New Australian Fiction 2020: A new collection of short fiction from Kill Your Darlings

by Rebecca Starford

The stories in this collection explore how characters respond to some of the most intriguing and urgent issues of our time, including genetic experimentation, nuclear fallout, and ongoing and destructive white-settler colonialism. These are also stories about human connection, finding empathy with the natural environment and each other, and the enduring spirt of our society. New Australian Fiction features brilliant writers with distinct experiences, voices and styles from all corners of Australia. Together they showcase the strength and diversity of Australian short fiction at its best. Contributors MAAME BLUE — CLAIRE G. COLEMAN — ELIZABETH FLUX KATERINA GIBSON — JACK KIRNE — DARIA LEBEDYEVA — DONNA MAZZA — LAURA MCPHEE-BROWNE — SOPHIE OVERETT — KA REES — MIRANDI RIWOE — MYKAELA SAUNDERS — LAURA STORTENBEKER — JESSIE TU — JACK VENING — MADELEINE WATTS 'If you need any reminder about why fiction matters, read this collection, and join me in grateful awe of these authors.' — Ceridwen Dovey Praise for New Australian Fiction 2019: 'The stories in this collection are nuanced, captivating and accomplished. With the briefest of brushstrokes, they reveal vivid and complex worlds. Australian short fiction is indeed alive and well.' — Maxine Beneba Clarke 'Like the best short fiction should, these stories leave room for interpretation, and echo the despair of the modern age while still providing a glimmer of something close to hope.' — Saturday Paper 'A consistently high-quality collection…the sort of fiction that is firmly grounded in character and narrative.' — The Age / The Sydney Morning Herald 'This volume truly has something for everyone, and is a wonderful way to discover some excellent emerging Australian writers.' — Readings

Genres: Short Stories, Australia

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2020

About the author

Rebecca Starford is the author of Bad Behaviour, a memoir about boarding school and bullying. The book was optioned for television by Matchbox Pictures and aired in Australia on STAN, as well as streamed through more than 20 other countries across the world.  Rebecca's first novel, The Imitator, was published in Australia, and in the United States, Canada, the UK and South Africa under the title An Unlikely Spy.  

She is also the co-founder and publishing director of Kill Your Darlings, and has previously worked for Text Publishing and Australian Book Review. Originally from Melbourne, Rebecca currently lives in France.

Reviews

[Michael Livingston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a wonderful collection, with short stories from a mix of established and new (to me) writers. Jack Vening and Liz Flux manage add dashes of humour, much needed amidst a lot of other pretty grim stories. Madeleine Watts, Mirandi Riwoe and Laura McPhee-Browne have all written books I really liked, and their stories here lived up to my expectations. Laura Stortenbeker is going to write an absolutely astonishing book one day. Anyway - there's something for everyone here - kudos to Kill Your Darlings for putting it together.

[Cass Moriarty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Editor Rebecca Starford once again has given us a delightful taste of the latest and greatest Aussie fiction with New Australian Fiction 2020 (Kill Your Darlings 2020). These regular publications never disappoint. Some stories will appeal more to particular readers than others, but on the whole, the standard is excellent – some edgy and creative narratives and some more traditional but just as enjoyable stories. Pandemic themes feature strongly, as do those of hope and the future.
Some of my own particular favourites from this edition are: Holy Water by Jack Kirne, Orchestra of Animals by Katerina Gibson, So Many Ways by Mirandi Riwoe, The Hands Around Your Neck by Sophie Overett, Floodwaters by Madeleine Watts, After the Stampede by Jack Vening, Among the Ruins by Ka Rees and The Fingerprint by Donna Mazza.
Stories are also included from Elizabeth Flux, Mykaela Saunders, Daria Lebedyeva, Laura Stortenbeker, Claire G. Coleman, Jessie Tu, Laura McPhee-Browne and Maame Blue.
If you want a tasting plate of what’s new and happening in Aussie fiction, grab yourself a copy of KYD New Australian Fiction and see which flavours you fancy.

[Harrison Vesey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories are always a great antidote when I’m struggling to read, and this is a wonderful collection from among Australia’s emerging crop of very talented writers.

[Laurie-Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely, diverse collection of contemporary fiction from a range of Aussie authors. I read this in the search for related texts for my senior English students, and while the search was somewhat fruitful, I greatly enjoyed my time in this space. I just LOVE Australian voices in fiction. There’s nothing more comforting or engaging than a voice that reflects my world, in any small way.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s interesting that some reviewers describe this collection of stories as really diverse and others as quite “samey”. I can see both perspectives.

The diversity of topics is startling diverse but there’s an undercurrent in each story that’s dark and has intensity, even if the protagonist’s voice is upbeat. At least one I didn’t finish because it was too dark, but on the flipside there were a couple that stuck with me because of their darkness, and others that I felt didn’t say much that was new.

