DOMINIC SMITH Return to Valetto. Reviewed by Ann Skea
The new novel from the author of The Electric Hotel uncovers wartime secrets in an Italian village. Hugh Fraser is an American academic whose Italian mother, Hazel, used to take him to her home village in Italy for their summer holidays. He has fond memories of...
MYF WARHURST Time of My Life. Reviewed by Virginia Muzik
Myf Warhurst’s memoir of life, music, and the media is like reminiscing with an old friend. Many of us can recall a song we heard in childhood that blew open our world the first time we came across it. For a young Myf Warhurst, that song was ‘Howzat’ by 1970s...
HOLDEN SHEPPARD The Brink. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
Holden Sheppard’s second novel is more Lord of the Flies than teen exploitation story. Holden Sheppard’s Invisible Boys (2019) was a stunning debut that got a lot of attention when it was released. It’s a raw and real read – an honest novel about being young and...
ROBERT DESSAIX Abracadabra. Reviewed by Ann Skea
Robert Dessaix reveals his love of language and literature in these occasional pieces. Abracadabra – an ancient Aramaic spell avra kadavra (‘it will be created in words’). In his preface to these collected writings, Dessaix describes them as ‘talks of mine from gala...
SCOTT PEARCE The Rider on the Bridge. Reviewed by Sally Nimon
Scott Pearce’s dreamlike second novel explores life on the edge of society. From the opening moments of The Rider on the Bridge it is clear that we are dealing with a protagonist whose path through life has been somewhat unusual. Kitten, as he later comes to be...
NIGEL FEATHERSTONE My Heart is a Little Wild Thing. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
Nigel Featherstone’s second novel is a story of masculinity and modern Australia. Throwing a clock at his mother in frustration is, for Patrick in Nigel Featherstone’s latest novel, a realisation and a release. Conscious that if his mother hadn’t moved...
JOCK SERONG Lines to the Horizon: Australian surf writing. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
These six essays provide insights into the world of surfing both as individual passion and national symbol. In his introduction to this collection of Australian surf writing, Jock Serong asks whether surfing is a sport or a culture. It is estimated there are between...
CARLY FINDLAY (ed.) Growing Up Disabled in Australia. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
These stories range widely across different experiences of disability, and question why disabled people must always be the ones to adapt to the world. In her introduction to this remarkable collection of personal essays, Carly Findlay writes that she didn’t identify...
CRAIG MUNRO Literary Lion Tamers: Book editors who made publishing history. Reviewed by Bruce Sims
Craig Munro examines the author-editor relationship through the lives of four Australian editors. Like most editors, sometimes I wish that I had a whip that I could use with authors. However, as Craig Munro demonstrates in his engaging tour through Australian letters,...
EMMA ASHMERE Dreams They Forgot: extract
This week we’re delighted to bring you the short story ‘Fallout’ from Emma Ashmere’s debut collection Dreams They Forgot. What haunting stories these are, with their ghosts, betrayals and secrets, ranging back and forth across time and continents. A...
CHRISTOPHER RAJA Into the Suburbs: extract
This week’s extract is from Christopher Raja’s memoir Into the Suburbs, a story of immigration and family, ambition and tragedy. It is also a resonant portrait of Australia through the eyes of an outsider. Christopher Raja spent the first eleven years of his life in...
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