Edition 50
Tall Tales Short – The Novella Project III
- Published 28th October, 2015
- ISBN: 978-1- 922182-91-3
- Extent: 264 pp
- Paperback (234 x 153mm), eBook
In 2012, Griffith Review 38: The Novella Project played a major role in enabling Australian and New Zealand authors to gain a foothold in the English language revival of the novella underway internationally. In 2014, Griffith Review 46: Forgotten Stories – The Novella Project II published five novellas with an historical dimension in a confronting, moving and provocative collection.
Griffith Review 50: Tall Tales Short – The Novella Project III features five novellas selected in a nationwide competition, blind-judged by Cate Kennedy, Jacqueline Blanchard (UQP) and Brian Johns.
Edited by Julianne Schultz and Aviva Tuffield, executive director and co-founder of the Stella Prize, the five contributors to Tall Tales Short are Nick Earls, Catherine McKinnon, Helen Gildfind, Madeleine Watts and Tony Davis. Artist Jacqui Stockdale contributes her stunning collage work to the picture gallery.
Reviews
Griffith Review 50: Tall Tales Short – The Novella Project III is ‘a unique and daring punt on the novella that is championing the form and giving new heart to novella writers like [Nick] Earls.’ Courier-Mail
‘For those who enjoy their short fiction, like their short blacks, topped up, these finely crafted novellas by Nick Earls, Helen Gildfind, Catherine McKinnon, Madeleine Watts, Tony Davis and Jacqui Stockdale are essential reading.’ William Yeoman, West Australian
‘Today, the literary journal is still a profoundly important platform for burgeoning writers, and although most have moved or formed as solely online editions, they present some of the most exciting, emerging voices… Both a tribute to the understated form of novella – a derivative of the Italian word for “new” – and new writing from Australia and New Zealand, this pithy print edition navigates the structure of the “longish short story”.’ Ysabelle Cheung, Grana
‘Griffith Review 50: Tall Tales Short – The Novella Project III is well worth a read and includes some of the best quality writing I have seen this year. Highly recommended.’ Radio 2bbb
‘“Quarry” is a searing portrait of difficult encounters between masculinity, isolation and vulnerability, both within our main character and in his interactions with the world around him.’ ArtsHub
Tall Tales Short – The Novella Project III is supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund and Forming Circles.
In this Edition
The power of stories
‘CIVILISATION OFFICIALLY ENDED today,’ the ever-pithy Jane Caro tweeted forty-eight hours before Anzac Day 2015. She was not referring to the looming centenary commemoration of the tragedy on the Gallipoli Peninsula, which we have been urged to believe made Australia a nation, but the...
Close to the edit
THIS IS THE second year that I’ve been involved as an editor of the Griffith Review novella edition, and it’s an honour to be part of this wonderful initiative. It has certainly proved popular with writers, with a record 271 entries received this year,...
Cargoes
The first time we were here it was just the two of us, Lindsey and me. We stayed at the Chelsea and I got my hair cut there by a hairdresser who had done Dee Dee Ramone’s that morning. Nothing unusual in that. She’d cut his hair for years, she told me. I never discovered if it was true or not. I wanted it to be true. Dee Dee’s hair was no fixed thing though…. Johnny’s was the iconic Ramones hair, so that’s the cut I got. No one at home had that. And Johnny threw his hair forward when he stabbed at his guitar, as if hair could be another weapon.
Afraid of waking it
HE SET THE camera up by the wall in the space he used as his studio. It was one of the many rooms in the too-big house he didn’t need. It was mostly empty – the wallpaper left to peel away from the walls,...
Will Martin
MY OAR STABS the side of the Reliance. We push off and pull away from the ship. Venus is out, but the sky still has some light. Mr Bass and I boat the oars and hoist sail. The Lieutenant takes the helm. Tom Thumb’s...
The flight
THE PLANE IS moving backwards. Slowly. You have to stare at the ground to confirm it. Yes, the luggage vans and fuel trucks are edging right to left across your window.Surely that’s it. They can’t reopen the doors now. Not after all those false...
Quarry
Now from the dark, a deeper dark…Elizabeth Coatsworth, ‘Calling in the Cat’ LUKE CROSSES HIS arms against the bluster and stares out across the grey. Even on the hottest days in summer, when dozens of people come here to walk their dogs or jog or...
Featured Contributors
Catherine McKinnon
Catherine McKinnon lives in rural New South Wales and is a novelist and playwright/director. She grew up in South Australia,...
Madeleine Watts
Madeleine Watts’ debut novel, The Inland Sea, was shortlisted for the 2021 Miles Franklin Literary Award and the UTS...
Helen Gildfind
Helen Gildfind lives in Melbourne and has been published in Australia and overseas. ‘Quarry’ was completed as part of...
Nick Earls
Nick Earls is the author of twenty-seven books for adults, teenagers and children. His novels have won awards in...