I learnt a lot about writing short stories from this collection, seeing how the authors started the story, revealed information carefully, and painted vibrant pictures, though I agree with the reviewer that there is a definite “literary style” and that a few stories with a twist or a more formal structure would have added something different.

My favourite was probably by Laura McPhee-Browne, about friendship, articulating an experience that can be almost universally understood.

[Kali Napier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some lovely stories in this. My outstanding favourite was the last story in the anthology: "Orchestra of Animals" by Katerina Gibson.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much like the first volume of KYD's New Australian Fiction last year, I enjoyed this collection immensely. Such a great spread of stories, from the introspective to the deeply bizarre and even darkly funny. Laura Stortenbeker's painful unravelling Low Light, the haunting commodification of trauma in Among the Ruins by K.A. Rees, and Donna Mazza's astonishing body horror The Fingerprint were my very favourites, but I also really enjoyed the stories by Claire G Coleman, Laura McPhee-Browne, Maame Blue and Mykaela Saunders, and Elizabeth Flux's delightful I Go To Pieces had an ending that made me laugh out loud in surprise. A great assortment of stories.

[OliviaF · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of short stories from new and emerging Australian writers exceeded my expectations. I've been frustrated by Australian short story competitions lately where the narrative is very contrived and the judges' feedback is irritatingly cute, but here the shortlist of stories are warm, relatable, and show the vulnerability of ordinary characters in everyday situations. My standout favourites are:

+ a lady who reluctantly visits the Van Gogh exhibition with a friend (brought a tear to my eye)
+ a character who depends on her brother for everything; in another life they could have been soulmates
+ an Aboriginal man doing everything he can to turn things around by setting a positive routine each day
+ a waitress who got made COVID-redundant shortly after discovering she is pregnant, and does not know how to break the news to her family
+ a woman who goes through a strange scientific experiment to help her cope with the grief of losing her baby

[Ika Willis · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is an anthology of short stories, so a mixed bag! I liked that there were quite a lot of speculative fiction examples, and was glad that there were a couple of Aboriginal authors (ie more than one). I thought it was weird that so many of the stories were set in the US (yes yes I get that we are past 'national literature' but does that necessarily mean we default to the US? Give someone else a go!) I liked the stories by Mykaela Saunders and Daria Lebedyeva best. None of them made a huge impression on me. All the stories were well-written in their way. Weirdly, they all felt like bits of a larger whole - I guess it is not the thing at the moment to have a short story that ends on an epiphany or a twist? So they all worked as little glimpses into fictional worlds and lives, which was pleasant enough.

But, oh, look, I am not the right audience for this book because I am not a huge literary-fiction fan.* Litfic all sounds so samey to me, and all these stories are written according to that same adverbs-are-bad litfic style guide, and they all basically go "let us traverse some really extreme emotional territory but in a slightly deadpan way, ideally conveying the emotions through some sort of description of physical objects, because although we are literally writing about feelings, we believe that doing so openly is the business of genre fiction, and genre fiction is of lower quality than literary fiction, by definition". Actually litfic is just as much of a genre as romance, and just as mockable. (Yes yes there is litfic that "transcends the genre", there are books in all genres that transcend their genres.)

Anyway today apparently I feel like talking about genres, not books. Hmm.

*Here is my theory of genre fandom: you like a genre as such if you read and enjoy less-than-great work in that genre. I will read anything that is great in more or less any genre, I will read all manner of chicklit and thrillers, but I can't be bothered with average fantasy, science fiction, and literary fiction.

[Rach Gregg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of stories, whilst all connecting together within the submission brief, creates such diverse range of voices. From the dark humorous character in Elizabeth Flux’s story to the deeply bizarre narrative of Jack Kirne. Kill your Darlings really has something for everyone and creates a true voice and portrayal of the modern contemporary fiction in Australia.

[Kylie Moppert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very mixed collection of stories. Some stayed with me for days, both the story and the prose. Others I found too awkward and pointless to finish. The breadth of styles is refreshing. The only theme is as the title calls it, and some of the authors are part-time Australians.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed lot. Several unremarkable stories, a few real duds, and a couple of gems. The standouts were Jack Vening's "After the Stampede" (surrealist parable of sorts) and Donna Mazza's "The Fingerprint" (speculative fiction that deals with the loss of a child). As an American new to Australia, I did enjoy the variety of Australian voices and the wide range of Australian lives and experiences gathered here.

[Pramble · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe the next story will be the one that makes it worthwhile. Maybe the next one will be the new Frank Moorehouse or Peter Carey - both of whom wrote marvelous short stories.
Unfortunately, the next one never came. The stories are all very competent, but that is it. I was never dazzled or suprised.