The Best Australian Stories 2013

The Best Australian Stories

by Kim Scott (Editor), Kalinda Ashton, Tony Birch

‘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

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2013

About the author

Born in 1957, Kim Scott's ancestral Noongar country is the south-east coast of Western Australia between Gairdner River and Cape Arid. His cultural Elders use the term Wirlomin to refer to their clan, and the Norman Tindale nomenclature identifies people of this area as Wudjari/Koreng.

His novel Taboo won the Victorian premier’s literary award for Indigenous writing in 2019.

His other novels include True Country and Benang. He also writes poetry and short fiction. His professional background is in education and the arts.

Reviews

[Cathy Smith]

I had JUST finished the story by Liam Davison and went to read the day's newspaper. I recognised the same name in the list of MH17 casualties and, with a little research, discovered it was the same man - Australian author. I will never forget that moment of coincidence and impact. The silence of those gaps was certainly made even more sacred.

[Tuxlie]

'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...

‘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

[Shane · Rating 2 out of 5]

This BAS anthology, the third I’ve read (and maybe the last), was abandoned by its previous owner, and I’m about to do the same. Its gender balance – skewed slightly towards the feminine – demonstrates impeccable political correctness. But too few stories within its aptly chosen grey cover impressed me enough to justify the shelf space they take up, and I’d guess from the introduction that the editor’s not entirely to blame.

Kim Scott had to choose from a range of stories already published in such journals as Overland and Going Down Swinging, the editors of which don’t read blind but favour works by subscribers, a practice that enhances these journals’ chance of survival, but works against the element of surprise.

Yet the fact that submissions from former BAS contributors were also considered accounts for two of the standouts, not previously published: ‘Staff Dining’ by Bruce Pascoe, and ‘Birdcall: 33º21´N 43º47´E’ by Liam Davison, which felt more factual than fictive, yet no less thought-provoking for that:

‘I remind myself that whatever memory I attach to his belongings is separate to the thing itself. Only in fiction is meaning replaced with things.

So, in this story, my son disposes of his past piece by piece with neither rancour nor intent.’

Some of the other stories, though, don’t showcase authors at their best. Ideally, cultural diversity would be one of many selection criteria: it can’t counteract expository dialogue, dead backstory and didacticism.

My favourite, ‘Hunting Animals’ by Ruby J. Murray, inspired me to read The Biographer’s Lover, a stunning recent novel I mightn’t otherwise have discovered – which may be the best thing about ‘Best of’ anthologies: a chance (though not all novelists shine in the short form, and vice versa) to sample, for a minimal outlay, a varied assortment of authors.

[Jaime · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories were mostly good. A couple that were really good, but the narration wasn't great. One of the narrators sounded like he was talking around a mouthful of soggy food most the time. Gross with headphones on.

[John Marius · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. Read one or two stories every night before bed. Such a great format and really made me reconsider what makes a compelling story- and that cool ideas can be fleshed out in just a few pages.

[Mark Seaman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave up halfway through as a lot of it felt less like short stories and more like part of a story that I'm missing the beginning or end. Like taking a chapter out of a book and calling it a short story.

[Randal · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some of these were great and others….not so good. It really makes me think sometimes on what passes as "literary". Does a literary short story have to be pointless? I'm afraid this collection had far too many pointless rambling self indulgent stories that I had to force my way through in the expectation that something good or interesting was going to appear. Bad luck. I really only actually enjoyed two of them. I won't be getting a volume like this one again.

[Pádraic · Rating 2 out of 5]

I put off reading this for so long that the 2014 edition has come out. Anyway, I found this a mostly uninspired and uninteresting collection of stories. The themes and characters are all very similar, hardly any of which appeal to me. This, it appears, is not my scene. And the cover is absolutely hideous, although I didn't lower my rating specifically because of that.

[Robyn Mundy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My story 'The Forgeries' appears in this anthology to sit meekly amongst lofty company. In this collection is stand-out fiction by Cate Kennedy, Ryan O'Neill, Laurie Steed, Theresa Layton, Favel Parrett, Theresa Layton, Wayne Macauley and others.

[Micah Horton hallett · Rating 3 out of 5]

So many stories, some of them good. There must be one of those gorgeous German compound words describing the sensation of reading a story by someone you are acquainted with, and having their voice whispering inside your skull. Sometimes it is fine- other times not so much.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

#1 for #readingbingo (a book of short stories)

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty average collection with some exceptions. My favorite was "The Cartography of Foxes."

[Dulcie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Either 2013 was a poor year for Australian prose, or there was very little time to pull a selection together.
Neither is the case so this is simply a poor collection.