Australia Day

‘Melanie Cheng is an astonishingly deft and incisive writer. With economy and elegance, she creates a dazzling mosaic of contemporary life, of how we live now. Hers is a compelling new voice in Australian literature.’ -- Christos Tsiolkas ‘What a wonderful book, a book with bite. These stories have a real edge to them. They are complex without being contrived, humanising, but never sentimental or cloying—and, ultimately, very moving.’ -- Alice Pung ‘If only the PM might pick up a copy, even by mistake.’ * Saturday Paper * ‘A wonderful feat of storytelling…Melanie Cheng is an exciting new writer.’  * Readings * ‘The happy surprise of Cheng’s work as a collection lies in her resolute grasp of the absolute normalcy of a culture that not so many years ago was divided and dually suspicious. The census gives us the facts but it takes fiction to make reality three-dimensional.’ * Sydney Morning Herald  * ‘The author’s empathetic eye and easy facility with dialogue make the anthology a strong debut, with the longer stories in particular offering breadth and depth…It feels like Cheng has taken a wide sample from the census to craft this inclusive portrait of contemporary Australia.’ * Big Issue  * ’The book bears witness to the author’s empathetic eye, multicultural characterisation and easy facility with dialogue…This short story collection explores what it means to belong, to be Australian; its insight from different vantage points and its photo-realistic narrative make it an exciting and impressive debut.’ * Judges’ Report, Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, 2018 * ‘The stories are unpretentious, diverse, and a lot of the time, disconcertingly real. Cheng’s characters are just as well realised; they live on in your head long after you’ve put her book down.’ * Lifted Brow, Favourite Books of 2017 *