Women I Know

by Katerina Gibson

Unpicking the stitches of gender and genre, the stories in this searing, funny, haunting debut explore how our ideas of womanhood shape us, and what they cost us.

‘My God darling—the women I know.’

A young woman tries to cheat her algorithm, creating a wholesome online persona while her ‘real’ life dissipates. A grandmother speaks to her granddaughter through the fog of generations. Two lovers divide over alternative meat options. A factory worker fits eyes in companion dolls until she is called on to install her own.

The women I know are sharp, absurd, sly, wrong, wry, repressed, hungry, horny, bold, envious, dominating, uncertain, overdetermined, underpaid, bored, smart, crystalizing, themselves.

A burning talent with growing international recognition, Katerina Gibson’s work has appeared in Granta, Kill Your Darlings, Overland and elsewhere. She is the Pacific regional winner of the 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize and recipient of the Felix Meyer Scholarship.

‘Smart, gleeful, savage, funny and genuinely brilliant. I kept wanting to cry out with joy! Katerina Gibson is a superstar.’ Miles Allinson, author of In Moonland and Fever of Animals

'Women I Know is a rich, contemporary blend of inventive and entertaining writing. Dark and funny, Katerina Gibson’s stories are sparkling with ideas – it’s thrilling that the future of Australian fiction is held in such talented hands.' Ben Walter, author of What Fear Was

'Come for the bold conceits, stay for the savage disaffection. These mind-bending stories startle, surprise, beguile and devastate. Gibson’s talent, in striking out from the shores of realism, is to bring us closer to the truths of contemporary life.' Jo Lennan, author of In the Time of Foxes

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Audiobook, Contemporary

256 pages, Paperback

Published July 6, 2022

About the author

Katerina Gibson was born in 1994. She is a writer and a bookseller living in Naarm. Her stories have appeared in Granta, Overland, The Lifted Brow, Island Online, Going Down Swinging, the Meanjin blog and the Kill Your Darlings 2020 New Australian Fiction anthology.

Most recently, her short story ‘Fertile Soil’ was the Pacific regional winner of the 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

Katerina is a 2021 Felix Meyer Scholar and holds a Graduate Diploma in the Arts (Advanced) w/ First Class Honours from the University of Melbourne (2019).

Reviews

[Suz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for me. Too many books to get to, particularly at this time of year when I have a biiiiig break from work, this reading time is exciting; not to be a slog and to feel obliged!

Speculative, too hard, don't feel like concentrating. I need easy reading at this time of year!

With my thanks to Allen & Unwin for my physical copy to read and review. I will rate this at two stars, although unfinished.

Younger and cooler readers will appreciate this more, but it did not tickle my fancy. I will keep this author on my radar, and see what she comes up with next. I think this storytelling is becoming a bit hip, but it appears I am not. I have plans to pass on to a colleague tomorrow at work, I'm sure she will embrace it more than I.

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quirky and funny, with a writing style that resonated my inner thoughts as a woman. Quite a charming read!

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of seventeen original, unique, quirky short stories about being a woman and an individual. There are a number of writing styles used.

‘A Glitch in the Algorithm’ is about a young woman who attempts to fool online websites into believing she is doing okay by manipulating her answers.

‘All the noise through the Fog will be forgiven’ is about a young woman on a night’s outing and her thoughts about her friends.

In ‘A Tight Schedule’ a busy mother talks about her concerns, including her daughter’s eating disorder. Written in the first person with the mother talking continuously.

‘The Shape of’ is about a young woman who starts earning money being a companion for lonely men, with her job not quite sex work.

‘Preparation’ is about a 26 year old citizen of the world who posts her exploits on her website. She used to travel the world but now the world travels to her. She starts picking up rubbish and pasting it onto the walls of her house.

‘Intermission I: All the stories I started but Never Finished because of the time-restrictive and distracting nature of the gig economy’ with dot point ideas about the author’s perspective as a creator. It is such an original piece of writing that is worth rereading for the humour and thought provoking comments.

There are parts of this book I will reread for the sheer pleasure of the very different reading experiences.

This debut book was first published in 2022.

[Jaclyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection didn’t quite have the same cohesive quality as some of the others I’ve read recently but it really grew on me. The unifying question is how do ideas of womanhood shape us and what toll does that take but all mixed with the weird and wonderful and perhaps just a touch of nihilism. My favourite story was Intermission I: All the Stories I Started But Never Finished Because of the Time-Restrictive And Distracting Nature of the Gig Economy. Gibson is funny and her writing has an ironic existential quality to it that I loved. I know a lot of you don’t read short story collections and I often think you don’t know what you’re missing but then you probably think that about me and the three poetry collections I read each year. But more, more, more I say. Keep the collections coming!

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short stories with a quirky, speculative, feminist, weird, funny vibe. Good, but written with that flat affect style that's so popular right now. It made the stories blur into each other a little.

[Lauren Castle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This took me a looong time to get through. I liked a handful of the stories but generally found the unaffected tone hard to engage with. My favourite was Intermission I (if that counts as a story) because it was punchy and flowed easily.

[Grace Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was the best collection of short stories I have ever read. so intelligent and dark and funny and thematic. can’t wait to read more from this author!!

[Lizzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these stories felt rambly, convoluted and a little boring, whereas others were really interesting, unique and engaging. Loved the formatting but I can't bring myself to give this higher than a 3 🥲 would recommend for people super into the climate crisis and feminism

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great writer, some interesting stories. I'd really love to read her next book.

What can I say except that it didn't grab me ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Another example of how having read other things with similar ideas and themes has ruined my ability to enjoy a work for what it is instead of my pre-existing bias on the topic.

Worth a read if you're not similarly jaded. Again, would love to read any future works due to her lovely voice.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminiscent of the beautifully weird Sayaka Murata with focuses on gender constructs, sexuality and what it’s like being a “strange” woman that defies contemporary societal expectations.

The short stories had a unique Australian essence that made me feel at home and entertained. Albeit, some stories were stronger than others, I still enjoyed them all and found something intriguing about every concept. The intermissions were also very cool!

[Emkoshka · Rating 4 out of 5]

My run of awesome short story collections written by women continues. This was such a diverse and creative collection, but with strong feminist undercurrents and subversive, sly tongue-pokes at gender and womanhood. I also loved the local feel of some of the stories, many of them set in various Australian cities. I enjoyed all the stories but 'Constellation in the Left Eye' (in which a woman assembles a lifesize doll that she realises is meant to resemble her) was unforgettable and the pathos of'A Dog's World' made me dewy-eyed on the train. 'The Shape of_____' was fascinating in its exploration of an alternative career path for a woman and 'As the Nation Still Mourns' reminded me of another favourite recent story, Sonja Dechian's 'The Foreman', which also deals with the ethical issue of species conservation when it's premised on entertainment. Loved this collection; a few women I know (haha) will enjoy this, I'm sure.

[Suzie B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found these short stories quite accessible and with a quirky element to many of the stories.

[Singer_SA · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an amazing imaginative book of short stories revolving around women in various scenarios. several stories have an emphasis on the deterioration in the natural environment and foreseeing the future. Other futuristic stories include a woman working on an assembly line putting eyes into model heads for 'companion dolls' until she recognises her own head and rebels. Another working in a call centre on the Algorithm, which she subverts.
Katerina Gibson is astonishing with her use of language and imagination. Eerie and bleak much of the time, but utterly compelling.

[Mary Harlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love seeing a strong talented Australian woman being recognised. This book represents women everywhere and I identified with so many of the stories. The writer not only include environmental issues and social media issues, she cleverly made it interesting with references to the past. I read this book to try and understand young women, but in my quest , was surprised that it helped me to learn about myself in these short stories. Great read and thoroughly recommend it.

[Rosie Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I often find short stories hard to get into. They feel like a chore. But I really loved this book of them. Some were really relevant to me and I connected with them hugely. I enjoy this authors style of writing, and loved to read her narrative regarding women and the thoughts an actions that lead us to where we are. 8.5/10

[Chloe Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gibson's experimentation with both form and genre is exceptional as is her exploration of the woman's relation to the world. Although relentlessly modern, Gibson's stories felt timeless in their examination of female relationships, isolation, rage, and powerlessness.

[Madeleine Laing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved these stories, though I preferred the shorter, acerbic slices of real life to the longer more plot-driven ones. I'm thinking mainly of the final, fish-related story, which I struggled to keep interested in.

[Lani Tresidder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Katerina Gibson is oh-so-brilliant—on the level of Edwina Preston and her Bad Art Mother. A one-star deduction because of both my dipping enjoyment level throughout the final story and the number of typos nestled within the text.

[Elise McCune · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love sitting down to read a book of short stories knowing I can finish at least one even if I only have a short time. It was a joy to read 'Women I Know’ by Katerina Gibson. The cover is perfect for the book, the writing is sublime and best of all the stories are funny and dark and beguiling.

[Imogen Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wowow I loved this!!! Eerie stories with themes of feminism, global warming, despair, and so on that are so well written 🤩 only lost points for being short stories which isn’t my preferred style as I like to get really deep into a story, although they worked well in this instance

[Ledya · Rating 2 out of 5]

had its moments but ultimately just very Melbourne Writer (i.e. uninspired and predictable). maybe that's just bc i read too much contemporary fiction abt existential women. it doesn't matter tho bc i rolled my eyes too much to give anything higher than 2 stars.

[Emily Bicknell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably my favourite collection of short stories I’ve read. Each is so distinct in style and tone, I particularly loved:
Meat Alternatives for the Motherland: A Review ⭐️
Constellation in the Left Eye
The Shape of _____
Fertile Soil ⭐️
When the River Floods Our House
As the Nation Still Mourns

[Jess Checkland · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 - Some stories I enjoyed, others I got bored. I did enjoy the range of women’s lives and not all had a romantic endeavour.

[Glenn Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, deftly written. The literary world has a new star..

[Farrells Bookshop · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found these short stories quite accessible and with a quirky element to many of the stories.

Read by Suzie

[Ally Moulis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of thoughtful, haunting short stories. Loved the tone, loved the themes.

[Auley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Katerina Gibson just dose not miss

[Isobel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories were good and I understood the meaning and everything and others I had no idea what was going on

[Genevieve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Katerina’s voice is so strong. Women I Know takes you on such a beautiful journey, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it for weeks.

[Teriza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant and thought-provoking. Each character’s voice was distinctly unique, with her own idiosyncrasies and motivations. I especially loved the last story, As the Nation Still Mourns.