This All Come Back Now, ed. Mykaela Saunders (2022) [part 1]
Apr. 20th, 2026 10:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pauraqueThis is the first part of my book club notes on This All Come Back Now, an anthology of speculative fiction by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors. I was glad to see that the introduction included the editor's thoughts about each piece (something that has been lacking in some of the anthologies we've read). The editor says that Aboriginal authors of SF have have historically had more success publishing their work as literary fiction than in SF outlets, suggesting a disconnect between white and Indigenous understandings of what "speculative" looks like. They point out, for example, that a time travel story may look very different through a cultural lens that doesn't see time as entirely linear in the first place.
The editor also says that they solicited several stories for the collection from writers who had never written SF before. Perhaps it is unfair that my reaction was to brace myself; I'll strive to be open minded. (It was also pointed out in the discussion that the Indigenous population of Australia is pretty small, so the pool of potential authors may not have been as deep as the editor might have wished.)
Some group members were not thrilled to learn that the book includes some excerpts from novels. We've run into this before and it tends to frustrate our purpose as a discussion group because we end up having the same conversation over and over, which is just "this didn't feel complete... because it isn't complete." The first three pieces we read are actual short stories, though!
"Muyum, a Transgression" by Evelyn Araluen (2017)
( A ghost travels the ruins of the world, finding that what seemed dead can come back. )
"Clatter Tongue" by K.A. Ren Wyld (2020)
[Note: The book lists this story under the author's former name Karen Wyld.]
( A grieving girl literally vomits the detritus of colonization when she is threatened. )
"Closing Time" by Samuel Wagan Watson (2020)
( In the early days of covid, a man wanders aimlessly. )
The editor also says that they solicited several stories for the collection from writers who had never written SF before. Perhaps it is unfair that my reaction was to brace myself; I'll strive to be open minded. (It was also pointed out in the discussion that the Indigenous population of Australia is pretty small, so the pool of potential authors may not have been as deep as the editor might have wished.)
Some group members were not thrilled to learn that the book includes some excerpts from novels. We've run into this before and it tends to frustrate our purpose as a discussion group because we end up having the same conversation over and over, which is just "this didn't feel complete... because it isn't complete." The first three pieces we read are actual short stories, though!
"Muyum, a Transgression" by Evelyn Araluen (2017)
( A ghost travels the ruins of the world, finding that what seemed dead can come back. )
"Clatter Tongue" by K.A. Ren Wyld (2020)
[Note: The book lists this story under the author's former name Karen Wyld.]
( A grieving girl literally vomits the detritus of colonization when she is threatened. )
"Closing Time" by Samuel Wagan Watson (2020)
( In the early days of covid, a man wanders aimlessly. )
Tags:
- book club,
- books,
- books: author: evelyn araluen,
- books: author: k.a. ren wyld,
- books: author: samuel wagan watson,
- books: editor: mykaela saunders,
- books: genre: speculative fiction,
- books: theme: death,
- books: theme: ghosts,
- books: theme: pandemic,
- books: type: short stories,
- books: year: 2017,
- books: year: 2020,
- books: year: 2022
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