The Gift

by David Whish-Wilson

Solomon is a sixteen year old village boy from rural Kenya. On his first visit to the capital city, Nairobi, he is taken to a boxing match by his father, where he decides immediately that he too wants to become a boxer. Back in his village, Solomon convinces his grandfather, a Kamba medicine man, to give him the power that he needs to succeed. He returns to the city to pursue his dream, but finds that the only person who will train him is the neighbourhood criminal, Charles. Charles gets Solomon the fights that he needs to prove himself, but things don’t always go according to plan. The Gift is a coming of age story in a city where to be called a ‘survivor’ is the highest compliment that can be paid -and where love and friendship are key because dangers lurk on every corner.

The Gift was short-listed for the Vogel/Australian literary award – the major Australian literary award for novelists under the age of 35.
The Judges’ comments are as follows:
“Very absorbing. I was struck by its authenticity. There are all sorts of resonances that I found impressive.”
“Convincing, the attention never flags. The final images stay with the reader and open up possibilities for the protagonist who has undergone his rights of passage.” More details can be found at http://www.davidwhish-wilson.com

128 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 18, 2011

About the author

David Whish-Wilson is the author of eleven novels and three creative non-fiction books. He was born in Newcastle, NSW but raised in Singapore, Victoria and WA. He left Australia aged eighteen to live for a decade in Europe, Africa and Asia, where he worked as a barman, actor, streetseller, petty criminal, labourer, exterminator, factory worker, gardener, clerk, travel agent, teacher and drug trial guinea pig.

David is the author of four novels in the Frank Swann crime series and two in the Lee Southern series, two of which have been shortlisted for Ned Kelly Awards. David wrote the Perth book in the NewSouth Books city series, which was shortlisted for a WA Premier’s Book Award. His latest novel, Cutler, was shortlisted for a WA Premier's Book Award and the BAD Sydney Danger Award.

He currently lives in Fremantle, WA, with his partner and three kids, and teaches creative writing at Curtin University