All That’s Left Unsaid, debut fiction by Tracey Lien

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All That’s Left Unsaid, debut fiction by Tracey Lien

15 February 2023

Bookcover: All That's Left Unsaid, by Tracey Lien

There are ways to begin a writing career, and there are ways to begin a writing career. Your first novel being the subject of a manuscript bidding contest, and then making the shortlist of a major literary award once published, would probably rate as a pretty good start in the eyes of most pundits.

This is what happened to Sydney based Australian journalist and author Tracey Lien, and her novel All That’s Left Unsaid, published in September 2022 by HarperCollins Australia. So intense was enthusiasm for Lien’s manuscript, it was reported no fewer than nine publishing houses slugged it out for the publishing rights.

Frantic auctions for manuscripts are not uncommon, but they’re not exactly every day occurrences either. In 2021, American author Olivie Blake also found herself, and the manuscript of her book The Atlas Six — which she had already self-published — at the centre of a lucrative bidding contest that was sparked on TikTok.

But Lien’s story continues. Soon after being published, All That’s Left Unsaid was shortlisted in the debut fiction category of the 2023 Indie Book Awards. Needless to say, this is a novel that packs a punch. Ky Tran, a young woman is forced to return to Australia after her younger brother, Denny, is murdered in a busy restaurant, in the Sydney suburb of Cabramatta.

Despite the presence of numerous bystanders though, no one seems to know anything about how Denny died. With local police seemingly uninterested in the case, Ky sets about contacting, and talking to, each of the witnesses present when Denny was killed. But All That’s Left Unsaid is more than a murder story.

Lien’s novel lifts the lid on a troubled area of Sydney — also home to a large refugee population — during a difficult chapter in its history. The streets were awash with drugs and violence. Cabramatta is also where Australia’s first political assassination took place, when John Newman, a New South Wales State parliamentarian was killed outside his home in 1994.

Emma Finn, of London based literary agency C&W Agency described Lien’s manuscript as “electrifying and compulsive”, at the time the publishing rights were acquired. One can only wonder what might be next for Lien, and All That’s Left Unsaid. Blake’s novel The Atlas Six is in the process of being adapted for TV, and given interest thus far in Lien’s debut, a screen adaptation hardly seems like a surprise. Time will tell.

The winners of the Indie Book Awards will be announced on Monday 20 March 2023.

Astronomy, Sky Country by Karlie Alinta Noon, Krystal De Napoli

14 February 2023

Tree on dark plain, stars and night sky in background, photo by Evgeni Tcherkasski

Image courtesy of Evgeni Tcherkasski.

“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the oldest scientists in human history.”

Learning this may come as a surprise to readers of Astronomy, Sky Country, written by Karlie Alinta Noon and Krystal De Napoli, and published by Thames & Hudson, winner of the People’s Choice Award in the 2023 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards.

Because, for instance, were not the Assyro-Babylonians, in Mesopotamia, in south west Asia, documenting their scientific and astronomical research, over three thousand years ago? They were, but Indigenous peoples living in Australia had been making, and recording, astronomical observations tens of thousands of year earlier.

Unlike the Assyro-Babylonians though, who inscribed their knowledge onto tablets and the walls of temples, First Nations Australians recorded information, including astronomical knowledge, differently. Knowledge and stories was passed from generation to generation through word of mouth, cultural rituals, and Songlines.

Songlines were memorised descriptions of pathways or tracks used by Indigenous Australians to guide them from one place to another across country, and included instructions on how to travel, and landmarks to guide their journey. Songlines also contained protocols to observe when crossing other Indigenous peoples’ lands, or country.

But far longer journeys, to destinations a great distance from country, and, on occasions, beyond the Australian continent, required different means of navigation. This is where Indigenous Australians looked to the sky and the stars. This meant travelling overnight when the stars were visible, and when it was also a little more comfortable than trekking through the heat of day.

Torres Strait Islanders, for instance, navigated by a large constellation named Tagai, one of the creator beings. The Tagai group of stars embodies the constellations of Scorpius, the Southern Cross, and Corvus. These three star groups can be seen in the lower left hand quadrant of this constellation map at Nature Noon.

But Tagai was not solely a navigation guide, the constellation also played a role as a timekeeper. Tagai’s movement across the sky as the year progressed, marked the passing of seasons, and acted as a calendar of sorts, indicating times to hunt for food, or harvest crops.

Planets also assisted some Indigenous Australians with navigation, including Venus. Venus was also a part of some Songlines containing cultural lessons and protocols.

Through Astronomy, Sky Country, Karlie Noon, a Gamilaraay astronomer and science communicator, and Krystal De Napoli, a Kamilaroi astrophysicist and educator, bring, through the lens of the cultures of Indigenous Australians, a new understanding to the science of astronomy.

