Introducing our writer-in-residence for March: S.J. Finn
Each month of 2015, we’ll be sharing some words from an Australian author of a new work on our blog as part on an online residency. We’re thrilled to announce that S.J. Finn is our chosen author for March!
In Down to the River, Finn explores the complex and painful territory surrounding our perception of child sex offenders and our own moral responses. In the small country town of Dungower, little goes on that local journalist Joni Miller can write about in any gritty detail. But when it becomes know that a convicted paedophile is living in their midst, the town is thrown into turmoil.
Click here to read the first chapter of Down to the River. (Please note, this is a PDF download.)
Our reviewer writes, ‘This is at times an incredibly uncomfortable book to read, but good fiction should be challenging and thankfully there are still small publishers willing to take risks and bring important books like this to light.’
Read the full review here
When we asked Finn to share the story behind her book, she explained how it all started with her friend sharing a detail about their childhood: ‘Simply and without fuss, they described that for a number of years during the winter months they were in charge of lighting the local priest’s fire each morning before school started.’
Find the full story here.
We also invited Finn to share the last five books she’s read and were delighted to find out they were all Australian: ‘Staying away from explanation and living in the realm of description – like poetry – Australian writing is a live wire of synchronised details that build to a form, and then a labyrinth of narrative.’
