AustLit

'A few months ago, I was talking with a translator, both of us marvelling at what a bastard language English is. The sheer weight of words from 100 sources, the way words with very different meanings can sound exactly the same and how others can vary in their context. This is a writer’s delight. The book we’re here to celebrate today is Brief Garden. I didn’t realise until well into the book that the title comes from a twist around an actual Brief Garden arising from a legal brief but the phrase so perfectly sums up all that this book is about.' (Introduction)