The Great Undoing by Sharlene Allsopp

The Great Undoing by Sharlene Allsopp (Ultimo Press) “…there are other forms of history. There are songs and laments – poetry. There are ancient songlines. There is continued existence. There is thriving where there was once only surviving. I drew a deep breath as I walked on that silent country, thinking these thoughts, searching for […]

Saturation by William Lane

Saturation by William Lane Saturation by William Lane (Transit Lounge) is a gripping, easy-to-read dystopia for adults that explores issues of climate and other anxieties. On writing Saturation by William Lane It seems every second person wrote a novel during the Covid lockdowns. Saturation is one of these novels. The Covid crisis, along with the […]

Isobelle Carmody and Comes the Night

Isobelle Carmody & Comes the Night Published by Allen & Unwin Author interview with Isobelle Carmody ‘Will marvelled all over again that people would try to stop their government building domes. Didn’t they know how bad the air was, how dangerous the sunlight? Domes were designed to filter both, and to screen out damaging radiation. […]

Tim Winton & Juice

Tim Winton & Juice Legendary Australian novelist Tim Winton was introduced as a ‘prophetic voice’ before his brilliantly composed, erudite and literary-rich Richard Johnson lecture, ‘Exiles at Home: what our contempt for nature is costing us’ hosted by cpx in Sydney. Winton acknowledged First Nations Peoples such as Dr Miriam Rose Ungunmerr Baumann as our original Australian prophets, as well […]

The Snow Laundry by Mette Jakobsen

The Snow Laundry by Mette Jakobsen Mette Jakobsen is an excellent writer of literary fiction (The Wingmaker is a standout and I am keen to read her earlier novels) and now has branched into YA with The Snow Laundry, the first in her Tower series (published HarperCollins Australia). Mette begins her guest author post at […]

self/less by AVIVA

self/less by AVIVA self/less is multidisciplinary artist and musician AVIVA’s debut novel. It is published by Pan Macmillan Australia. In this YA dystopia, 17-year-old Teddy lives a privileged life in Metropolis where creativity is a crime. Following her desire for freedom and change, she turns her world upside down. AVIVA writes about self/less: At its […]

Claire Zorn and When We Are Invisible

“I will be the sort of person who survives in this new world.” (When We Are Invisible) Claire Zorn is one of Australia’s best and most highly awarded contemporary YA authors. Her novels The Protected and One Would Think the Deep have won major awards, including the Prime Minister’s Literary Award, the CBCA Book of […]

Catch Me If I Fall by Barry Jonsberg

“We’re like one of those fairy stories Mum used to read us at bedtime, Ashleigh. A princess and her prince brother in our beautiful tower… But we know nothing about the world out there … The real world.” (Catch Me If I Fall) Some of Barry Jonsberg’s early YA novels, The Whole Business with […]

The End of the World is Bigger than Love by Davina Bell

Inside the CBCA Shortlist “We live on a blue planet that circles around a ball of fire next to a moon that moves the sea, and you don’t believe in miracles?” (The End of the World is Bigger than Love) The End of the World is Bigger than Love by Davina Bell (Text Publishing) may […]

A.J. Betts and Rogue

Rogue (Pan Macmillan Australia) continues Hayley’s dystopian story – in a surprising, and very different setting – which began in Hive. Thank you for speaking to PaperbarkWords, A.J. Why have you written a duology? It is unusual to have two books rather than one stand-alone, a trilogy or a longer series. There’s no real reason, […]