The Best Australian Stories 2013

‘A story can lure us into gaps and spaces that feel sacred in their silence.’ —Kim Scott

In The Best Australian Stories 2013, Kim Scott assembles the most exceptional short fiction of the last year and invites readers to build ‘a rare and intimate relationship’ with these talented writers, one that is ‘essential to storytelling in print, whether on paper or screen.’

These stories conjure disparate moods, from delight to melancholy. A family Christmas lays bare a relationship grown cold. A father pursues the art of the birdcall in an effort to speak his son’s language. A cat becomes a conduit for a neighbour’s true feelings while Brisbane floods. Striking new voices blend seamlessly with those of celebrated storytellers to form a collection that will leave an indelible impression long after the last word is read.

Kalinda Ashton • Tony Birch • Georgia Blain • James Bradley • Tara Cartland • Eric Yoshiaki Dando • Liam Davison • Tegan Bennett Daylight • Madeleine Griffeth • Marion Halligan • Ashley Hay • Cate Kennedy • John Kinsella • Andy Kissane • Theresa Layton • Wayne Macauley • Robyn Mundy • Ruby J. Murray • Ryan O’Neill • Favel Parrett • Bruce Pascoe • Sinead Roarty • Chris Somerville • Laurie Steed • Lucy Treloar

Kim Scott is a descendant of the Wirlomin Noongar people. He was the first Indigenous author to win the Miles Franklin Award, for Benang, and his most recent novel, That Deadman Dance, won the 2011 Miles Franklin Award, the South-east Asia and Pacific Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, the ALS Gold Medal, the Victorian Premier’s prizes for Literature and Fiction and the 2010 Western Australian Premier’s Award for Fiction.