Indigenous Literature Week 2014 has been and gone, but I have a Giveaway book by an author and artist of Ngai Tahu and European descent that I’m sure will interest readers of short stories…
It’s Arms Race, by Nic Low, who was shortlisted for the 2012 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, and runner up for the 2013 Overland Victoria University Short Story Prize.
Here’s Text Publishing’s blurb:
Data theft, internet memes, advertising, terrorism, indigenous sovereignty, drone warfare, opium addiction, syphilis, the moon landing, mining, oil slicks, climate change, giant octopuses: nothing is spared in this collection. Nic Low’s stories go beyond satire, aiming for the dark heart of our collective obsession with technology, power and image.
Set variously in London, an Indian village, remote Mongolia, the West Australian outback and mountainous New Zealand, these are prescient visions of the future and outlandish reimaginings of the past. Arms Race is an arresting debut from a fierce, playful new voice in Australian writing.
Does that take your fancy? Maxine Beneba Clarke describes his stories like this:
‘Nic Low’s stories are like controlled detonations. Arms Race is machete-sharp, politically engaged and thematically fearless. Australian short fiction just got lobbed into the twenty-first century.’
For a taste of Nic’s style, visit this link to Overland. Thanks to Jane Rawson for the link. (BTW Jane has been featured at Meet an Aussie Author and has written a beaut, quirky novel called A Wrong Turn at the Office of Unmade Lists so she knows what she’s talking about when she admires Nic’s stories!)
HOW TO ENTER
Be in it to win it! Anyone with an Australian postal address is eligible. Please indicate your interest in the Comments box below and I’ll select a winner using a random generator by the end of July.
All entries from Australian residents will be eligible but it is a condition of entry that if you are the winner, you must contact me with a postal address by the deadline that will be specified in the blog post that announces the winner. (I’ll redraw if this deadline isn’t met).
Good luck!
Yes please!
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By: Dee on July 19, 2014
at 5:43 pm
Count me in too please. Thanks
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By: sharkell on July 20, 2014
at 6:09 pm
Will do:)
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By: Lisa Hill on July 20, 2014
at 6:12 pm
“politically engaged and thematically fearless” has won me over Lisa! Count me in please.
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By: Mairi Neil on July 20, 2014
at 7:11 pm
Good luck, Mairi!
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By: Lisa Hill on July 20, 2014
at 7:13 pm
Oh yes please! Nic’s stories are ace.
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By: Jane Bryony Rawson on July 21, 2014
at 10:03 am
Hey, you’ve read some! Where did you find them?
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By: Lisa Hill on July 21, 2014
at 12:19 pm
I think I read it in the Big Issue fiction edition last year. Perhaps… (my reading tends to blur together). I also hung out with him for quite a while at Melb Writers Fest last year, and he was a treat.
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By: Jane Bryony Rawson on July 21, 2014
at 12:51 pm
Here’s one I haven’t read before, but which I just enjoyed immensely http://overland.org.au/previous-issues/issue-213/short-story-prize-nic-low/
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By: Jane Bryony Rawson on July 21, 2014
at 1:15 pm
I’ll add the link to the post, thanks:)
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By: Lisa Hill on July 21, 2014
at 2:33 pm
Love Nic’s writing! So excited about this book. Pick me!
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By: Sean on July 21, 2014
at 12:20 pm
Good luck, Sean:)
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By: Lisa Hill on July 21, 2014
at 12:22 pm