It’s lovely to see an old hand enjoy himself so thoroughly and masterfully. Robert Drewe’s latest novel, Nimblefoot(Penguin), about a young “pedestrian” racer who goes on to be a jockey and a fugitive, is a bag of picaresque fun. Two of them horsey, as it happens, and both inspired by real people. I’ve spent the past couple of years making a documentary, so my reading has been largely restricted to science papers, but I did manage to squeeze a couple of treats in this year. Maxine Beneba Clarke’s most recent book is When We Say Black Lives Matter (Lothian). The collection features compelling new work by established authors, in addition to giving space to less published voices. One absolutely groundbreaking collection that seems to have flown under the radar is Unlimited Futures (Fremantle) – a local anthology of science-fiction writing by First Nations and African diaspora authors, edited by Ellen van Neerven and Rafeif Ismail.
In non-fiction, I’ve enjoyed Mawunyo Gbogbo’s Hip Hop and Hymns (Penguin), an earnest and lyrical missive about growing up in a Black migrant family in the mining town of Muswellbrook. The collection contains poetry, lyrics, essays and other writings on mental health from some of Australia’s most accomplished writers, such as Omar Sakr, Krissy Kneen and Ali Cobby Eckermann along with literary musings from prominent figures such as activist and author Grace Tame, and comedian, musician and home cooking enthusiast Nat’s What I Reckon. Red Room Poetry’s Admissions Anthology (eds., David Stavanger, Mohammad Awad and Radhiah Chowdhury) is a stunning curation. And I’ve been delighted by an advance copy of Tom Hanks’ The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece (Cornerstone) a sweeping behind-the-scenes story of the making of a movie and the America it came out of.Īnna Funder’s novel Wifedom (Hamish Hamilton) will be published in July. I loved Paul Daley’s Jesustown(A&U), about a washed-up outsider visiting a remote settlement and struggling with the legacy of our past, and also Don Watson’s The Passion of Private White (Scribner) about a Vietnam Vet’s lifetime’s commitment to the people of Donidji, in East Arnhem Land. I devoured Jessica Au’s Cold Enough for Snow (Giramondo), a meditative, mesmerising novel and Geraldine Brooks’ masterful and passionate Horse (Hachette). I was enthralled by Bernadette Brennan’s Leaping into Waterfalls (Allen & Unwin) about the dauntless writer Gillian Mears, who went places – in writing and life – with abandon, curiosity and courage. Jenny Offill’s Weather (Granta) was my standout novel – hilarious, acute and moving, set in Brooklyn and written in almost Twitter-brief paragraphs, it makes grand comedy and tragedy of crazy modern daily life.
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