Cirrus@Austlit

'It’s the typical bind of the third-culture kid: too much of one thing, not enough of the oth­er, not enough, not enough, not enough …' 

'In the opening pages of Michelle See-Tho’s début novel, Jade and Emerald, an unnamed narrator is avoiding someone’s gaze. That someone is ‘pristine, poised like a goddess’ to the narrator’s vision of herself: haircut ‘like an eight-year-old boy’s’, smudged make-up, dress the wrong colour. There is a secret between these two young women, blown open by the prologue’s end.'  (Introduction)

'Siang Lu’s polyphonic début novel, The Whitewash (2022), occupied a unique place in Australian fiction. It was written as an oral history, with a cast of voices, sometimes in conflict with one another, coalescing to tell the story of the rise and fall of a Hollywood spy blockbuster. The film was supposed to star the first-ever Asian male lead in such a role, but he was replaced by a white actor at the last minute. Blending real and invented film history, The Whitewash was an original work of satire, providing a breath of fresh air in the local literary landscape – even more so considering that it dealt so adroitly with matters of race and representation, normally approached in a much more conventional, and predictable, way.' (Introduction)

'The award-winning author of The Whitewash takes his readers on wild rides where facts and fiction are often indistinguishable. He’s back with a new novel, containing secrets only he knows.'

'SBS’s Swift Street follows a father and daughter who commit crimes to pay back a dangerous debt – but ‘it’s a privilege to sit on a moral high horse’, says the creator'

'‘The personal is political’ is an axiom that has become ubiquitous. Normally used within the context of feminist activism, in Yumna Kassab’s latest novel – for which it serves as the epigraph – it is a reminder of the human sacrifice of war and how every part of a civilian’s life reflects its surroundings.' (Introduction)

'“Great writing is about the outer things that point to the inner,” a character says in Julie Koh’s “On the Road”. That captures the spirit of Kill Your Darlings’ fifth annual New Australian Fiction anthology, which collects unusual stories that reveal more on multiple readings.' (Introduction)   

'Is there anything more deeply cursed than being a woman in your 20s? Novelists have been mining this period of life for years, but few get it as well as Madeleine Gray, whose debut, in a droll internet-style voice, hits the nail on the head. Reading this book was like being thrust underneath an X-ray machine and seeing all the most repulsive parts of myself; like picking at a scab repeatedly, knowing it will scar but delighting in the sick sensation. Disgusting! More please!' (Introduction)

'Melbourne author Aisling Smith’s début begins with a question that snakes the whole way through her novel: ‘What has happened to Benjamin?’' (Introduction)   

'Home and displacement sit side by side in Chinese Fish. Inhabiting multiple perspectives, Grace Yee’s polyphonic verse novel follows a family suspended between two cultures over two decades, from their resettlement in New Zealand from Hong Kong in the 1960s through to grief and loss.' (Introduction)   

'Bad Behaviour author Rebecca Starford and the team behind a dramatisation of her memoir reflect on how they recreated her frightening account of her elite boarding school'

'A coming of age campus novel tackling class, sex and power, McPherson’s debut promises a lot to chew on – but it’s all a little too dry'