Shirl

A lonely yowie emerges from the bush to attend the Desperate and Dateless Ball. Mysterious creatures descend from the sky to place a ban on footy. A shark named Bruce turns up in the local swimming pool. A fisherman enjoying a boys' weekend on the Murray River finds perspective where he least expects it.

In SHIRL, Wayne Marshall takes a range of what-if scenarios to their fabulist and comedic extremes. Superbly inventive and powerful, these fourteen stories skewer contemporary Australian society - particularly the crisis of masculinity and national identity - in insightful and yet hilarious ways, blurring the line between fantasy and reality. Slightly warped and darkly comic, this astounding collection will make you rethink what it means to be Australian.

“A wonderfully daring, absurd exploration of the sacred tenets of Australian life. - Nic LowMarshall stretches the short-story form to its very limits utilising both stylistic invention and absurd humour. - VPLA judges”

A wonderfully daring, absurd exploration of the sacred tenets of Australian life. - Nic Low

Marshall stretches the short-story form to its very limits utilising both stylistic invention and absurd humour. - VPLA judges

Wayne Marshall is an Australian writer and musician. Stories of his have appeared in Going Down Swinging, Island, Review of Australian Fiction, and other places. He is the co-founder of the Peter Carey Short Story Award, and lives in the town of Bacchus Marsh with his partner and two daughters.

A lonely yowie emerges from the bush to attend the Desperate and Dateless Ball. Mysterious creatures descend from the sky to place a ban on footy. A shark named Bruce turns up in the local swimming pool. A fisherman enjoying a boys' weekend on the Murray River finds perspective where he least expects it.In SHIRL, Wayne Marshall takes a range of what-if scenarios to their fabulist and comedic extremes. Superbly inventive and powerful, these fourteen stories skewer contemporary Australian society - particularly the crisis of masculinity and national identity - in insightful and yet hilarious ways, blurring the line between fantasy and reality. Slightly warped and darkly comic, this astounding collection will make you rethink what it means to be Australian.

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