Contemporary astronomical knowledge, for its importance, value, and indeed fascination, is analytical and systematic. Scientists and astronomers of recent centuries have been more concerned with comprehending, and classifying stars as mere stellar objects. Red giant star or red dwarf? What distance are they from Earth, and each other?

But stars are not mere points of light in the night sky. They are also entities that guide, teach, and tell stories. While Indigenous Australians are not the only early cultures to embed legends, stories, and knowledge, in the planets, stars, and constellations, they are among the first.

Palimpsest by Florina Enache, Australia’s 2022 Novel Prize contender

12 February 2023

Close up of typewriter keys, photo by Valerio Errani

Image courtesy of Valerio Errani.

The winner of the 2022 Novel Prize is due to be announced any day now. The award is a collaboration between Australian publishing house Giramondo, and international counterparts Fitzcarraldo Editions in Britain, and New Directions in the United States. Celebrating works of literary fiction that “are innovative and imaginative in style,” the Novel Prize is presented every two years, for unpublished manuscripts, regardless of whether the author has prior published work or not.

The inaugural prize was won by Melbourne based Australian author Jessica Au for her second book, Cold Enough for Snow, in 2020, which also won this year’s Victorian Prize for Literature.

But in 2023 the big question is, can another Australian writer take out the award, and make it two in a row for Australian literature? While that may be wishful thinking, the odds are the same as in 2020, with only one Australian author, Florina Enache, on the 2022 shortlist, for her manuscript Palimpsest. As a coincidence though, another of the Novel Prize 2020 shortlisted writers, Glenn Diaz, a Manila based Pilipino writer, happened to be studying in Australia at the time.

Enache, who like Au calls Melbourne home, was born in Romania, and immigrated to Australia in 2005. Her first book, An-Tan-Tiri Mogodan, published by Adelaide Books in August 2019, is a collection of twelve short stories, depicting ordinary life in a totalitarian regime. An-Tan-Tiri Mogodan went on to be shortlisted in the 2020 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards for new writing.

Totalitarian regimes seem to be a recurring theme in Enache’s work. Palimpsest is set in the days prior to the observance of a holiday called National Day. Participation is mandated by the nation’s oppressive government, and citizens are required to attend observances, referred to as “the great spectacle”, in the capital city.

Should Enache follow in Au’s footsteps and be named winner of the Novel Prize, her manuscript will be published by the three Novel Prize collaborating book publishers. In addition, Enache — or whoever the winner is — will receive US$10,000 in the form of an advance against royalties.

Hazel Edwards, do not tell me who I cannot write about

11 February 2023

Australian author Hazel Edwards, writing for the Sydney Morning Herald:

I’m not Indigenous. I’m not Muslim. I’m not a refugee. I’m not transgender. I’m not disabled. And I’m not a hippopotamus who eats cake. But as a professional author of more than 200 books across 50 years, I’ve always used diverse characters from varied backgrounds and ages in all my stories. And as a 70-ish, white grandmother, I find this diversity is increasingly being challenged. It seems to me the prevailing literary attitude is that I must not write of other cultures in which I was not raised. The term “cultural appropriation” is being used to silence potential writers.

Not sure how popular I’ll be for saying this, but I think any respectful author who has thoroughly researched their subject matter, and takes a respectful tone, should be able to write on any topic.

One Divine Night, by Mick Cummins, unpublished manuscript winner

11 February 2023

Two fountain pens on a dark brown desk, photo by Todabasura

Image courtesy of Todabasura.

Last week, former part-time social worker Mick Cummins was named winner of the unpublished manuscript prize in this year’s Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards.

While the prize comes with a handy fifteen thousand dollars in cash, the real payoff is the profile the win generates. After One Divine Night was included on the Victorian Premier’s shortlist in December 2022, Melbourne based Cummins says a number of publishers contacted him, asking to see the manuscript.

An approach from a publisher expressing interest in their work is a dream come true for any aspiring writer. More usually, a novice author might spend years trying to get a publisher or literary agent to take an interest in their idea.

The value of recognition like this cannot be overstated. In fact, I’d be willing to bet an unpublished writer, given the choice, would simply prefer to be named winner of an unpublished manuscript award — especially one of the Victorian Premier’s standing — and forego the prize money.

That’s because the majority of past prize winners have eventually seen their work published. Anam, by André Dao, winner of the unpublished manuscript prize in 2021, will be published by Penguin Books Australia in May 2023. Hovering, by Rhett Davis, the 2020 winner, was published by Hachette Australia in 2022.

