Aniko Press acquires debut short story collection by Miriam Webster
Photo: Bonnie Jarrett Creative.
Aniko Press is delighted to announce the acquisition of world rights to The Slip, the debut short story collection from Australian writer Miriam Webster.
The Slip is a collection of ten stories about the things we can’t hold onto: a marriage drifting out with the tide, a family collapsing like a wave, a young woman’s affair that dissolves as quickly as it ignites. From Melbourne to rural Victoria and beyond, moments of connection, grief and desire ripple through everyday lives. A washed-up playwright faces his demons in the wake of #MeToo, and a woman returns to her childhood home to confront her twin brother’s ghost. Elsewhere, a one night stand takes a sinister turn, an intoxicated eel writhes its way to the sea and a grieving gardener finds solace in the dirt beneath his nails.
Publisher Emily Riches expressed her excitement about introducing Miriam’s debut to readers.
"These are my favourite kinds of stories: evocative, emotionally acute and darkly funny. Miriam writes with great empathy, wit and warmth about characters on the brink. The originality and maturity of her voice impressed me immensely when I first encountered her work in 2021, and is on full display in this debut. I'm so proud to announce The Slip as our very first release, and I can’t wait for readers to enjoy it too.”
Webster says: “Writing this book has been an exercise in not knowing – not knowing how to grieve, not knowing how to desire, not knowing how to act and not quite knowing how to write. It is compelled by all the things I am attracted to: love and death, frustration and desire, obsessive reading, strange forms, big feelings. From a sketchy proposition to the book it is now, Emily has understood me perfectly. I am beyond excited for its release and so happy that it’s found a home with Aniko Press.”
Like a slip of the tongue, the collection reveals the darker undercurrents of our psyche, diving into the complexities of love and loss, and relationships at their most fragile and transformative.
With echoes of writers from at home and abroad – including Cate Kennedy, Anne Enright and Claire Louise Bennett – Webster’s work is deeply moving and unforgettable.
The Slip will be available in bookstores and online retailers in mid 2025.
About the author
Miriam Webster’s fiction and essays have been published in Aniko Magazine, Island, Overland, The Suburban Review, swim meet lit mag and certain zines. She is a Wheeler Centre Hot Desk Fellow and her work has been recognised in major prizes including the Calibre Essay Prize, the Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize, the Olga Masters Short Story Award and the inaugural KYD Nonfiction Essay Prize. She lives in Naarm/Melbourne. The Slip is her debut collection.
About Aniko Press
Aniko Press is an independent publishing company founded in Sydney in 2020. We began as a literary journal dedicated to showcasing the work of emerging writers, and have expanded to contemporary literary fiction. Our vision is to create a space where readers and writers can explore new ideas, perspectives and artistic possibilities. We are passionate about curating a list of unique, exciting and experimental voices.