Emily Brewin

6 February, 2024 Editor-in-Chief

Emily Brewin is a Melbourne author, copywriter, and learning designer. Her first novel, Hello, Goodbye, was published in 2017 and her second, Small Blessings, in 2019. A Way Home is her first YA novel. Her short stories have appeared in anthologies: Into Your Arms: Nick Cave’s Songs Reimagined by Fremantle Press, We’ll Stand In That Place and Other Stories by Margaret River Press and the Bristol Short Story Anthology — Volume 10. She has written for The Age, ABC Education, Continue reading →

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Big, Weird, Lonely Hearts

17 October, 2023 Editor-in-Chief

by Allen C. Jones

One part absurd humor, one part social commentary, Big, Weird, Lonely Hearts throws the most unlikely couples into bed together. This hilarious book includes a man mistaken for a bush, a mermaid refugee, a bird who dreams of weaponizing cats, a boy with a computer for a face, and a woman in love with a severed arm. These and more are the weird and lonely characters who drag their broken hearts through this collection, diligently searching for someone to stitch them up.

Allen C. Jones’ debut collection reads like a meeting between Peter Carey, Nikolai Gogol, and Lydia Millet where the task at hand is to write a love story. While the surface of these stories seems humorous and even absurd, beneath it runs a desperate nostalgia carried by a set of characters who will do anything to force their way back into love. Continue reading Big, Weird, Lonely Hearts →

Author

Allen C. Jones

17 October, 2023 Editor-in-Chief

Allen C. Jones is an award-winning writer from California. He received an MFA in poetry from the University of New Mexico and a PhD in English from University of Louisiana. He has lived and taught in Spain, Mexico, Korea & China, and presently serves as associate professor of literature and culture at the University of Stavanger, Norway. His scholarly work investigates experimental writing and literary game pedagogy.

His debut novel Her Death Was Also Water came out in 2022 with MidnightSun Publishing, and his debut book of poetry, Son of a Cult, is out in 2023 with Kelsay Books, USA. His writing appears widely in print and online. Find links to it Continue reading Allen C. Jones →

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Strangely Enough

17 October, 2023 Editor-in-Chief

edited by Gillian Hagenus

PB 240 | 198 x 129
ISBN: 9781922858313 | $24.99
Short Fiction | Also available as ebook
MidnightSun Publishing | November 2023
Distributed by NewSouth Books

Neglected by society, a group of caravanning 60-somethings encounter a place where time stops. A baby swims in a witch’s cauldron. A statue of Jesus grows fat off fish and chips. An ancient Egyptian God swims through the sewers under a suburban street and a desperate family harvests the fingers they find growing in their soil after their final food supplies wither.

Strangely Enough is a celebration of the far-reaching possibilities of short fiction from some of Australia’s most creatively ambitious minds. Surreal and haunting, funny and gripping, these intensely strange tales encompass what it means to grieve, love, wonder, fear and change, each ultimately offering something entirely unexpected and strangely, deeply Continue reading Strangely Enough →

Author

Gillian Hagenus

17 October, 2023 Editor-in-Chief

Gillian Hagenus is a writer, editor and book devourer living and working on Kaurna land in South Australia. Her short fiction has appeared in various journals across Australia, including Voiceworks, SWAMP, Social Alternatives and Aniko Press, and internationally in The Antigonish Review. She has a Masters degree in Creative Writing from the University of Adelaide, where her thesis focused on Australian Suburban Gothic fiction. In 2022, her unpublished short story collection was the winner of the AAWP/UWA Publishing Chapter One Prize. In her free time, Gillian helps Continue reading →

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Polluted Sex

13 October, 2023 Editor-in-Chief

by Lauren Foley

PB 240 | 198 x 129
ISBN: 9781922858214 | $24.99
Short Fiction | Also available as ebook
MidnightSun Publishing | October 2023
Distributed by NewSouth Books

A pregnant woman takes the ferry to the UK.

A fractious intimate relationship develops between an Irish woman, an English man, and her girlfriend.

Two ungendered characters contest the same female body.

A deserted wife takes a lover but remains unsatisfied.

Lauren Foley’s debut collection of dramatic short stories, Polluted Sex, is fearless in its depiction of women’s bodies and sexuality, offering an unflinching window into Irish girl and womanhood.
Continue reading Polluted Sex →

Author

Lauren Foley

13 October, 2023 Editor-in-Chief

Lauren Foley is a Next Generation Artist in Literature with the Arts Council of Ireland. Her work is published by Influx Press, gorse, Head of Zeus, The Los Angeles Review, No Alibis, The Irish Times and Overland and has been shortlisted for The Barbellion Prize and The Irish Book Awards.
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The Weaver

13 October, 2023 Editor-in-Chief

by Melanie Kanicky

In a remote village, bordered by woods and an endless winter, Saatcha lives in the attic of her ailing father’s blacksmithery. As her father’s health fades and he is no longer able to work, Saatcha takes it upon herself to keep the forge running.

But when a pair of thieves appear in the dead of night, Saatcha’s duty to her father is torn from her. Forced to leave her home behind, the bounds of magic that once held Saatcha begin to slip away.
Continue reading The Weaver →

Author

Melanie Kanicky

13 October, 2023 Editor-in-Chief

Melanie Kanicky is a Melbourne-based author. Born in the Yarra Valley, Melanie has a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Film & Television) from Deakin University, and is currently completing her Master’s Degree in Writing & Literature with a focus on creative writing. Outside of her studies, Melanie currently manages a bookstore, where she delights in sharing her love of reading and literature with others. Her short fiction has appeared in the Wyndham Writing Awards Anthology and the Forty South Short Story Anthology, as well as being shortlisted for the Continue reading →

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Raised by Moths

13 October, 2023 Editor-in-Chief 1 Comment

by Charlie Archbold and Michelle Conn

Willow jumps on the Ferris Wheel and is intrigued to see a boy surrounded by moths.

As they travel high above the fairground he tells her the reason why the moths love him so much: he was raised by moths. Wonderfully fantastical and thought-provoking with stunning illustrations, Raised by Moths is quite unlike anything you’ve read before.
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Author

Charlie Archbold

13 October, 2023 Editor-in-Chief

Charlie Archbold is a writer and educator. She has worked in Australia, the UK, and in Indonesia. Her middle grade novel The Sugarcane Kids and the Red Bottomed Boat won the 2022 Readings Children’s Prize. It was shortlisted for the Text Prize and was a 2023 CBCA Notable book. Charlie’s debut YA novel Mallee Boys was a 2018 CBCA Honour book. Her 2020 YA novel Indigo Owl is a science fiction adventure. Raised by Moths is Charlie’s first picture book. Her blogs, short stories and poems are about Continue reading →

Author

Michelle Conn

13 October, 2023 Editor-in-Chief

Michelle Conn is a children’s book illustrator and author who lives in the coastal town of Torquay, Victoria. She combines watercolour and pencil with digital illustration to create worlds filled with wonder and emotion. Michelle has a Bachelor of Design from The College of Fine Arts in Sydney and has worked as a graphic designer in print and corporate illustration. She has also completed a Continue reading →

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