Griffith Review 38: Annual Fiction Edition

Griffith Review #38

by Julianne Schultz (Editor)

Novellas – longer than a short story, shorter than a novel – have come into their own, with the digital publishing revolution providing new opportunities for writers to experiment with longer stories that are intense, detailed, often grounded in the times, and perfectly designed for busy people to read in one sitting.

This edition features six stories picked by a panel of judges from more than two hundred entries.

Mary-Rose MacColl explores the rippling consequences of a single moment of distraction; Lyndel Caffrey poignantly recreates the bleak Melbourne winter of 1923; and Katerina Cosgrove combines a portrait of strife-torn Greece with a tale of tortured love.

Ed Wright tells the tragic story of a spirited teenager torn between love and duty in wartime Japan; Christine Kearney embraces the complexities of the mythic and contemporary reality of life in East Timor; and Jim Hearn cooks up a challenging and gritty tale of a junkie in trouble.

The Novella Project marks the beginning of an ongoing project, developed in collaboration with the Copyright Agency Limited's Cultural Fund, which we hope will help foster a new golden age for the novella with an antipodean perspective.

The Novella Project Judging Panel: Craig Munro, Estelle Tang and Julienne van Loon.

Genres: Journal

247 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2012

About the author

JULIANNE SCHULTZ is the founding editor of Griffith REVIEW. She is on the boards of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Grattan Institute. She is the Chair of the Queensland Design Council and the reference group on the National Cultural Policy, deputy chair of the Australian Council of Learned Academies Securing Australia’s Future project and on advisory committees with a focus on education, media and Indigenous issues. Since co-chairing the Creative Australia stream at the 2020 Summit she has been actively involved in cultural policy debates. She has been a judge of the Miles Franklin Award, Myer Foundation Fellowships and Walkley Awards. She is the author of Reviving the Fourth Estate: Democracy, accountability and the media (Cambridge University Press, 1998), Steel City Blues (Penguin, 1985) and the librettos Black River and Going into Shadows.

Reviews

[4ZZZ Book Club]

Founded in 2003, the Griffith Review is a quarterly publication featuring essays, reportage, memoir, fiction, poetry and artwork – all centred around a particular theme. This year, for the annual fiction edition, in Griffith Review 38, they’ve chosen to delve into the realm of the novella. It features works from Mary-Rose MacColl, Lyndel Caffrey, Katerina Cosgrove, Ed Wright, Christine Kearney and Jim Hearn.

Sky caught up with editor Julianne Schultz to talk about the latest edition. Originally broadcast on 15/11/2012. Griffith Review is available through their website or through Text.

[Jocelyn]

6 novellas make an awkward package. I really liked A Minor Loss of Fidelity by Christine Kearney and I enjoyed Glad, by Lyndel Caffrey, particularly because it is set in the suburb where I live. The others didn't work as well for me, though I think they might be good (particularly An End to Hope by Ed Wright) but the length, and being in an anthology, were not a good fit.

[Bronwyn]

Excellent read-great idea this! Faves were Ed Wright's Japanese ghost story, Christine Kearney's brilliant piece set in East Timor and Mary-Rose MacColl's The Water of Life. All of novellas were rich in story, setting, characters and language. These novellas had the edginess of the short form combined with novelistic depth. Could be my next literary crush.

[Jemma]

An engaging selection of six novellas. I enjoyed "River street", "An end to hope" and "Intimate distance" a lot; the other three were good but didn't really grab me. A good read that slots into busy times well.

[Megan]

A lot of sadness in these novellas.