AustLit

'In October 2018, the hashtag MeToo went viral.

'Since then we've watched controversy erupt around Geoffrey Rush, Germaine Greer and Junot Díaz. We've talked about tracking the movement back via Helen Garner, Rosie Batty and Hannah Gadsby. We've discussed #NotAllMen, toxic masculinity and trolls. We've seen the #MeToo movement evolve and start to accuse itself - has it gone too far? Is it enough? What does it mean in this country?

'And still, women are not safe from daily, casual sexual harassment and violence.

'In this collection thirty-five contributors share their own #MeToo stories, analysis and commentary to survey the movement in an Australian context.

'This collection resists victimhood. It resists silence. It insists on change.'   (Publication summary)

'One of the nice things about having a baby was how the old Italian lady next door changed.' (Introduction)

'When are you having children?' 'Why didn't you have another child?' 'Well, I guess that's your choice, but...'

'They are questions asked of women all the time. Beneath them is the assumption that all women want to have children, and the judgement that if they don't, they'll be somehow incomplete. And that's only the beginning ... With parenthood taking centre stage in today's moral and consumer culture - and yummy-mummies and domestic goddesses the stars of the show - being a mother, or not being a mother, has never been so complicated. It seems the list of rights and wrongs gets longer daily, with guilt-ridden mothers everywhere struggling to keep on top of it all, and non-mothers struggling in a culture that defines women by their wombs. In this collection of fiction and non-fiction stories, Australia's best women writers reflect on motherhood. Their stories tackle everything from the decision not to have children to the so-called battle between working and stay-at-home mums. From infertility and IVF, to step-parenting and adoption, to miscarriage and breastfeeding, child meltdowns and marriage breakdowns, the stories explore and celebrate the full gamut of the motherhood experience, and give a much needed voice to those who won't ever be called 'Mum'.' (Publication summary)

'The ruckmen face off over the centre circle and for a moment everything is frozen possibility: players, umpire, the ball suspended overhead, the softly clouded sky. Everything except the fans, a circus beyond the stillness. Then the ball swings down and cracks it all open. The new draft pick, the tired has-been, the up-and-comer, the might-have-been. The talent scout, the coach on the edge, the beleaguered umpire, the concerned medic. The number-one fan, the lifetime members, the desperate gamblers. The footballers' mums, the WAGs, the groupies. The tags, the rivals, the sledging. The pressure. Mick Reece and Jake Dooley, best mates since childhood, begin their first professional season playing AFL with little notion of what they're getting into: the complexity of the beast that the game must feed. In Game Day, Miriam Sved brings this beast into the light over the course of one season of Aussie Rules. What unfolds is a deeply insightful novel about the pathology of an AFL club, its players and its fans.

'Revelling in their battles, their victories and their relentless interdependence, Game Day asks whether what unites the true believers is stronger than what divides them, and if love of the game can transcend our flaws and imperfections to result in something beautiful. Sved's debut novel is a poignant and clear-eyed exploration of what sport means for Australians, and the intensity with which we pursue and cherish it.' (Publication summary)