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Meet Me at the Intersection

Written by Ellen van Neerven, Kelly Gardiner, Wendy Chen, Michelle Aung Thin, Graham Akhurst, Amra Pajalic, Olivia Muscat, Kyle Lynch, Mimi Lee, Ezekiel Kwaymullina, Jordi Kerr, Rafeif Ismail, Alice Pung, Melanie Rodriga, Yvette Walker, Omar Sakr, and Jessica Walton and edited by Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina

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Meet Me at the Intersection is an anthology of short fiction, memoir and poetry by authors who are First Nations, People of Colour, LGBTIQA+ or living with disability. The focus of the anthology is on Australian life as seen through each author’s unique, and seldom heard, perspective.

With works by Ellen van Neerven, Graham Akhurst, Kyle Lynch, Ezekiel Kwaymullina, Olivia Muscat, Mimi Lee, Jessica Walton, Kelly Gardiner, Rafeif Ismail, Yvette Walker, Amra Pajalic, Melanie Rodriga, Omar Sakr, Wendy Chen, Jordi Kerr, Rebecca Lim, Michelle Aung Thin and Alice Pung, this anthology is designed to challenge the dominant, homogenous story of privilege and power that rarely admits ‘outsider’ voices.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

'... the range of voices, styles and experiences makes for lively, thoughtful and entertaining reading ... Springing from the passion and insistence of its editors and contributors, Meet Me at the Intersection is the kind of inspired publishing I wish there was more of in Australia.' Leanne Hall, YA specialist, Readings

'the book's shining glory is the striking empathy that radiates through the prose and poetry. The protagonists on the page aren't one-dimensional or stereotypical, nor are they tokenistic props ... Instead they reflect specificity and nuance, and translate difficult and oftentimes serious themes into work that can be appreciated by young adults without descending into condescension.' Pelican Magazine

'Ultimately, Meet Me at the Intersection is such a powerful book full of a diverse range of stories from #OwnVoices authors. This is a book that we desperately needed ...'
Written Word Worlds

'Many of the stories are raw and brutally honest. There is no filter to what is written and they say exactly what they think. Sometimes this can be confronting but mostly you appreciate the honesty and frankness of the story.' ReadPlus

'Editors did a fine job in collating stories of representation from a cross-section of those who are different, unique; of voices whom we rarely hear.' Tien's Blurb

'Every one of them felt personal, like the writer was sharing a part of them with me ... a fantastic collection that would be the perfect starting place for anyone who wants to increase the diversity of their reading (which should really be all of us!).' Bookish Bron

'... fresh and important.' National Indigenous Times

'A highly recommended collection ... Meet Me at the Intersection offers young adults of marginalised groups the joy of recognition and expands opportunities for 'mainstream' readers to develop socio-cultural knowledge and empathy through well-written texts. It is particularly pleasing to find so many young accomplished and developing authors whose voices should be widely represented in texts for children and young adults in the future.' Magpies

'Even though Australia is a nation of immigrants, rich in cultural diversity, we still have a long way to go before everyone can feel as though they belong ... The collection invites us into the headspace of people who may be different to us ... It would be a catalyst for interesting discussions in classrooms and book clubs.' Good Reading

'This powerful anthology of short stories, memoir and poetry is an important and compelling contribution to the ‘Own Voices’ literary movement in Australia ... Authenticity is on every page.' Writing WA

'This collection of short stories, poetry and memoir by writers from marginalised groups in Australia edges us closer to being able to provide our children and young people with literature that represents all Australians, and not just the priviledged few.'
Kids' Reading Guide

'Masterminded by authors Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina, this is a far-ranging and thoughtful anthology of Australian Own Voices writing – stories about marginalised peoples told by people from those marginalised groups ... Lively, entertaining and informed by personal experiences, this is a fantastic collection of contemporary Australian writing.' Readings

Properties

ISBN	9781925591705 (Paperback)
Formats	B Format (198 x 130mm) (Paperback)
Categories	Children's ebooks Young Adult Short Stories & Anthologies Indigenous Writing
Publisher	Fremantle Press
Edition	1st
Publication Year	2018
Pages	288

