Cirrus@Austlit

'Australian icon Kylie Minogue is the musical muse for this sparkling new anthology. Twenty-four writers, a third of whom identify as LGBTQIA+, used a Kylie Minogue song as the springboard for a new, original piece of work, covering the genres of crime, memoir, speculative fiction, poetry and science fiction – from Kylie’s 1987 release ‘I Should Be So Lucky’ all the way through to her newest album ‘Tension’.' (Publication summary)

'From an automaton of Nick Cave, to a man who can’t keep his blood out of the food he is preparing; from a vengeful Uber driver to a spinner of souls; and from a boy caught up in a robbery to a girl desperate to save a failing greyhound, the characters who populate this short story collection have all been inspired by a Nick Cave lyric. These 21 stories, from some of Australia’s favourite creators, respond to Cave’s visionary genius with their own original and unsettling tales of death, faith, violence and love.' (Publication summary) 

'McDermott’s imagination came, he says, as a side effect of poor eyesight. His new picture book, Ghostbear, blooms with sweetness, sadness and cosmic wonder.'

'What we make of memories and what they make of us.

'Like fireflies to the light, Mona, Benny and Jimmy are drawn into the elegantly wasted orbit of the Crystal Ballroom and the post-punk scene of 80s Melbourne, a world that includes Nick Cave and Dodge, a photographer pushing his art to the edge.

'With precision and richness Kirsten Krauth hauntingly evokes the power of music to infuse our lives, while diving deep into loss, beauty, innocence and agency. Filled with unforgettable characters, the novel is above all about the shapes that love can take and the many ways we express tenderness throughout a lifetime.

'As it moves between the Blue Mountains and Melbourne, Sydney and Castlemaine, Almost a Mirror reflects on the healing power of creativity and the everyday sacredness of family and friendship in the face of unexpected tragedy.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A quiet chat with one of Australia’s most acclaimed directors about visual thinking, motherhood and her memoir, Unconditional Love.'  (Introduction)

'In P. J. Harvey’s lyrical masterpiece, “We Float”, the act of floating is languorous, a way of drifting in the moment, taking “life as it comes”. In Helena Fox’s debut novel, floating becomes more of a necessity: it might feel “incandescent”, but it’s a cloak that protects the 17-year-old narrator, Biz, from dark forces that shadow her family life and sabotage her pact with reality.'  (Introduction)