Book Reviews
Fire Exit by Morgan Talty
A quietly affecting second novel that delves into identity, belonging and intergenerational grief.
Words To Sing The World Alive ed. by Jasmin McGaughey and The Poet’s Voice
An anthology of forty First Nations writers, thinkers, artists and journalists celebrating First Nations languages around the continent.
She’s Not Normal by Koraly Dimitriadis
Unpolished and unrelenting, Koraly Dimitriadis’ latest non-conforming poetry collection explodes out of the page.
CryBaby by Mabel Gibson
This debut collection of micro memoir from Yamatji author Mabel Gibson offers 56 perfectly formed snippets detailing her evolving sense of self and place in the world.
The Knowing by Madeleine Ryan
Set across one hot Melbourne summer day, we track Camille as she deals with challenges, insecurities and hopes for the future.
The Sunbird by Sara Haddad
The Sunbird (2024) is an indie novella that has quickly captured the hearts and minds of thousands seeking to understand the Palestinian experience.
If Movement Was a Language by Svetlana Sterlin
Sterlin’s poetry draws on her passion for swimming to consider displacement, dispossession and home.
The Hitwoman’s Guide to Reducing Household Debt by Mark Mupotsa-Russell
A twisty, genre-flipping thriller that puts a former assassin turned suburban mum front and centre.
Butter by Asako Yuzuki, trans. by Polly Barton
More than a simple thriller, Butter masters something more critical and sinister as Yuzuki brings to light the issue of unrealistic beauty standards for women in Japan.
No Church In The Wild by Murray Middleton
A bold and unflinching novel that doesn’t shy away from examining racism in contemporary Australia.
The Little Clothes by Deborah Callaghan
The liberating and stifling invisibility of middle age is at the heart of this darkly humorous novel.
A Language of Limbs by Dylin Hardcastle
Over three decades, two lives unfold in parallel, dealing with the big questions of desire, queerness, conformity and love.
Sugar: An Ethnographic Novel by Edward Narain and Tarryn Phillips
Where crime fiction meets colonial legacy in Fiji's diabetes crisis.
rock flight by Hasib Hourani
An epic meditation on mourning, loss and dispossession by a Lebanese-Palestinian poet.
When Cops Are Criminals ed. by Veronica Gorrie
This blistering anthology reckons with the violence and corruption endemic to contemporary policing.
When The Forest Finds You by Lonnie Stabile
This poetry collection uses horror movie references and tropes to disect sexual violence and its aftermath.
The Beauties by Lauren Chater
A masterclass in storytelling, this sumptuous historical novel centres around art, love and the power of feminine beauty.
Potty Mouth, Potty Mouth by Alex Creece
Screaming, crying, throwing up: this debut poetry is a hilarious and visceral exploration of selfhood, queerness and neurodivergence.
A Place Between Waking and Forgetting by Eugen Bacon
A Place Between Waking and Forgetting is a magical, mysterious tour de force of Black speculative fiction.
She is the Earth by Ali Cobby Eckermann
This divine verse novel by a celebrated First Nations poet explores birth, death and grief, while thrumming with life.