NEW AUSTRALIAN FICTION 2021

ed. by Rebecca Stafford, Kill Your Darlings

I love a good short story. I love being transported so quickly into other lives and other worlds, and come out of a quick read feeling moved, enlightened, haunted, energised—or any other of the endless, sometimes intense, emotions that you can feel when you read a good short story.

So luckily for me, I had the opportunity to be the assistant editor on this collection featuring amazingly talented writers both new and established. In the process I read hundreds (and hundreds!) of stories, helping to stealthily search for the sapphires, emeralds and diamonds in the deep caves of local creativity. A son becomes enthralled in his father’s quest. Strangers meet in the night. The world is thrown into chaos when people spontaneously combust! The stories are varied, unique and engaging in their own special way.

In its third year in a row, the New Australian Fiction anthology published by Kill Your Darlings has made a name for itself as one of the best Australian short story collections around. I may be biased, but this year’s edition is very, very good. But don’t just take my word for it. Here’s what Books+Publishing has to say:

‘All 16 stories in this collection teem with sharp prose, writing that fosters intrigue and elicits empathy, deftly inviting the reader to step into vivid snapshots of moments in the narrators’ lives. New Australian Fiction 2021 is a versatile and immersive collection that promises to delight all lovers of fiction.’

⁠—Suzy

More great Australian fiction…