AustLit

'A woman adjusts to her new urban landscape. A slaughterman comes to terms with the death of his wife.

'A rodeo ringer blows into town, wreaking havoc. In this collection, we venture across distinct terrains—inviting and inhospitable, familiar and unknowable into worlds of past, future and present. In settings that shift between the mundane and extraordinary, these short stories illuminate our continuous search for truth and what it means to find our way back home.' (Publication summary)

'A woman grapples with survivor’s guilt after a body is found in her garden bed: an ageing beauty queen contemplates her past: a world champion free-diver disappears during routine training…

'In moments disquieting or quietly inspiring, this collection considers the complexity of the connections we make — with our family, friends and neighbours, and with those met briefly or never at all.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Endangered tigers connecting telepathically through time-travel; a guard’s ethical dilemma at a history museum; a slaughterhouse worker’s memories of his dead wife; a monochrome town upended by a wild watermelon…

'In This Desert, There Were Seeds is an intimate collection of past and future dreams, featuring exciting new and established literary voices from Western Australia and Singapore. From our shifting sense of community and identity, to our frustrations with existing political, social and economic structures — this anthology transcends boundaries and captures the persistence of ordinary lives in deserts literal and metaphorical.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'This slender volume of eight stories is the result of a storytelling project undertaken by the Centre for Stories, and is a joint publishing project in conjunction with Margaret River Press. Four of the voices were recorded in audio and transcribed, with the other four the result of writing and workshopping with author and academic Susan Midalia. These voices are moving, sad, funny, brave and honest, and demand deep contemplation. Born from the silence and stricture of a morally conservative rural Australia, they speak strongly and combine to form a powerful document from voices that might otherwise not be heard.'   (Publication summary)

'Fabulous Lives is a collection of short stories spanning Australia and other continents. It embraces people with all their frailties and strengths, failures and hopes, as they reach critical junctures in their lives.

Both funny and heart-rending, these 16 stories follow the struggles of life’s outsiders — the sick, the lonely, the poor and the ugly — as they try to find hope and belonging in a hostile world.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'We’ll Stand in That Place and Other Stories is the latest anthology in the annual Margaret River Short Story Competition. In this latest collection, contemporary concerns, such as climate change, cultural inclusiveness and the need for queer spaces, are explored and a spotlight is shone on the complex emotions that we sometimes fail to honour in our daily lives and close relationships.

We’ll Stand in That Place and Other Stories features 19 short stories selected from over 240 entries from the 2019 Margaret River Short Story Competition, which is now in its eighth year. The collection was edited by award-winning author and editor Michelle Cahill and includes this year’s winning story We'll Stand in That Place by Kit Scriven.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Earworm is a tale of grief, desire, infidelity and family secrets narrated by a love song.

Empty Fairground’ is a hit from the nineties. Nicole was conceived to it and now it dwells in her head—a living entity accessing her thoughts and dreams. When Nicole discovers her deceased father is not her biological parent, certainties disintegrate and the song strives to separate fantasy from memory and myth from history, building towards an extraordinary crescendo.

Drenched in rhythm and the vividness of pop lyrics, Earworm explores the complexities of filial and romantic love, connecting us to our universal communion with music.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'In its seventh year, the Competition attracted almost 250 entries from around Australia. Seventeen stories were selected for publication, by authors from Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Through a multitude of distinct voices, Gildfind’s startling tales explore the absurd, macabre, surreal – and too-real – whilst wrestling with the irrevocable acts, immutable facts, and relentless uncertainties that lie at the dark heart of every life.' (Publication summary)

'Jen and Steven meet at sixteen and marry at eighteen.  Soon they're the parents of three young children.

'Initially, the kids keep them together until love turns to lies and the family implodes.  As they become adults, each child faces love and loss in the shadow of their family legacy.

'You Belong Here is a book about trust and connection. About what keeps us going in spite of ourselves. 

'About a place where we belong.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A gentle walk in the tall karri forest for Bree and her family, looking for wildflowers. They are happy to see different species of orchids and see some pretty little birds. And finally they find what they are really looking for – the very rare Karri spider orchid!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Seventeen stories selected from the sixth annual Margaret River Short Story Competition. A truly national competition, contributors this year come from Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia.

'Queenslander Laura Elvery’s winning entry, Joiner Bay, is a tender story about running and suicide by a schoolboy in a coastal community.

