Cirrus@Austlit

'Dark as Last Night confirms, once again, that Tony Birch is a master of the short story. These exceptional stories capture the importance of human connection at pivotal moments in our lives, whether those occur because of the loss of a loved one or the uncertainties of childhood. In this collection we witness a young girl struggling to protect her mother from her father’s violence, two teenagers clumsily getting to know one another by way of a shared love of music, and a man mourning the death of his younger brother, while beset by memories and regrets from their shared past. Throughout this powerful collection, Birch’s concern for the humanity of those who are often marginalised or overlooked shines bright.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'This is the final issue of Australian Short Stories quarterly magazine to be produced by Bruce Pascoe and Lyn Harwood. We hope an institution or individual will keep it going so that new Australian talent can be showcased and encouraged. The magazine as always has a mixture of men and women, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal and migrant Australians. We wish you well and if you to be locked down at least you will have something to read. But be careful, the short story is far more contagious than covid. Bruce Pascoe was born in 1947 in Melbourne, Australia. He is an Indigenous writer. His latest books include Fog a Dox (winner of the Prime Minister's Literary Awards in 2013), Convincing Ground, Dark Emu, and Mrs Whitlam. He received the 2016 NSW Premier's Literary Awards Indigenous Writers Prize, Joint Winner. In 2018, he won the Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature. It acknowledges prominent literary writers over 60 who have made outstanding and lifelong contribution to Australian literature.'  (Publication summary)