, City Lights Books, And/Or, New Directions, Zed Books, Gay Mens, John Calder and Pluto Press

corner tenement in Chippendale

The photo shows a corner tenement in Chippendale (at the top of the page) that was bought by Pat Woolley in 1975 for $23,000. And the same building was sold again with no serious alterations forty years later for $1.23 million. The sign painted by Ron Cobb in 1976 has been overpainted. If you look closely at the photo, Ron and his wife Robyn Love are standing in front of the building, with Pat's book delivery van on the right.

After leaving Chippendale, Wild & Woolley made its office and warehouse in Kent Street, Sydney, available at no charge for the launch of the Makar Press's The New Australian Poetry.[1] The editor of this anthology, John Tranter, recalls that when poet and academic Andrew Taylor took the stage to make the official launch (having stepped in at the last moment due to the illness of Bob Brissenden), as the crowd quietened down John Forbes yelled out ‘Cultural Lackey!’.

In 1990, Woolley became a pioneer of digital publishing. "The revolutionary way to publish books" cried the Sydney Morning Herald as the firm turned out 100 copies of a 100-page book in one hour.

Important dates

  • 1974 first books: Zimmer's Essay (Adamson & Hanford) and Wrappings (Vicki Viidikas).
  • 1979 Wilding resigned his directorship to free up more time for his own writing. From that time to the present, the company has been under the sole 'governing' directorship of Pat Woolley.
  • 1980 fire destroyed equipment and stocks in Kent Street warehouse.
  • 1981 moved to historic metal foundry in Glebe, New South Wales.
  • 1983 published first four titles from Women's Redress Press including Welou, My Brother by Faith Bandler.
  • 1990 the first publisher in the world to print books on a photocopier.
  • 1991 artists published through Fast Books during its 20 years include Garry Shead, George Gittoes, Franco Paisio, and Andrew Sibley.
  • 2003 3 million books later, sold photocopier, binder, and factory.
  • 2011 Wild & Woolley and its associated trademarked entity Fast Books were incorporated into Aveekee Pty Ltd which was run by Pat Woolley with help from Ted Roberts to produce new audio formats for the international audience.
  • 2015 Ted Roberts died of cancer.
  • 2017 Pat Woolley changed her name to Mimi Roberts to maintain her connection with her husband. The 'Mimi' is a shortened version of her middle name. She has revived the development of the inflight entertainment program now called Flying Over.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The New Australian Poetry, edited by John Tranter, Makar Press 1979
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