'Nick Earls' delicate and daring Wisdom Tree is a collection of five loosely linked novellas, each with a suggestive, but not straightforward place name. In Gotham, a musician turned journalist interviews the latest rap sensation Na$sti Boi, "nineteen and ascendant", but essentially "a lost boy". In a stunning shift, the story poignantly ends among children in Central Park. Next is Venice, which denotes a place of intense yearning for Natalie Landry (Australia's second most famous installation artist after Patricia Piccinini) as she vies to be the country's representative at the Biennale. ...'