Graham Akhurst

Graham Akhurst is an Aboriginal writer and academic hailing from the Kokomini of northern Queensland. His creative nonfiction and poetry have been published widely. Graham received an Australia Council grant for the creation of new work to complete his debut novel Borderland, which will be published with Hachette in 2019. Graham was valedictorian of his graduating year and completed his writing honours with a first class result. He is currently enrolled in an MPhil of Creative Writing at the University of Queensland with an Australian Publishers Association scholarship, where he is also an Associate Lecturer in Indigenous Studies. Read more
Michelle Aung Thin

Michelle Aung Thin was born in Rangoon the same year as the coup d’état (1962) and brought up in Canada; she now lives in Melbourne. The Monsoon Bride, her first novel, was shortlisted for the Unpublished Manuscript Fellowship of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2010 and is the product of her PhD in creative writing under the mentorship of Brian Castro. She was the 2017 National Library of Australia Creative Arts Fellow for Australian Writing, supported by the Eva Kollsman and Ray Mathew Trust. She is writing her second book, which is about returning to Myanmar, the country of her birth. She currently teaches at RMIT University. Read more
Wendy Chen

Wendy Chen is a Sydney-based writer who has appeared as an artist at the Emerging Writers’ Festival, National Young Writers’ Festival and Noted Festival. She is a co-host of the book blogger collective Lit CelebrAsian, and has been a subeditor and contributor for the literary magazine Pencilled In. She has a particular interest in diasporic stories and historical fiction. Read more
Kelly Gardiner

Kelly Gardiner writes historical fiction for readers of all ages. Her latest novel is 1917: Australia’s Great War, recently shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s History Awards Young People's History Prize and the Asher Award. Kelly’s previous books include the young adult novels Act of Faith and The Sultan’s Eyes, both of which were shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, and Goddess, a novel for adults based on the life of the seventeenth-century French swordswoman,cross-dresser and opera singer Mademoiselle de Maupin. She teaches writing at La Trobe University. Kelly is also the co-host of Unladylike, a podcast about women and writing. Read more
Rafeif Ismail

Rafeif Ismail is a third culture youth of the Sudanese diaspora. Rafeif sees all forms of art as mediums for change and is committed to creating accessible spaces for young people of marginalised backgrounds in the arts. She is the winner of the 2017 Deborah Cass Prize for writing with the story ‘Almitra Amongst the Ghosts’. Her short story ‘Light at the End’ was published in the anthology Ways of Being Here (Margaret River Press, 2017). She is committed to writing diverse characters and stories in all mediums, is currently working on her first novel and hopes to also one day write for screen. Read more
Jordi Kerr

Jordi Kerr is a writer, youth literature advocate and support worker for queer young people. Their thoughts about books have appeared in such places as Archer, Books+Publishing, Kill Your Darlings, and Crikey. They were a recipient of one of the Wheeler Centre’s Hot Desk Fellowships in 2017, and they’ve worked as a judge for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards and the Aurealis Awards. Their favourite book awards, however, will always be the Inky Awards, which are judged by Australian teens. Read more
Ambelin Kwaymullina

Ambelin Kwaymullina is an Aboriginal writer and illustrator who comes from the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. She is the author and illustrator of a number of award-winning picture books as well as a YA dystopian series. Her books have been published in the United States, South Korea and China. Ambelin is a prolific commentator on diversity in children’s literature and a law academic at the University of Western Australia. Read more
Ezekiel Kwaymullina

Ezekiel Kwaymullina is from the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Read more
Mimi Lee

Mimi Lee is an emerging writer who was born in Sydney, but spent the majority of her childhood in Shanghai, China. She is a follower of Jesus, and a university student who often wishes her textbooks were thinner. Other than writing stories on themes that are close to her heart, she enjoys reading, singing, bushwalking and watching movies, and is currently praying that her novel manuscript will be published. Read more
Rebecca Lim

