Scars

This anthology of Australian microliterature explores the theme of scars—how they mark us, how they mark the world around us, and the intriguing stories that they tell. From healing the scarred remains of an abandoned mine, to a kidney making peace in its final moments, to a concussion that sparks a supernova, each little story has a little something for everyone.

 ‘In this dynamic and absorbing collection, the subject of scars is approached from numerous points of view, including bodily scars, psychological scars, historical scars and scars on the landscape. These terse, experimental pieces embrace an impressively wide range of genres from allegory to satire, and traverse a dizzying array of environments, from the domestic to outer space. A most enjoyable read, extremely relevant to contemporary Australia.’ HAZEL SMITH, Word Migrants

‘You'd expect scars to be the business of the new or after normal of the Anthropocene, and they are, on landscapes, bodies and minds. But scars are also ancient cultural rituals and therapeutic tools. These microfictions put into relief, raise up, and embed scars as the multifarious symbols of and strategies for survival that they are.’ MOYA COSTELLO, Harriet Chandler

Edited by Cassandra Atherton with a Preface by Gabrielle Fletcher, the anthology includes pieces by commissioned Indigenous and non-Indigenous writers as well as finalists in the 2019 joanne Burns Microlit Award. Featured authors Raelee Lancaster, Paul Collis, Brenda Saunders, Steve Kinnane, Sam Wagan Watson, Benjamin Laird, Judith Crispin, Jessica Wilkinson and Shady Cosgrove.

CASSANDRA ATHERTON is an award-winning writer, academic and critic. She was a Harvard Visiting Scholar in English in 2016 and her most recent books of prose poetry are Pika-Don (Mountains Brown Press, 2017), Prosody: Metre (Recent Work Press, 2018) and Pre-Raphaelite (Garron Publishing, 2018).