Stray Bats

by Margo Lanagan

Dachshund droids, mad crones, shapeshifting children, a plethora of witches, dragonstalkers, familiars, slithering eels and, of course, bats, flit and fly through these pages, aided and abetted by Kathleen Jennings’s deft and inspired pencil drawings. Stray Bats is a glorious miscellany of vignettes based on poems by Australian women. While some of the pieces hie close to the originals in form and theme, some stray far, far from them even as Lanagan delights in playing with language, rhyme, and rhythm.This could be the perfect gift for that slightly otherworldly person in your life—or for yourself, when you need a moment of magic, a dip into darkness, a spark of light.For the reader who would like to explore further, there are a list of poems that inspired the author and notes on where those poems might be found.

60 pages, Paperback

First published November 5, 2019

About the author

Margo Lanagan, born in Waratah, New South Wales, is an Australian writer of short stories and young adult fiction.

Many of her books, including YA fiction, were only published in Australia. Recently, several of her books have attracted worldwide attention. Her short story collection Black Juice won two World Fantasy Awards. It was published in Australia by Allen & Unwin and the United Kingdom by Gollancz in 2004, and in North America by HarperCollins in 2005. It includes the much-anthologized short story "Singing My Sister Down".

Her short story collection White Time, originally published in Australia by Allen & Unwin in 2000, was published in North America by HarperCollins in August 2006, after the success of Black Juice.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of vignettes is my favorite book of 2019! Beautifully written sketches of scenes and feelings that really spoke to my heart. If I could afford to buy this book by the case I would give it to all the folks I love. Do yourself a favor and order a copy for yourself from Small Beer Press. You will want to pass it along when you finish.

[John Kissane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chapbook collecting vignettes, many of them fantasy-tinged, and all written with mastery, imagination, and verve. Lanagan has what Nabokov deemed so essential: the imagination of a scientist and the precision of a poet. What she does with them will linger.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of snippets of emotions, scenes that I recommend reading slowly and savour likely sipping a nice scotch.