Australian authors' must-reads

Ever wondered what books a published author would add to their reading list? Well, you’re in luck because 2022 Teen Writing Bootcamp authors have curated a must-read list below for you to add to your very own collection. 

The recommendations focus on the authors’ genres, ranging from passionate poetry to uplifting satires and real-life science stories to modern-day memoirs; there’s something for everyone on this list.

• Sorrow and bliss by Meg Mason: is a rare combination of laugh-out-loud wit and pathos in a deceptively simple story about a woman with an unnamed mental illness who is looking back at her life following a painful break-up.
• No one is talking about this by Patricia Lockwood: is a book about the infinite scroll of social media colliding with the real world. Both brilliant and experimental, the storyline is heavily steeped in modern-day normality, which can be demanding, sad and beautiful.
• It's been a pleasure, Noni Blake by Claire Christian: is a joyful ear-to-ear grin kind of book. Seamless bisexual representation and so much fun! 
• Finding Nevo by Nevo Zisin: is a memoir about Nevo’s journey as a trans, non-binary, Jewish, queer person growing up in Melbourne. This book can also be a helpful guide for family members to understand the lived experience of non-binary identity a little bit deeper. 
• The end of everything, (astrophysically speaking) by Katie Mack: is a unique exploration of the destruction of the cosmos. Drawing on cutting edge technology and theory, as well as results from the most powerful telescopes and particle colliders, astrophysicist Katie Mack describes how minor tweaks to our incomplete understanding of reality can result in starkly different futures. 
• The best Australian science writing 2021, edited by Dyani Lewis foreword by Cathy Foley: is a collection that showcases the nation’s best science writing. Now in its 11th year – and with a foreword by Australia’s Chief Scientist, the renowned physicist Cathy Foley – the book tells the stories of life and human endeavour in all its marvellous – often messy – complexity. 
• Throat by Ellen van Neerven: is a lyrical, honest and razor-sharp collection of poems from one of Australia’s greatest wordsmiths.
• Killernova by Omar Musa: is a recently released collection of woodcuts with poetry in which the Miles Franklin longlisted author explores family, tradition heritage, and the island of Borneo. 
• Black cake by Charmaine Wilkerson: is a sprawling family debut spanning sixty years and crossing continents. A great read about inheritance, secrets and history.
• Fury by Kathryn Heyman: is a blisteringly honest Australian memoir exploring class, abuse and fighting back.
• Minor feelings by Cathy Park Hong: is a poetic account of living as a racialised person in a contemporary moment. This intimate book traces her relationship to the English language, shame and depression, and family and female friendship. 
• Bluets by Maggie Nelson: is a book tracing Nelson’s love of the colour blue and how she faces down both the painful end of an affair and the grievous injury of a dear friend. Visceral, learned, and acutely lucid, Nelson’s prose expands the notion of what non-fiction is known to be. 

Our friends Emily Gale, Nevo Zisin, Alicia Sometimes, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Nova Weetman and Leah Jing McIntosh contributed to this vast reading list.