A Year in Review Books

This page lists books available for review in Writers SA’s national literary criticism series A Year in Review. Over the next year we’re publishing reviews of books released during the pandemic—from July 2020 to July 2021—to support authors and a culture of literary criticism in Australia.

If there is a book you would like to review, please email Melanie at [email protected]; this book will be reserved for you and the review process set in motion. Available titles are in bold. We will be updating this book list as we work with publishers to curate the publications list.

Titles with asterisks indicate a South Australian author.

 

Smart Ovens for Lonely People – Elizabeth Tan. Brio Books, June 2020. Fiction.

Living on Stolen Land – Ambelin Kwaymullina. Magabala Books, July 2020. Non-fiction.

A Lonely Girl Is A Dangerous Thing – Jessie Tu. Allen & Unwin, July 2020. Fiction.

*Rise & Shine – Patrick Allington. Scribe, June 2020. Fiction.

*Just Money – Royce Kurmelovs. UQP, September 2020. Non-fiction.

Kokomo – Victoria Hannan. Hachette, July 2020. Fiction.

Fathoms: The World in the Whale – Rebecca Giggs. Scribe, June 2020. Non-fiction.

*Show Me Where It Hurts – Kylie Maslen. Text, September 2020. Non-fiction.

The Animals in That Country – Laura Jean McKay. Scribe, April 2020. Fiction.

Come: A Memoir – Rita Therese. Allen & Unwin, March 2020. Non-fiction.

After Australia – ed. Michael Mohammed Ahmad. Affirm, May 2020. Fiction.

*The Things She Owned – Katherine Tamiko Arguile. Affirm, April 2020. Fiction.

Guwayu — For All Times – Ed. Jeanine Leane. Magabala, August 2020. Poetry.

*A History of What I’ll Become – Jill Jones. UWA, February 2020. Poetry.

Fire Front: First Nations Poetry and Power Today – Ed. Alison Whittaker. UQP, March 2020. Poetry.

Throat – Ellen van Neerven. UQP, March 2020. Poetry.

*The Dictionary of Lost Words – Pip Williams. Affirm, March 2020. Fiction.

The Morbids – Ewa Ramsey. Allen & Unwin, September 2020. YA Fiction.

Money for Something – Mia Walsch. Allen & Unwin, July 2020. Non-fiction.

*The Application of Pressure – Rachael Mead. Affirm, May 2020. Fiction.

*Dreams They Forgot – Emma Ashmere. Wakefield, September 2020. Fiction.

The Lost Soul Atlas – Zana Fraillon. Hachette, July 2020. Fiction.

Rebel Gods – Will Kostakis. Hachette, August 2020. Fiction.

State Highway One – Sam Coley. Hachette, August 2020. Non-fiction.

From Snow to Ash – Anthony Sharwood. Hachette, August 2020. Non-fiction.

A Testament of Character – Sulari Gentill. Pantera Press, March 2020. Fiction.

*The Girl She Was – Rebecca Freeborn. Pantera Press, March 2020. Fiction.

*Antipodean China – ed. Nicholas Jose and Benjamin Madden. Giramondo. Nonfiction.

The authorised biography of Lowitja O’Donoghue – Stuart Rintoul. Allen & Unwin, September 2020. Nonfiction.

Turbulence – Thuy On. UWA Publishing, March 2020. Poetry.

*Where the Fruit Falls – Karen Wyld. UWA Publishing, October 2020. Fiction.

Fish Work – Caitlin Maling. UWA Publishing, 2020. Poetry

Torched – Kimberley Starr. Pantera Press, April 2020. Fiction. 

Glimpses of Utopia: Real Ideas for a Fairer World – Jess Scully. Pantera Press, August 2020. Nonfiction.

Leaving the Plain – Max Easton. Giramondo, 2020. Fiction. 

Buried Not Dead – Fiona McGregor. Giramondo, 2020. Nonfiction.

Credo: Selected Essays – Imants Tillers. Giramondo, 2020. Nonfiction.

No Document – Anwen Crawford. Giramondo, 2020. Nonfiction.

Collisions: Fictions of the Future – ed. Leah Jing McIntosh, Adalya Nash Hussein, Cher Tan and Hassan Abul. Pantera, November 2020. Fiction.

Brother Moon – Maree McCarthy Yoelu. Magabala Books, March 2020. Children’s. 

Girls Can Fly – Ambelin Kwaymullina and Sally Morgan. Magabala Books, March 2020. Nonfiction. 

A Question of Colour – Pattie Lees. Magabala Books, August 2020. Nonfiction. 

maar bidi: next generation black writing – ed. Elfie Shiosaki and Linda Martin. Magabala Books, November 2020.

Song of the Crocodile – Nardi Simpson. Hachette, September 2020. Fiction. 

*Dark Wave – Lana Guineay. Brio Books, October 2020. Fiction.

Into the Suburbs – Christopher Raja. University of Queensland Press, August 2020. Nonfiction.

Fozia and the Quest of Prince Zal – Rosanne Hawk. University of Queensland Press, April 2021. YA Fiction.

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