Between Two Worlds

by SBS Emerging Writers' Competition

Between Two Worlds brings us thirty of the best short stories chosen from the thousands of entries in the SBS Emerging Writers’ Competition.

Offering a snapshot of contemporary Australia, this diverse collection of stories explores sense of place, family, loss, culture, sexual awakening and the abiding connections to people and place that make us who we are. Told with utterly fresh perspectives and a rich vein of literary talent, these stories are an invitation into the unique worlds of everyday Australians.

Featuring stories by thirty emerging writers, each with a unique experience of our world.
 
Hardie Grant and SBS champion the voices of a diverse Australia, and support the discovery and development of emerging talent to contribute to Australian storytelling.
 

Genres: Short Stories

Kindle Edition

Published August 3, 2022

Reviews

[Kareena | kareenbeanreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this one up as a souvenir from my recent trip to Sydney, Australia. It was a recommendation from one of the lovely independent bookstores that I visited, and I am so glad I picked it up since it is something that I would not have been able to easily find anywhere else. These short stories include the top candidates from the SBS Emerging Writers Competition under the topic of Between Two Worlds.

Many of these short stories emphasize the multicultural Australian identity and experience, as well as the feeling of being an outsider while being torn between two worlds. It was a great collection to read, and a few of the stories really stood out and connected with me.

[Emkoshka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an impulse pick off the library shelves, its 30 autobiographical stories an enticement for easy summer reading. It proved to be a wonderful collection, and I’ve requested the other two anthologies in the series, so captivated was I by this one. While we typically associate SBS with cultural and linguistic diversity (and there is a wonderful cornucopia of Indigenous, migrant and refugee stories in here), this collection stretches even further to encompass perspectives from neurodivergent, disabled and LBGT Australians. It’s an absolute treasure trove in which each story took me on a different journey, but all united in their exploration of the theme ‘between two worlds’. Particular standouts for me were ‘Dandelion’ by Natalia Figueroa Barroso, ‘Pantski’ by Raqiya Ahmed, ‘The Flood’ by Yasaman Bagheri, ‘Yeah, Fine’ by Renee Paarman, ‘Mini Moke’ by Nancy Huang and ‘Magic’ by Angela Yan, which has a last line that will break your heart. Highly recommended!

[Rachel Coutinho · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the diversity of stories in this anthology - Cultural diversity, Neurodiversity, Age diversity and sometimes a combination of the three. Like all anthologies there are some authors who's writing makes you forget where you are while there are others who's style are a bit of a challenge and one day will no doubt win literary awards! It's worth pushing through the stories that are more difficult to read and discovering the authors' sometimes beautiful, sometimes heartbreaking experiences in having feet in different worlds. Well worth the read for anyone who has never quite felt like they belong.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting variety of stories by fresh voices.

[Kevin Doherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great to read and diverse and eclectic range of emergent writers- bravo to all!