An Unexpected Party

'A warm, tight hug, long overdue for the generations of queer young adults longing for a place in the world. An Unexpected Party contains an unashamed and beautiful honesty, carving out a space for broad, and ever-resonant queer stories within the Australian YA cannon.' Jade Breen, Children's Book Council of Australia 'An Unexpected Party is a profoundly humanising experience ... It's a world where all fictional elements, be they realistic or fantastic, exist to serve a necessarily complex space of identity, empowerment, trauma, grief and belonging for both the authors in this book and the characters they create.' Laurie Steed, WritingWA 'Queer readers or young people struggling to understand their individual and social selves could recognise aspects of themselves and the way they see the real world in these short science fiction or fantasy tales.' Magpies 'This collection of short stories is a veritable party of sparkling new voices, highly original stories that cover the spectrum of LGBTQIA+ experiences, within imaginary worlds, some sci-fi, some fairy story, some dystopian, some horror, but all are fresh and powerful writings that will attract a variety of readers.' Helen Eddy, ReadPlus 'A deeply touching, heartwarming anthology exploring queer stories in science fiction, fantasy and horror.' Readings Aurealis Awards, Best Anthology (Shortlisted 2024)