Rebecca Lim is a writer, illustrator and lawyer based in Melbourne. Rebecca is the author of eighteen books, and has been shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award, INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award, Aurealis Award and Davitt Award for YA. Rebecca’s work has also been longlisted for the Gold Inky Award and the David Gemmell Legend Award. Her novels have been translated into German, French, Turkish, Portuguese and Polish. Read more
Kyle Lynch

Kyle Lynch belongs to the Wongi people of the north-east Goldfields region of Western Australia. In 2014, Kyle starred in the film Wongi Warrior (2014). Most recently, Kyle took part in the 2017 Kalgoorlie Youth Project Guthoo (We are One). Read more
Olivia Muscat

Olivia Muscat has just completed her Bachelor of Arts at the University of Melbourne. She majored in creative writing and Italian and is currently contemplating her next move. She occasionally blogs about life with her guide dog, Jemima, and spends her days reading, writing, and imagining her life as a musical. Read more
Amra Pajalic

Amra Pajalic is an award-winning author, an editor and a teacher. Her debut novel The Good Daughter (Text Publishing, 2009) won the 2009 Melbourne Prize for Literature’s Civic Choice Award, and was also shortlisted in the Victorian Premier’s Awards for Best Unpublished Manuscript by an Emerging Writer. She is also the author of a novel for children, Amir: Friend on Loan (Garratt Publishing, 2014), and is co-editor of the anthology Coming of Age: Growing up Muslim in Australia (Allen and Unwin, 2014) that was shortlisted in the 2015 CBCA Book of the Year awards. Her memoir Things Nobody Knows But Me will be published by Transit Lounge in 2019. Read more
Alice Pung

Alice Pung is the award-winning author of Unpolished Gem, Her Father’s Daughter and Laurinda, and the editor of Growing Up Asian in Australia and My First Lesson. Her latest book is On John Marsden: Writers on Writers, and she is an Ambassador of Room to Read, the 100 Story Building and the Les Twentyman Foundation. Read more
Melanie Rodriga

Melanie Rodriga is a film-maker and academic. She has directed and executive produced eight feature films, with the most recent, Pinch, winning Best feature Film – Drama at the 2015 WA Screen Awards. She has a PhD in screen arts from Murdoch University, is currently embarking on an MA in literature and is working on a queer YA novel. Read more
Omar Sakr

Omar Sakr is an Arab-Australian poet whose work has been published in English, Arabic and Spanish. His poetry has or will soon feature in Griffith Review, Meanjin, Island, Overland, The New Arab, Mizna, Antic and Círculo de Poesía. He has been anthologised in Best Australian Poems 2016 and Contemporary Australian Poetry, and his debut collection These Wild Houses (2017) was shortlisted for the Judith Wright Calanthe award. He is the poetry editor of The Lifted Brow. Read more
Ellen van Neerven

Ellen van Neerven is a Yugambeh writer from South East Queensland who now lives in Melbourne. She is the author of the poetry volume Comfort Food (UQP, 2016) and the fiction collection Heat and Light (UQP, 2014), which won numerous awards, including the 2013 David Unaipon Award, the 2015 Dobbie Award and the 2016 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards Indigenous Writers’ Prize. Read more
Yvette Walker

Yvette Walker is an Australian writer of Irish ancestry. Yvette has a BA (Honours) and a PhD from Curtin University. She was a writing fellow at Varuna, the Writers House, in 2009 and again in 2011. Her debut novel, Letters to the End of Love (UQP, 2013) won the 2014 WA Premier’s Book Awards (WA Emerging Writer) and was shortlisted for the 2014 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards (Glenda Adams Award for New Writing). Her short fiction has been published in Review of Australian Fiction and The Nightwatchman. Yvette is currently working full-time on her second novel. Read more
Jessica Walton

Jessica Walton is a picture book author, teacher, parent, daughter of a trans parent, and proud queer, disabled woman. She wrote Introducing Teddy: A Gentle Story About Gender and Friendship to help explain gender identity in a simple, positive way to her kids. Introducing Teddy began as a Kickstarter project, but has now been published in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia by Bloomsbury. It has also been translated into nine other languages. Jess lives in Pakenham, Victoria, with her wife, kids and cat. Read more

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