Spring Reading List

Spring is here and so is a fresh bloom of books to get lost in. Browse a selection of recent books that have been taking pride of place in our tote bags and on our bedside tables.

Veronica Sullivan - Festival Director/CEO

Meg Mason’s new novel Sophie, Standing There is the much-anticipated follow-up to her beloved Sorrow and Bliss. Facing the end of her marriage and an uncertain future, Sophie becomes fixated on an enigmatic novelist. When their paths unexpectedly cross, they develop a relationship that is both exhilarating and unsettling. I adored this bittersweet story of longing and connection, set in and around the (decidedly unglamorous!) world of writers’ festivals. Mason’s prose style is utterly unique and incredibly readable.
 
Local writer Chris Ames won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript for his debut short-story collection, I Made This Just for You. These surreal stories interrogate the existential fever dream of modern life: climate panic, cosmetic surgery, parenthood and the digital world.
 
I recently read Nora Ephron’s essay collection, I Feel Bad About My Neck. No one chronicles the absurdities and indignities of womanhood with such acute, snort-inducing insight. An utter gem.

Karys McEwen - Schools Programmer

A Brief History of Climate Folly by Tim Flannery and Emma Flannery is exactly the kind of non-fiction I love because it is smart, accessible and slightly unbelievable. Tim and Emma Flannery take us through humanity’s long history of trying to control the weather and climate, from ancient practices through to cloud-seeding, geoengineering and some seriously strange twentieth century schemes. It’s funny and fascinating but also asks some very important questions about our current climate crisis and our faith in technological solutions.

I’m also very excited about Shaun Tan’s new graphic novel, Hometown, coming this October. It’s a story about a girl who has always felt entirely at home with her family and community, until a stranger arrives who looks just like her and tells her that she doesn’t belong there. In true Shaun Tan fashion, it's completely unique and wonderfully thoughtful. Hometown is a story about identity, family, belonging and what actually makes somewhere home.

Adrian Basso - General Manager

I’m halfway through Rich Haridy’s Trip Reports: Stories from an Australian Psychedelic Renaissance, which explores Australia’s longstanding and growing interest in psychedelic medicine – mushrooms and all. I’m enjoying it, although some of the science occasionally leaves me behind. I didn’t drop science for nothing.

At the same time – which is unusual for me, as I don’t normally read two books at once – I’m reading Robbie Swan and Fiona Patten’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sex Party. I went to the book launch recently, and its many references to Canberra bring back memories of growing up there. They remember Canberra as the place you went for porn; for me, it was where you went for fireworks. Canberra has always had that peculiar quality: somehow ahead of its time in some respects, while distinctly behind it in others.

Stephanie Corne - Head of Marketing and Partnerships

I’ve just started Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke, a timely satire of an influencer tradwife who suddenly wakes up in the 1800s. Burke goes for the jugular with her protagonist, Natalie, who is sanctimonious, smug and deeply conservative. Being privy to the horror show of Natalie’s calculations as she encounters an old acquaintance during a shopping trip at Target, is compelling reading. I’m hooked. Given how popular but divisive this book has been, I’m interested to see whether I continue to enjoy the ride.

Exploring a different timely topic, Tim Neale’s How to Control Fire on a Burning Continent asks how we might move beyond combative ‘control thinking’ to have a less fearful relationship with the landscapes we live in. The book is a patchwork of critical theory, accounts of environmental bureaucracy, and conversations with those directly involved in fire management and cultural burning. Following Neale, we get a look at tech tools crafted to assess fire risks and head out onto Country to hear First Nations custodians discuss the revitalisation of their practices. It's a revealing read that highlights the continued challenges of post-colonial dialogues.