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'Conspiracies, memes, and therapies of various efficacy underpin this beguiling short-story collection from Elizabeth Tan.
'In the titular story, a cat-shaped oven tells a depressed woman she doesn’t have to be sorry anymore. A Yourtopia Bespoke Terraria employee becomes paranoid about the mounting coincidences in her life. Four girls gather to celebrate their underwear in ‘Happy Smiling Underwear Girls Party’, a hilarious take-down of saccharine advertisements.
'With her trademark wit and slicing social commentary, Elizabeth Tan’s short stories are as funny as they are insightful. This collection cements her role as one of Australia’s most inventive writers.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
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Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Identity Is Cruel : Capital, Gimmick and Surveillance in the Australian Postdiasporic Short Story
2021
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Humanities Review , November no. 69 2021; 'If we were to take recent controversies in the Australian literary scene as an indication of its current priorities, we would—at least on one pronounced level—encounter what can be generally called an ethics of inclusivity for diasporic writers. Regardless of the degrees of sophistication of these debates, their participants appeal to the primacy of diasporic identity—its sheer visibility—as a necessary part of the constitution and imaginary of contemporary literature vis-à-vis the nation’s demographic composition. This call for equity of representation is frequently paired with an emphasis on the labour of diasporic writers in surmounting obstacles for publishing narratives about multicultural life, and the structural biases of literary institutions, cultural awards and (white) critics against diasporic writing. The shared assumption here is that there exists an overlap of inequalities between social and literary worlds. What often remains a moot question is the extent to which disseminating diasporic representation is aligned with models of consumption prediction that are predicated on a direct relationship between institutionally fashionable terms such as diversity and inclusion, and maximising business performance schemes. As Sara Ahmed has observed, diversity is associated with conditions of work which are already promoted by organisations. ‘The story of diversity’, she writes, ‘thus becomes a story of diversity’s inclusion into the terms of an institution’ (9).'(Introduction)
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What I’m Reading
2020
single work
column
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2020; -
Best Books of 2020 #2
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 19 December - 22 January 2020;
— Review of Smart Ovens for Lonely People 2020 selected work short story ; Revenge : Murder in Three Parts 2020 single work novel -
Kate Grenville, Sofie Laguna, Julia Baird and Others : The 20 Best Australian Books of 2020
2020
single work
column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 17 December 2020; -
Books of the Year 2020 : Year A Look Back at Some of the Year's Finest Works
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December no. 427 2020;
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Marvel of Quirks : A Delightful First Collection of Short Stories
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , June-July no. 422 2020; (p. 32)
— Review of Smart Ovens for Lonely People 2020 selected work short story'Though its origins are unknown, the earliest sense of the word ‘quirk’ was as a subtle verbal twist or a quibble. Over time, its definition has become more nuanced: a quirk now also refers to a person’s peculiar or idiosyncratic traits, chance occurrences, and sudden, surprise curves appearing on paths or in facial expressions. Quirks can also be accidents, vagaries, witty turns of phrase.' (Introduction)
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Elizabeth Tan, Smart Ovens for Lonely People
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 27 June - 3 July 2020;
— Review of Smart Ovens for Lonely People 2020 selected work short story'As a frantic March rolled into an accepting April, sliding into a complacent May, the “apocalypse”, now boring, has disappeared into June. The “new normal” became old in the time it took to say the phrase; in supermarket aisles, I’m the only person wearing a mask. As if becoming bored of a virus could make it vanish.' (Introduction)
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Uncanny Valleys
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , June 2020;
— Review of Smart Ovens for Lonely People 2020 selected work short story'ASMR. Personal brand. Hope this email finds you well. Selfie. Drop a pin on it. Livestreaming. Co-working space. I’m baby. Haul gals. Mukbang. Shall we take it to Zoom? Foodstagram. Scrolling through the feed. Geotagging. Doctor influencer. The cloud. Let me Google that for you. Finsta. I don’t have the bandwidth to do this. 10,000 followers. Chaotic energy. Airspace. Tag yourself. Is this idea futureproof? Legacy contact. #GIRLBOSS. You’re cancelled!' (Introduction)
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Books Roundup
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , June 2020;
— Review of Smart Ovens for Lonely People 2020 selected work short story ; The Rain Heron 2020 single work novel ; The Spill 2020 single work novel ; Rise and Shine 2020 single work novel ; Sweatshop Women : Volume Two 2020 anthology poetry prose -
Sensitive Sabotage
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 19 September 2020; (p. 17)
— Review of A Lonely Girl Is a Dangerous Thing 2020 single work novel ; Smart Ovens for Lonely People 2020 selected work short story'Grunge fiction in the 1980s and 90s featured young people living in grimy inner-city suburbs and colouring their discombobulation with drugs, booze and awkward or unfortunate sex. This kind of novel is no longer possible.' (Introduction)
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Quarantine Q&A : Elizabeth Tan
2020
2020
single work
interview
— Appears in: Feminist Writers Festival 2016-; -
Books of the Year 2020 : Year A Look Back at Some of the Year's Finest Works
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December no. 427 2020; -
Kate Grenville, Sofie Laguna, Julia Baird and Others : The 20 Best Australian Books of 2020
2020
single work
column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 17 December 2020; -
What I’m Reading
2020
single work
column
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2020; -
Identity Is Cruel : Capital, Gimmick and Surveillance in the Australian Postdiasporic Short Story
2021
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Humanities Review , November no. 69 2021; 'If we were to take recent controversies in the Australian literary scene as an indication of its current priorities, we would—at least on one pronounced level—encounter what can be generally called an ethics of inclusivity for diasporic writers. Regardless of the degrees of sophistication of these debates, their participants appeal to the primacy of diasporic identity—its sheer visibility—as a necessary part of the constitution and imaginary of contemporary literature vis-à-vis the nation’s demographic composition. This call for equity of representation is frequently paired with an emphasis on the labour of diasporic writers in surmounting obstacles for publishing narratives about multicultural life, and the structural biases of literary institutions, cultural awards and (white) critics against diasporic writing. The shared assumption here is that there exists an overlap of inequalities between social and literary worlds. What often remains a moot question is the extent to which disseminating diasporic representation is aligned with models of consumption prediction that are predicated on a direct relationship between institutionally fashionable terms such as diversity and inclusion, and maximising business performance schemes. As Sara Ahmed has observed, diversity is associated with conditions of work which are already promoted by organisations. ‘The story of diversity’, she writes, ‘thus becomes a story of diversity’s inclusion into the terms of an institution’ (9).'(Introduction)
Awards
- 2022 shortlisted Barbara Jefferis Award
- 2021 highly commended Victorian Premier's Literary Awards — Prize for Fiction
- 2021 longlisted Queensland Literary Awards — University of Southern Queensland Australian Short Story Collection – Steele Rudd Award
- 2021 longlisted Colin Roderick Award
- 2021 longlisted The Stella Prize
