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 *

Melanie Cheng is a writer and general practitioner. She was born in Adelaide, grew up in Hong Kong and now lives in Melbourne. Her debut collection of short stories, Australia Day, won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript in 2016 and the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction in 2018. Her most recent novel, The Burrow, was shortlisted for the Stella Prize, the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award, the Age Book of the Year and the ABIA Small Publishers’ Adult Book of the Year.

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