Publication details
Publication date: July 1, 2021
Publisher: ibidem Press
Archives: Publications
Publication details
Publication date: October 1, 2020
Publisher: Transit Lounge
ISBN: 9781925760606
‘Equal parts harrowing coming of age story, and paean to the joys of a misspent youth, Everything in its Right Place is a heartbreaking, lyrical love letter to overcoming trauma, and finding oneself in the bohemian heart of Melbourne.’
Liam Pieper, author of The Feel-Good Hit of the Year and Sweetness and Light
Coburg, Melbourne. Ford McCullen is growing up with his mother Deidre and his Pop and Noonie in ‘The Compound’, a pair of units in the shadow of Pentridge prison. His father, Robert, has left them to live in the bush with his new male partner. Nobody is coping.
When Ford’s paternal grandmother Queenie’s good fortune allows him to attend a prestigious Catholic private school on the other side of the river and to learn the violin, Ford finds himself balancing separate identities. At school he sees himself being moulded into an image that is not his own, something at odds with the rough and tumble of his beloved north.
Crumbling under the weight of his family’s expectations and realising that he just might be the only adult amongst them, Ford embarks on a quest for meaning while navigating the uncomfortable realities of his father’s life, his mother’s ongoing crisis, and the pillars of football and religion, delving ever deeper into a fraught search for the source of the ‘McCullen curse’.
Everything in its Right Place tackles themes of class, love and sexuality with humour, truth and grit. It is a story of the legacies and dilemmas that families bring, of how we all must find our own way, astonishingly told.
‘Powerful and urgent. Crackling with energy and wit, Everything in its Right Place is a dark joyride of a read, its danger and beauty announcing a roaring new talent.’
Roger Averill, author of Relatively Famous and Keeping Faith
Publication details
Publication date: February 1, 2020
Publisher: Smith Street Books
ISBN: 9781925811360
Does internet jargon generally make you break out into a panicky sweat? Ever wondered WTF people mean when describing everything as “lit AF”? Can you explain the difference between FOMO and JOMO? Do you really still think that literally only means “literally”?
A Very Modern Dictionary is a handy guide to the ever-evolving landscape of modern communication, with over 600 newfangled words, phrases, acronyms, abbreviations, initialisms and portmanteaus. This dictionary will lend a helping hand to those of us who feel confused, befuddled, or like, really, really old when navigating the murky waters of the English language in the twenty-first century.
Tobias McCorkell explains how returning to the the novels of the past helped him find a universality in pain and work his way through depression and anxiety
For the past two years, I’ve suffered from crying jags. As anyone who has ever wept in public knows, this is hugely embarrassing. As a man, this is not only hugely embarrassing, but emasculating as well, for it breaks one of the principle male precepts: real men don’t cry.
Publication details
Publication date: May 31, 2019
Publication: Journal of Postcolonial Writing
Issue: DOI: 10.1080/17449855.2019.1614272
Publisher: Routledge
Publication details
Publication date: May 31, 2019
Publication: Journal of Postcolonial Writing
Issue: DOI: 10.1080/17449855.2019.1614263
Publisher: Routledge
Superfans
Music's most dedicated: From Beatlemania to the Beyhive
Publication details
Publication date: August 1, 2018
Publisher: Smith Street Books
ISBN: 9781925418507
Musicians and bands have been adored since the first notes were recorded, but it was Beatlemania in the ’60s that heralded the birth of the Super Fan – a breed of music obsessive that literally worshipped their idols. Super Fans looks at the crazed followers and fan groups that surround the old-school as well as more modern music scene in a witty, fun and tongue-in-cheek way. From Beyoncé’s Beyhive, the Britney Army, Gaga’s Little Monsters, Nicki Minaj’s Barbz to Justin Beiber’s Beliebers – author Tobias Anthony delves deep into these fan groups to see how they tick.
Ginger Pride
A red-headed history of the world
Publication details
Publication date: March 1, 2018
Publisher: Smith Street Books
ISBN: 9781925418651
Carrot-top. Ranga. Ronald. Rusty. Fire-crotch. Red.
Given redheads only make up two per cent of the global population, why has society dedicated itself to inventing ever-more insulting nicknames for them?
It’s obvious: jealousy.
It’s time to stand up, redheaded and proud. Ginger Pride – your guide to the superior copper-topped world – details the red-hot influence that the carriers of the MC1R gene have had on the world at large, from ancient times to present day. From Adam (of Adam and Eve fame) to Prince Harry. Ginger Pride is the call to arms the redheaded community has been waiting for!
Publication details
Publication date: December 21, 2017
Publication: Journal of Postcolonial Writing
Issue: DOI: 10.1080/17449855.2017.1413779
Publisher: Routledge
‘Vernay’s outsider’s perspective sets him apart from those local critics who have more skin in the game, both personally and professionally, and offers something of an antidote to a cultural cringe that gives primacy to European and American literature … [A] comprehensive, illustrative and engaging entry point to Australian fiction.’
Publication details
Publication date: March 1, 2017
Publisher: Smith Street Books
ISBN: 9781925418309
Struggling to keep up culturally? Don’t know what the phrase ‘on fleek’ means? Look no further than here.
The modern world is tough – what with all these new fangled words and phrases. Do you know your “bromance” from your “dudevorce”, your “turnt” from your “on fleek”? How about “bae” or “doe”. Or “Fomo”, “Lit AF”, “Tea” (not the drink), “Dead” (not the state of non-being)? How about the other meaning of “thirsty”? And do you know how to “throw shade”? We get it – communicating in the modern world is hard. Let us be your guide.