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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'In this award-winning work of fiction, Ellen van Neerven leads readers on a journey that is mythical, mystical and still achingly real.
'Over three parts, van Neerven takes traditional storytelling and gives it a unique, contemporary twist. In ‘Heat’, we meet several generations of the Kresinger family and the legacy left by the mysterious Pearl. In ‘Water’, a futuristic world is imagined and the fate of a people threatened. In ‘Light’, familial ties are challenged and characters are caught between a desire for freedom and a sense of belonging.
'Heat and Light is an intriguing collection that heralded the arrival of a major new talent in Australian writing.'
Source: Publisher's blurb (First Nations Classic ed.)
Exhibitions
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Notes
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'The author’s prose style is spare, carefully wrought and lucid. Van Neervan portrays some wonderful women characters with a deft and sure hand. The plots are beset by tantalising twists and turns, and there is some stunning imagery. There is no doubt that this exciting new author has much potential.' (Judges' comments, The Queensland Literary Awards website 2013)
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Three thematically linked stories.
Contents
* Contents derived from the
St Lucia,
Indooroopilly - St Lucia area,
Brisbane - North West,
Brisbane,
Queensland,:University of Queensland Press
, 2014 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Large print.
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
Blackfella Futurism : Speculative Fiction Grounded in Grassroots Sovereignty Politics
2023
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Routledge Handbook of Cofuturisms 2023; (p. 100-110) -
Six Books to Read This Summer
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: Eureka Street , 11 December vol. 33 no. 24 2023;
— Review of Heat and Light 2014 selected work short story -
Settler Belonging in Crisis : Non-Indigenous Australian Literary Climate Fiction and the Challenge of “The New”
2023
single work
criticism
— Appears in: ISLE : Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment , Winter vol. 30 no. 4 2023; (p. 952–971) -
Australian Fiction in the Anthropocene
2023
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Cambridge Companion to the Australian Novel 2023; (p. 289-304)'This chapter investigates the response of the Australian novel to the Anthropocene. It considers ways in which new, speculative fictions have sought to represent deep time and planetary interconnection, and interrogates how this connects to long-standing settler-colonial relations to land. It considers such writers as James Bradley, George Turner, and Tara June Winch, and emphasizes the region of Western Australia as a place of particular environmental urgency.' (Publication abstract)
-
A (Sovereign) Body of Work : Australian Indigenous Literary Culture and the Literary Fiction Novel
2023
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Cambridge History of the Australian Novel 2023;
-
[Review] Heat and Light
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: Books + Publishing , vol. 94 no. 1 2014; (p. 22)
— Review of Heat and Light 2014 selected work short story -
Selected Shorts
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , September no. 364 2014; (p. 52-50)
— Review of Heat and Light 2014 selected work short story ; Captives 2014 selected work short story ; Arms Race : And Other Stories 2014 selected work short story ; Las Vegas for Vegans 2012 selected work short story ; An Elegant Young Man 2013 selected work short story ; Tarcutta Wake 2012 selected work short story -
[Review] Heat and Light
2014
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , September no. 364 2014; (p. 48)
— Review of Heat and Light 2014 selected work short story -
Ellen Van Neerven : Heat and Light
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , March 2015;
— Review of Heat and Light 2014 selected work short story -
[Review] Heat and Light
2015
single work
— Appears in: Queensland Review , June vol. 22 no. 1 2015; (p. 102)
— Review of Heat and Light 2014 selected work short story -
Ellen's Novel Experience
2013
single work
column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 28 August 2013; (p. 12) -
High Praise for Young Author
2015
single work
column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 15 April 2015; (p. 48) 'At 24, Ellen van Neerven is already receiving recognition locally and internationally for her unique voice...' -
Stella Prize 2015: The Shortlisted Authors on the Stories behind Their Books
2015
single work
column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 17 April 2015; -
Graduate with the Write Stuff
2015
single work
column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 22 April no. 599 2015; (p. 42) -
Young Novelists Speak with Original Voices
2015
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 23-24 May 2015; (p. 17) The Canberra Times , 23 May 2015; (p. 13)
Awards
- 2016 joint winner New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards — Indigenous Writer's Prize
- 2016 commended Australian Centre Literary Awards — The Kate Challis RAKA Award
- 2016 shortlisted Victorian Premier's Literary Awards — Prize for Indigenous Writing
- 2015 shortlisted Queensland Literary Awards — University of Southern Queensland Australian Short Story Collection – Steele Rudd Award
- 2015 shortlisted Queensland Literary Awards — Queensland Premier's Award for a Work of State Significance
Last amended 12 Mar 2025 10:41:36
Settings:
- Queensland,
- Brisbane, Queensland,
- Hill End, South Brisbane - East Brisbane area, Brisbane - South & South West, Brisbane, Queensland,
- 2014-2022
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