GR66: The Light Ascending

Winning Novellas:
Who is the woman behind one of Paul Gauguin's most famous canvases? In her insightful novella, Mirandi Riwoe (Brisbane) explores how Annah, a woman of colour seen as little more than a possession, must fight to survive in nineteenth-century France.

A cycling accident sends Wilhelmina Blomme plummeting into the Swell River – but while her body lies inert beneath the water, her mind roams the corridors of memory and imagination. Julienne van Loon (Melbourne) takes readers on a riveting journey through a comascape that explores questions of fate, choice and desire.

In a poignant and original tale by Keren Heenan (Melbourne), three unlikely friends – Parker, Paisley and Stick Man – return to Parker's hometown and try to win over its residents with a series of idiosyncratic stage performances. But will the town take to this unlikely trio?

When Elsie loses her cousin Rachel in a shocking act of violence, her world is changed forever. Allanah Hunt (Brisbane) exposes the devastating consequences that follow an Aboriginal death in custody, giving voice to one family as they navigate the aftermath of injustice.

Short Fiction:
A mysterious woman. Tantalising secrets. Brutal realities. In her first publication since 2018's bestselling The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, Holly Ringland (UK/Australia) offers a lyrical and poetic meditation on history, biography and crime, and an uncanny evocation of grief.

Pat Hoffie (Brisbane) connects a fantastical Victorian wonderland on the banks of the Brisbane River to the city's present-day mangroves, which harbour a long-held and mysterious secret.

Memoir:
Krissy Kneen (Brisbane) pieces together the story of her grandmother Lotty, who journeyed to Egypt as a child during a mass emigration of Slovenian women. Weaving together history, memoir and folklore, this story is an intimate portrait of identity and belonging.

Poetry:
Plus new poetry by Stuart Barnes (Brisbane), Stuart Cooke (Brisbane), Shastra Deo (Brisbane), Sarah Holland-Batt (Brisbane), Anna Jacobson (Brisbane), Ella Jeffery (Brisbane), Daniel Swain (Sydney) and Laura Taylor (UK).

GR66: The Light Ascending
Edited By: Ashley Hay
RRP: $27.99