'Second prize was awarded to Melbourne Writer Else Fitzgerald for Sheen, a sparkling science fiction story that asks questions about the crossroads of humanity and progress.' (Publication summary)

'You make the best choices you can at the time Beth, knowing you’ll never have to live this life again.’ Val shakes her head, her voice cracks. ‘You’d never want to.’

'Thirty-one-year-old Beth, who’s grown up in Western Australia’s wheatbelt, is running from her past when she heads to an island in Papua New Guinea. Interwoven with Beth’s narrative about the joys and brutalities of island life is the story of her parents' passionate, tender love for each other. But Clem and Rose’s union is beset with tragedy, forever marking the lives of those around them.

'Bloodlines is a layered novel with shifting settings, times and voices. At its heart it is a story about love – love found and love lost – and the choices that shape us. If offers insight into the complexities of daily life in Papua New Guinea and how it feels to be an outsider in our closest neighbour’s land. It is also a story about family, exploring the bonds that tie us to our clan – specifically, the changing relationship between father and daughter as a young girl grows into a woman; the grief, and acceptance required. On many levels, it is a novel about letting go of the past and forgiveness of self, of saving and being saved. Above all, Bloodlines asks us to consider what it means to make a home, and what we might owe to those who dwell in it.

'The major achievement of this deftly written novel, lies in its balancing of dual narratives, as they are revealed in the past and present. Shifting between the perspectives of five memorable characters, this ambitious, big-hearted, and at times confronting novel, heralds an exciting new voice in Australian literature.' (Publication summary)

'Ways of Being Here features four stories by emerging writers Rafeif Ismail, Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes, Tinashe Jakwa and Yuot Alaak, winners of last year's 'Ways of Being Here' flash fiction competition, which was open to any writer of African heritage residing in Western Australia who had less than four published stories and/or articles. The stories featured are urgent, innovative, and inimitable, distinct voices that are easy to read, but hard to forget once you've entered their worlds, words, and thoughts.'

'The 2016 Margaret River Short Story Competition anthology presents the finest emerging and established voices in Australian literature.'

'These are stories to be felt, read, and remembered. They cover births, deaths, and moments that define our hopes, fears, and failures.'

'They are stories that connect with a deeper sense of humanity. They are stories to be enjoyed at home, in our bed, or on the train: wherever it’s possible to savour the quiet, loud, and unforgettable moments of life. ...' (Source: Margaret River Press website)

'Sixteen exquisite stories exploring recent Chinese migration to Australia and elsewhere, exploring intergenerational and interracial relationships, the search for meaning, and the effects of isolation and the inability to express oneself in a second language. Best-selling author, Debra Adelaide, says Isabelle Li's prose is powerful, exquisite and finely tuned, and each story draws us deeper into the complex emotional and cultural dilemmas of characters who are solitary, sensitive, perceptive and powerless, sometimes all at once. 'What does it take to master a second language, to be so skilled in that language that you're published in it? Chinese/Australian writer and translator Isabelle Li reminds us that learning to love an adopted language does not come without its struggles.' ABC Radio National' (Publication summary)

'Reflecting a life spread across two continents, Impossible Preludes continues Taylor’s restless probing of the contradictions of life and language. Here are love poems, poems about language and silence, an elegy for a cat, and an interview with a querulous mathematician, as well as poems dealing with the cruelties of contemporary world politics, ageing, and delight in nature. Once again, the collection shows the stimulating range of tone and style that has been a hallmark of all his poetry. ' (Publication summary)

'Seeing the Elephant is poignant story of a remarkable relationship between Frank Stevens, an Australian soldier sent to the Vietnamese Highlands to recruit and train the local hill tribes during the Vietnam War, and his Vietnamese translator, Minh.

'The story is told through letters from Frank to his grandfather. Seconded by the CIA, Frank has been sent to the Vietnamese Highlands to recruit and train the local mountain tribes to resist the North Vietnamese. Once Frank returns home the letters document his struggle to cope with life in Australia after the war.

'Nearly fifty years later, Minh, now living in Australia and seriously ill, reads through Frank’s letters and remembers the experiences that he shared with Frank, and discovers that even amongst his traumatic memories, there is consolation and joy.'

Source; Publisher's blurb.

'More to the Story looks beyond negative media reports, political speeches and fear-mongering statistics to tell human stories of refugees and asylum seekers in Australia.' (Publication summary)

'This anthology edited by Estelle Tang is a collection of stories submitted to the annual Margaret River Short Story Competition. The competition continues to attract both emerging and established short story writers, some of who have won local, national and international awards or have been published in The Best Australian Stories, and in journals such as Overland, Southerly, Island and Griffith Review.' (Publication summary)