AustLit
Latest Issues
AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Prepare to be bewitched by Iceland and the book that has enchanted readers for decades – and imprisoned one of them.
'Elva loves Iceland for many reasons – the epic landscape of gods and volcanoes, weather that’s the polar opposite of her home in Australia, and the fact that it’s where her mother might have gone back to when she disappeared. Iceland is where Elva’s beloved grandfather – the famous children’s book author – lives in a remote village and where the beings that haunt her imagination reside.
'Elva is interested in the odd things people make – Victorian collectibles, old spells, taxidermy, fairy tales. The weird, the wonderful and the sometimes macabre. She’s got a few quirks of her own that she’s (mainly) keeping under control. Except one.
'Working in a shop of curiosities, studying at an Icelandic language school, Elva begins to explore her obsessions, and when her grandfather suffers a stroke, they threaten to overtake her. Then she meets Remy, a painter who’s got some secrets of his own …
'In her captivating debut, Rijn Collins has created a beautifully evocative portrait of an enchanted mind in an enchanting place – a story of everyday magic, both dark and light; of families and the shadows they can cast; of the delights and dangers of the imagination. Fed to Red Birds will transport you to remote corners of both the world and the human heart.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Large print.
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
Books Roundup
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , April 2023;
— Review of Fed to Red Birds 2023 single work novel ; The Anniversary 2023 single work novel -
Debut Spotlight : Rijn Collins on Fed to Red Birds
2023
single work
column
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , April 2023;'Each month we celebrate an Australian debut release of fiction or non-fiction in the Kill Your Darlings Debut Spotlight feature. For April that debut is Fed to Red Birds by Rijn Collins (Simon & Schuster), a beautifully evocative portrait of an enchanted mind in an enchanting place. We spoke to Rijn about her publishing journey and the inspiration behind the book.'
-
Fairy Tales and Fever Dreams : Three Tales of Self-discovery
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 453 2023; (p. 36)
— Review of Fed to Red Birds 2023 single work novel ; How to Be Remembered 2023 single work novel ; Compulsion 2023 single work novel 'On the surface, there is little connection between these three début novels. Rijn Collins’s Fed to Red Birds (Simon & Schuster, $32.99 pb, 247 pp) sketches an intimate portrait of migration, beautifully illustrating the migrant’s immersion within and isolation from their adopted land. Elva, a young Australian woman, hopes to remain in Iceland, her absent mother’s home country, despite the unique challenges it presents her. Michael Thompson’s How to be Remembered (Allen & Unwin, $32.99 pb, 344 pp) poses an intriguing metaphysical question: what happens if, each year on his birthday, every trace of one boy’s existence is erased? How can a person survive when nobody, not even his parents, knows who he is? Tommy Llewellyn is determined to find the answer and outfox this universal reset. Kate Scott’s Compulsion (Hamish Hamilton, $32.99 pb, 279 pp) revels in music, drugs, food, fashion, and hedonism. Lucy Lux attempts to uncomplicate her chaotic partying lifestyle by escaping to a remote seaside town she remembers from her childhood, where her passions and problems blaze anew. Despite their many differences, these are all essentially stories of self-discovery, coming of age, and obsession.'(Introduction)
-
Fairy Tales and Fever Dreams : Three Tales of Self-discovery
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 453 2023; (p. 36)
— Review of Fed to Red Birds 2023 single work novel ; How to Be Remembered 2023 single work novel ; Compulsion 2023 single work novel 'On the surface, there is little connection between these three début novels. Rijn Collins’s Fed to Red Birds (Simon & Schuster, $32.99 pb, 247 pp) sketches an intimate portrait of migration, beautifully illustrating the migrant’s immersion within and isolation from their adopted land. Elva, a young Australian woman, hopes to remain in Iceland, her absent mother’s home country, despite the unique challenges it presents her. Michael Thompson’s How to be Remembered (Allen & Unwin, $32.99 pb, 344 pp) poses an intriguing metaphysical question: what happens if, each year on his birthday, every trace of one boy’s existence is erased? How can a person survive when nobody, not even his parents, knows who he is? Tommy Llewellyn is determined to find the answer and outfox this universal reset. Kate Scott’s Compulsion (Hamish Hamilton, $32.99 pb, 279 pp) revels in music, drugs, food, fashion, and hedonism. Lucy Lux attempts to uncomplicate her chaotic partying lifestyle by escaping to a remote seaside town she remembers from her childhood, where her passions and problems blaze anew. Despite their many differences, these are all essentially stories of self-discovery, coming of age, and obsession.'(Introduction)
-
Books Roundup
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , April 2023;
— Review of Fed to Red Birds 2023 single work novel ; The Anniversary 2023 single work novel -
Debut Spotlight : Rijn Collins on Fed to Red Birds
2023
single work
column
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , April 2023;'Each month we celebrate an Australian debut release of fiction or non-fiction in the Kill Your Darlings Debut Spotlight feature. For April that debut is Fed to Red Birds by Rijn Collins (Simon & Schuster), a beautifully evocative portrait of an enchanted mind in an enchanting place. We spoke to Rijn about her publishing journey and the inspiration behind the book.'
Awards
- 2024 longlisted Indie Awards — Debut Fiction
-
cIceland,cWestern Europe, Europe,
