Borderstream Books

News.

A new novel The Girls and the Ghosts of The Old Manse Revisited by Ruth Skilbeck will be published by Borderstream Books in August 2025.

Borderstream Books is an independent small publisher based in Australia. We publish novels, literary studies, and an international anthology journal, Arts Features International. We have two imprints: Borderstream Books and Postmistress Press.

Borderstream Books has published works by about 70 authors and artists in five issues of Arts Features International anthology journal, and Escape Artists Anthology. Several individual works (essays, short stories, poems-and-photographs) were published in the form of pamphlets and short book. Our books can be ordered here with Australia-wide delivery; internationally with custom postage (please send an email with your address for the country-specific mail charge); and our books can be purchased from Borderstream Books via the shop on this website. They are also in various online bookshops.

We are not accepting submissions at present.

For all book purchase and postage enquiries please email: mail@borderstreambooks.com.au

Arts Features International founding editor-in-chief is Dr Ruth Skilbeck PhD.

Our Story:

Borderstream Books was founded in 2017 in Adamstown, Newcastle, New South Wales by Ruth Skilbeck and moved to the state of Victoria in mid-2020, first to Fitzroy, Melbourne then to Whittington VIC 3219 in Geelong, following tragedy. The sudden tragic loss of Ruth’s son, Max Skilbeck Porter, singer-songwriter, musician, artist, writer, podcaster and sound engineer, without whom she would not have been able to get this publishing venture started. He designed the first book covers, and made the video of her talking about her hopes on the front verandah of their home then, the old (former) post office in Adamstown. The most wonderful person. Forever.

Since mid-2020 Borderstream Books has no longer been based in Adamstown, Newcastle, NSW (and will not be returning there).

Ruth Skilbeck: “After working for decades as a freelance writer and journalist (specialising in international and Australian contemporary art) since the early 1980s, then as a teacher and lecturer in writing, story, communication and media, at UTS and the University of New South Wales, and having many articles, stories, poems, and writings (and photographs) published in national newspapers and magazines (in Dublin, London, Sydney, and Newcastle) and peer-reviewed journals, I started to self-publish my novels (and also my revised and updated PhD thesis) in 2014, founded and edited and published a literary arts journal, and works from it in short books and pamphlets, which I continued to do until the tragedy. Since then I have self-published new editions of two novels, and am writing a new novel which I hope to publish later this year. I am not now self-publishing works by other writers and artists. Self-publishing is an apt description as I did most of the production work of design – with help at the start and suggestions from family, and writer and artist friends and colleagues – and typesetting (ditto re feedback), as well as the editorial side of preparing the creative written works and images for publication as an editor-in-chief of the anthology-journal. It was all very collaborative and I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed the creative processes of editing, writing, and producing the journal and books, and could do it – even meeting all my self-imposed deadlines for the quarterly journal- Arts Features International – which tragically was destined to be short lived as it turned out, and my world turned upside down.”

The Girls and The Ghosts of The Old Manse Revisited by Ruth Skilbeck is out August 2025.

Mailing address:

Borderstream Books PO Box 124 Newcomb, VIC 3219 Australia