Alice Bishop & Roanna Gonsalves

About Alice Bishop & Roanna Gonsalves

Join two writers of short stories each dealing with regeneration of a different kind. Prize-winning writer Roanna Gonsalves will discuss her sometimes heart-wrenching, sometimes playful, book about immigrants and outsiders and the art of starting again. Emerging writer Alice Bishop will talk about her debut and compelling collection of stories based on the Black Saturday bushfires.

A Constant Hum – Alice Bishop
Before the bushfires – before the front of flames comes roaring over the hills– the ridges are thick with gums. After the fires, the birds have gone. There is only grey ash and melted metal, the blackened husks of cars. And the lost people: in temporary accommodation on the outskirts of the city, on the TV news in borrowed clothes, or remembered in flyers on a cafe wall. A Constant Hum grapples with the aftermath of disaster with an eye for telling detail. Some of these stories cut to the bone; others are empathetic stories of survival, even hope.

The Permanent Resident –Roanna Gonsalves
A woman who can’t swim wades into a suburban pool. An Indian family sits down to an Australian Christmas dinner. A recent migrant considers taking the fall for a second generation ‘friend’. An international student gets off a train at night. Roanna Gonsalves’ short stories unearth the aspirations, ambivalence and guilt laced through the lives of 21st century immigrants, steering through clashes of cultures, trials of faith, and squalls of racism.

Facilitator: Yash Srivastava

*Plus Booking Fee