Sharon Kernot
BIRDY
9781922791672, Publication - January 30, 2024, Text Publishing
Since the incident, Maddy has barely spoken. When she and her mother and brother move to the country for the summer, it's a chance to rest and recuperate - or a way to hide from the world.
While there, she meets Alice who has been waiting for forty-five years for her daughter, Birdy, to come home.
In the quiet not-speaking and waiting, amid the clutter and chaos of the old woman's house, Maddy and Alice slowly become friends. Until Maddy takes something that's not hers.
Birdy is a tender warm-hearted verse novel about the pain of loss and shame, the beauty of words, and the healing power of small acts of kindness.
THE ART OF TAXIDERMY
9781925603743, 288pp, $19.99
Lottie collects dead creatures and lovingly cares for them, hoping to preserve them, to save them from disintegration. Her father understands—Lottie has a scientific mind, he thinks. Her aunt wants it to stop, and she goes to cruel lengths to make sure it does.
And her mother? Lottie’s mother died long ago. And Lottie is searching for a way to be close to her.
The Art of Taxidermy is a heartbreaking verse novel exploring love and death, grief and beauty, and the ways we try to make sense of it all.
Read an extract here or a Q&A with Margot McGovern here
UNDERGROUND ROAD
978 1 743051924, 230pp, $24.95
Damien, Edith, Kenneth and Mary are residents of a single street whose lives are ordinary to the last degree and as such encompass addiction and domestic violence, quiet achievements and small acts of kindness and treachery. Jack and Mary, locked at uncomfortably close quarters on Jack's retirement, chafe and sulk and fret. Edith finds solace in her lonely life playing the pokies. Young Damien, terrified of his stepfather Marcus and the school bully, broods on revenge. And Kenneth, unhinged, wanders the streets. Lives intertwine and decisions are made. And the tension grows to its shattering climax.
'A sharply political novel, highlighting uncomfortable but necessary questions about justice, fairness and human rights.' - Francesca Rendle-Short
Books are available from Wakefield Press
FISHING
Fishing was published in Spring 2013 as part of a series of chapbooks that showcase South Australian poets. The poets included in this series also include Jude Aquilina, Helen Lindstrom, Louise Nicholas, and Ken Vincent.
Six series were published overall. Poets included Cassandra Atherton, Ian Gibbons, Paul Hetherington, Jennifer Liston, Jan Owen, Dominic Symes, Peter Goldsworthy, Cary Hamlyn, Jill Jones, Heather Taylor Johnson, David Mortimer, Steve Brock, Judy Dally, Alison Flett, Mike Hopkins, Louise McKenna, David Ades, Aidan Coleman, Jelena Dinic, Rachael Mead, Rob Walker, Graham Catt, Kate Dellar Evans, Steve Evans, Mike Ladd and Jules Leigh Koch.
Available from Garron Publishing.
WASHDAY POCKETS
An honest disclosure of domestic life where sorrow, loss and separation are interwoven with love, humour and an over-riding celebration of life.
'These poems tell many an intriguing story. They are alternately moving, funny, poignant and thought-provoking and most of all, highly recommended, to readers who enjoy strong, clever writing about subjects that really matter but which are so often overlooked.'
Anne-Marie Taplin, Parenting Express
Books are available from Ginninderra Press
IN THE SHADOWS OF THE GARDEN
Described as an assortment of short stories that reside and crackle in the tense spaces of suburban Australia. Kernot writes about poverty, addiction and difficult relationships. Her stories revolve around suburban streets; they dip into the local shopping mall, the welfare office, community centre and the neighbour’s house. There is much darkness in these pages but there is also light, laughter and hope.
‘These stories take the small moments of life, the small losses, and from them whole lives are given to us. We are grateful for the truth in these stories, which fill us with their larger overtones.’ - Thomas Shapcott
Books are available from Ginninderra Press