Scribe at Brisbane Writers Festival 2023

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE AND WINNER OF A PEN/HEIM TRANSLATION GRANT.

A woman is haunted by her own bodily waste. A pregnant woman is told she must find a father for her unborn baby or face horrific consequences. A young monster, forced to fight, discovers the extent of his power.

This genre-defying collection of short stories blurs the lines between magical realism, horror, and science fiction. Using elements of the fantastic and surreal, Chung exposes the very real horrors and cruelties of patriarchy and capitalism in modern society, gliding effortlessly from terrifying to wryly humorous in a skilful translation by the acclaimed Anton Hur.

Chronic pain is the single biggest cause of human suffering. Yet pain that persists for three months or more is often unrelated to any physical injury. So why does it still hurt?

Research over the last few decades shows that many of us — sufferers of chronic pain and health practitioners alike — are victims of a devilish trick of the nervous system. Where we believe that pain has its root in a damaged body, it is the brain that prolongs the hurting long after the body has healed. This leads to hundreds of billions of dollars being spent each year on treatments that sometimes do nothing and sometimes make matters worse.

Paul Biegler, a science journalist and former doctor who has been on his own pain journey, investigates the true source of chronic pain — our brain’s so-called neuroplasticity — and emerging therapies, including cognitive therapy and graded exercise exposure, that take advantage of that same neuroplasticity to rewire the brain and end the suffering. As he knows only too well, this doesn’t mean the pain is all in a person’s head. The pain is real, but its meaning is often misunderstood.

Through conversations with scientists, doctors, and people who have overcome chronic pain, Biegler shines a light on the rigorous new studies — and emotional personal stories — that are changing the way we understand and treat pain. Most importantly, he shows how to take control over persistent pain and truly heal.

A groundbreaking book that will expand your thinking, whether you are a trauma survivor, a clinician, someone who loves a survivor, or someone seeking to understand abuse.

In Reclaim, expert forensic and clinical psychologist Dr Ahona Guha explores complex traumas, how survivors can recover and heal, and the nature of those who abuse. She shines a light on the ‘difficult’ trauma victims that society often ignores, and tackles vital questions that plague us: ‘Why are psychological abuse and coercive control so difficult to spot?’, ‘What kinds of behaviours should we see as red flags?’, and ‘Why do some people harm others, and how do we protect ourselves from them?’

In her forensic work, Dr Guha has had extensive experience with those who perpetrate harm, and she has a deep understanding of the psychological and social factors that cause people to abuse, bully, and harass others. In turn, her clinical work has led her to recognise the impacts of complex trauma, and the way our systems fail those who have been victimised. By emphasising compassion above all else, Dr Guha gives a call to action: one that will help us reclaim a safer, healthier society for everyone.

A gripping new investigation into the underbelly of digital technology, which reveals not only how costly the virtual world is, but how damaging it is to the environment.

A simple ‘like’ sent from our smartphones mobilises what will soon constitute the largest infrastructure built by man. This small notification, crossing the seven operating layers of the Internet, travels around the world, using submarine cables, telephone antennas, and data centres, going as far as the Arctic Circle.

It turns out that the ‘dematerialised’ digital world, essential for communicating, working, and consuming, is much more tangible than we would like to believe. Today, it absorbs 10 per cent of the world’s electricity and represents nearly 4 per cent of the planet’s carbon dioxide emissions. We are struggling to understand these impacts, as they are obscured to us in the mirage of ‘the cloud’.

Some telling numbers:

• If digital technology were a country, it would be the third-highest consumer of electricity behind China and the United States.
• An email with a large attachment consumes as much energy as a lightbulb left on for one hour.
• Every year, streaming technology generates as much greenhouse gas as Spain — close to 1 per cent of global emissions.
• One Google search uses as much electricity as a lightbulb left on for up to two minutes.
• All of humanity produces five exabytes of data per day, equivalent to what we consumed from the very beginnings of the internet to 2003 — an amount that would fill 10 million Blu-ray discs which, piled up, would be as high as the Eiffel Tower.

At a time of the deployment of 5G, connected cars, and artificial intelligence, The Dark Cloud — the result of an investigation carried out over two years on four continents — reveals the anatomy of a technology that is virtual only in name. Under the guise of limiting the impact of humans on the planet, it is already asserting itself as one of the major environmental challenges of the twenty-first century.

The brilliant new short story collection from the Arthur C. Clarke Award–winning author of The Animals in That Country.

A family of cat farmers gets the chance to set the felines free. A group of chickens tells it like it is. A female-crewed ship ploughs through the patriarchy. A support group finds solace in a world without men.

With her trademark humour, energy, and flair, McKay offers glimpses of places where dreams subsume reality, where childhood restarts, where humans embrace their animal selves and animals talk like humans.

The stories in Gunflower explode and bloom in mesmerising ways, showing the world both as it is and as it could be.