Cummins’ odds of seeing One Divine Night in print have shortened considerably. Of his manuscript, Victorian Premier’s judges hailed Cummins’ writing as a gritty portrayal of homelessness and substance dependency on the streets of Melbourne:

The manuscript depicts drug abuse, overdose, soliciting and physical violence without relying on stereotypes or cliché. The experience of homelessness in inner city Melbourne — long overdue — is explored with nuance and depth, with elements of the storytelling recalling Mark Brandis The Rip. The relationship between Aaron and his mother is particularly memorable — unexpected yet realistic — providing emotional complexity to the narrative. The character of The Man introduces a dark, almost-crime fiction feel, driving the plot and enabling Cummins to critique (although not quite satire) the predatory nature of established male power.

Despite winning the unpublished manuscript prize, Cummins is no stranger to writing. He has written two plays previously, Window without a View, was staged at Hobart’s now closed Theatre Royal Backspace, and Perfect Madness, which showed at the Carlton Court House in Melbourne.

Cummins has also written number of Australian produced documentary screenplays. These include Thomson of Arnhem Land, The Woodcutter’s Son, and Portrait of a Distant Land. He also wrote screenplays for two docudramas, Monash: The Forgotten Anzac, and Menzies and Churchill at War, which both aired in 2008. Presently, another of Cummins’ scripts, for a film called The Hut, is in pre-production.

In a sense, Cummins’ writing career is the reverse trajectory of many other authors. They will write a book and, perhaps later, see the work adapted to other mediums, usually screen or stage.

When it comes to writing, Cummins started out with stage and screen work, and has now turned to book writing. With the praise One Divine Night has been accorded though, I wouldn’t be surprised to one day see the story as a film or play adaptation. After it has been published a book first of course.

Entries open for 2023 Australian/Vogel Young Writers Award

8 February 2023

The Australian/Vogel’s Award for Young Writers has launched the career of many an Australian author, including Emma Batchelor, Katherine Brabon, and Murray Middleton. Entries are open for the 2023 award, to Australian citizens or permanent residents, who are under the age of thirty-five as of 31 May 2023, the date entries close. To be eligible, manuscripts must contain between fifty-thousand and eighty-thousand words.

2023 Val Vallis Award for unpublished poetry entries open

8 February 2023

Entries are open for the 2023 Val Vallis Award for an unpublished poem, until Sunday 26 February 2023. Named in honour of late Queensland poet, lecturer, and opera critic Valentine Vallis, who died in 2009, the award recognises unpublished works, by Australian poets, of no more than eighty lines.

Dan Hogan, a poet based on the NSW Central Coast, won the 2022 award with a work titled Aduantas.

Update: the 2023 award winner was named on Tuesday 2 May 2023.

Limberlost by Robbie Arnott longlisted in 2023 Dylan Thomas Prize

7 February 2023

Tasmania based Australian author Robbie Arnott, has been longlisted in the 2023 Dylan Thomas Prize, for his 2022 novel, Limberlost. Established in 2006, the Dylan Thomas Prize recognises the best published English language literary work, written by an author aged 39 or under, globally.

The shortlist will be announced on Thursday 23 March 2023, with the winner being named at the awards ceremony on Thursday 11 May 2023.

Another reason to add Limberlost to your TBR list.

Lystra Rose’s 2023 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards speech

7 February 2023

Queensland based Australian author Lystra Rose won the Indigenous Writing Award for her debut novel The Upwelling, at the 2023 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, which were presented last week in Melbourne. Take a few minutes to listen to her acceptance speech:

I was the first person in my Indigenous family to be counted as human under Australian law. Let me say that again. When I was born I was the first person in my Indigenous family to be counted human under Australian law.

Remarkable words. Read them again.

A poet laureate will need to bolster interest in Australian poetry

4 February 2023

By 2025 Australia will have a poet laureate, who will presumably be selected and appointed by the proposed Writers Australia peak body. As with many aspects of the National Culture Policy which was unveiled last Monday though, details remain thin on the ground for now.

For instance, how long would an incumbent serve, and what exactly would their role be? Poetry, certainly in Australia, is a niche form of literature, given less than five percent of the population chooses to partake of written rhyme, so one of the mandates of an Australian poet laureate would be to bolster interest in local poetry.

This is something Sarah Holland-Batt, professor of creative writing and literary studies at Queensland University of Technology, advocated for when making submissions to the National Cultural Policy:

“An Australian poet laureate would elevate the status of Australian poetry domestically and internationally,” Holland-Batt says. “Australian literature can struggle on the world stage so there would be a soft diplomacy element to it.” She said the laureate would be an advocate for Australia and Australian writing and the benefits would be beyond only poetry. “It would be a big boost for Australian literature to have someone with that authority invested by the state.”

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