The Furphy Anthology 2020

by The Furphy Literary Awards

Joseph Furphy wrote the Australian literary classic, Such is Life, in 1903, under the pen name of ‘Tom Collins’, slang for ‘a tall story’. With its unreliable narrator travelling the countryside and telling the stories of the people he meets, the alias was certainly appropriate. His brother John, a blacksmith, created agricultural implements in Shepparton, most notably the water carts used by Australian troops during the First World War. Around these carts, stories were told, legs were pulled, rumours gathered momentum, and the term ‘furphy’ became part of the Australian lexicon.

The Furphy Literary Award, established in 1992, became a national competition for the first time in 2020. Over 800 writers – from the established and experienced to the fresh first-timers – took up the challenge to tackle its topic of ‘Australian Life’. The Furphy Anthology 2020 features the sixteen short stories judged to be the best of the best in this year’s competition.

This anthology includes well-known writers such as Cate Kennedy, Jenni Marazaki, Mira Robertson, Ruby Todd and Jean Flynn, and emerging writers, including Ya Reeves, Thomas MacAllister, Luke Martin and Sue Osborne. They draw on their Australian experience. They’ve written about huge Murray cod and a dancing neighbour, naval tragedies and buck’s night shenanigans, old bush tailors and beekeepers, a city rendezvous and catastrophic bushfires, an incident on a school bus and a Vietnam veteran who paints to find peace. And more.

Who doesn’t love a story – or a furphy, perhaps?

Genres: Short Stories

230 pages, Hardcover

First published March 3, 2021

Reviews

[Rachel Coutinho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of Aussie tales from different parts of the country, time periods and perspectives. Some were funny, some made me teary, one made me think and one horrified me (the last one, what is with young people these days....) Well worth the read.

[Darcy Bermingham · Rating 5 out of 5]

The winning story 'Awakening' was a rewarding read and 'Ando Gets Plastered' (my favourite) was short, sharp, funny and easy to read. 'Waiting for the Dog' is one I will remember.

The short stories which covered only a single event or day captured my attention far more than the stories that spanned several days or longer.

I'm rating this 5 stars - although there were two stories in the mix which I thought weren't quite up to standard. I felt that these two only made the cut because of their subject matter.

Overall I would recommend this anthology to others.

[Chester Hart · Rating 3 out of 5]

This anthology is a great example of how subjective fiction is. There were some really great stories in here and some that were a struggle to get through. It's great to see a writing competition making an effort to highlight up and coming writers and local stories.