The Readings New Australian Fiction Prize 2024 shortlist
We are proud to announce the six shortlisted titles for The Readings New Australian Fiction Prize 2024! The Readings New Australian Fiction Prize is presented for the best new contribution to Australian fiction.
Our staff judges for the 2024 Prize are Melinda Houston (chair of judges, Readings Carlton), Yasmin Baker (Readings Doncaster), Aurelia Orr (Readings Kids) and Louise Ryan (Readings Carlton).
Thanks for Having Me by Emma Darragh
This novel, written in interlocking stories, follows Mary Anne, Vivien and Evie, three generations of women from the same working-class family in Wollongong. Non-chronologically written, part of the joy is piecing it all together. Emma Darragh is an exciting and unusual new voice in Australian literature with a sympathetic and darkly funny view of her characters’ successes and failures in motherhood and life.
It’s hard to believe this is a debut. Emma Darragh’s fresh take on “bad mothers” is compassionate, sophisticated, surprising – and often laugh-out-loud funny. A gorgeous read, and bound to get you talking at your next book club. — Melinda Houston
Ghost Cities by Siang Lu
After Xiang Lu is fired from his job as a Chinese translator because he can’t actually speak Mandarin, it sets off a chain of increasingly bizarre events. Running parallel is a story of ancient emperors and betrayals that are filled with hidden meaning. This is a brilliant, allegorical contemporary novel that also delves into Chinese myth and history to create something entirely surprising and innovative.
Ghost Cities is a funny, cool, slightly surreal novel flipping between Sydney, where Xiang Lu is dubbed #badchinese online after getting sacked from the Chinese consulate, and a ghost city where dictatorial film director Baby Bao creates a Truman Show-like set. — Louise Ryan
No Church in the Wild by Murray Middleton
It’s been five years since violence exploded between police and residents in Melbourne’s housing commission tower, but anger still simmers close to the surface. A hike on the Kokoda Trail is planned to help relieve tensions, but an incident of racial profiling may undo everything. This is a thrilling novel, with finely written characters, vernacular dialogue and Melbourne lovingly portrayed in all its flaws.
Murray Middleton writes of the lives of high school students in Melbourne’s public housing towers. Discrimination, brutality, and sexual violation thrive while dignity and pride struggle to break through as the students, their teachers and local police plan a bonding trek on the Kokoda trail. — Louise Ryan
Salt River Road by Molly Schmidt
The Tetley siblings’ lives are falling apart after their mother’s death. With the family farm near ruin, Rose runs away from the grief and mess. When she meets Noongar Elders Patsy and Herbert, she discovers community and an unexpected opportunity to heal a wound from the past. This is a beautifully written story about the power of human connection to overcome deep-seated racism and trauma.
Set in 1970s Western Australia, Salt River Road is a compelling and poignant read that focuses on the Tetley family as they deal with their grief over the loss of a family member to cancer. It’s a powerful book with a strong message of hope and resilience that will touch everyone’s heart. — Yasmin Baker
The Opposite of Success by Eleanor Elliott Thomas
Set on one day, this hilarious, acerbic novel captures the zeitgeist with perfection. Lorrie’s challenges at work, along with the demands of friendship, kids, partners and exes, are captured in scathing prose with a backdrop of climate change, evil billionaires and environmental protesters. In a very contemporary Melbourne, this story speaks to what it is to be middle class and middle management in midlife.
Love, motherhood, climate change, and simply surviving every day, one disaster at a time, is just the beginning in this light-hearted, hilarious story that effortlessly brings important discussions to the fore. I couldn’t put this down! — Aurelia Orr
But the Girl by Jessica Zhan Mei Yu
‘Girl’ is on a residency in Scotland to work on her post-colonial novel. Her academic career has focused on the works of Sylvia Plath, and as a Chinese-Malaysian second-generation immigrant, Girl struggles with the lack of diversity in academia and the burden of familial expectations. Skewering academia, families and being a 20-something Australian overseas, this is an eloquent and insightful debut.
Melancholic and exquisite, this heart-wrenching novel challenges the bearing of family burdens, racism in academia, and the concept of ‘Australian’ identity. Jessica Zhan Mei Yu’s debut is witty and wise; Girl’s story will connect with a wide audience. — Aurelia Orr
For a limited time we are pleased to offer all six books on the 2024 shortlist in a specially priced pack. You can buy this pack in our shops or online for the special price of $169.99 (was $199.94)
