“I see no reason why short stories have to be small. I think they can be large. I think they can be big experiences.”

Each month we celebrate an Australian debut release of fiction or non-fiction with the Kill Your Darlings First Book Club. For March that debut is Wayne Marshall’s short story collection Shirl, out now from Affirm Press.

In Shirl, Wayne Marshall takes a range of what-if scenarios to their fabulist and comedic extremes. Superbly inventive and powerful, these fourteen stories skewer contemporary Australian society—particularly the crises of masculinity and national identity—in insightful and yet hilarious ways, blurring the line between fantasy and reality. Our First Book Club host Ellen Cregan asked Wayne a few questions about the collection and his reading and writing life.

Our April First Book Club title will be The Adversary by Ronnie Scott. Our theme song is Broke for Free’s ‘Something Elated’.

Further reading:

Read Ellen Cregan’s review of Shirl in our March Books Roundup.

Read Wayne Marshall's Shelf Reflection on his reading habits and the writing that inspires him.

Listen to the Wheeler Centre's 'Rough Diamonds' podcast which inspired Wayne to enter the VPLAs.

Read 'The Hearing', a story from Shirl, in New Australian Fiction 2019.

 

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