White Light

by Mark O'Flynn

O'Flynn takes us into his local neighborhood where people, both the ordinary and the bizarre, wrestle with the challenges and puzzles that life throws at them. His characters delight us and his language never ceases to surprise. In this eclectic collection, O'Flynn, an accomplished poet, turns his hand to linked short stories, micro-fictions, and monologues. He displays ventriloquist-like skill, conjuring Shakespeare's Iago, an illiterate inmate called Banjo, and a famous Australian poet who finds herself trapped in a toilet cubicle. Monopoly and ping-pong become extended metaphors for the games of everyday life. The result is a heady mix of wordplay, philosophical ruminations, and astute social observation.

150 pages, Paperback

First published June 20, 2013

About the author

Mark O’Flynn’s novel The Last Days of Ava Langdon (UQP) was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award in 2017. A collection of short stories, Dental Tourism (Puncher & Wattmann), appeared in 2020. His recent collections of poetry are Undercoat (Liquid Amber Press, 2022) and Einstein’s Brain (Puncher & Wattmann, 2022).

Reviews

[Chris Moon · Rating 5 out of 5]

White Light by Mark O'Flynn is a fantastic collection of short stories. The stories were very real to me and being an Australian I related to many of them.

[Robyn Mundy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favourite 2013 Australian story collection. See my review essay, The Year's Work in Fiction, in the Australian journal Westerly 59.1

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of short stories.