‘I can see that the book helped me to lay strong and sure foundations for the 30 books I’ve created since, which is why—out of the countless writers I’ve read and been inspired by—Goldberg is the writer who’s had the biggest effect on my writing.’

‘It gave form to an ache I felt. I grew up in the suburbs and my prospects were safe there: they housed my family and all of my friends. But I was desperate to spend my days in, and on, and near to, the ocean.’

‘”Refugee Memories” helped me understand my mum’s frustrating politics. She is a single mother, a Vietnamese refugee with little English literacy, and was on Centrelink after her pirated video rental business collapsed in 2015. She shares videos of Donald Trump’s speeches on Facebook.’

‘Krauth had won the Australian/Vogel literary prize a dozen years earlier... But I didn’t know of him or any of that then. I just recognised that the whitefella sitting in the big chair with the tousled hair and long forehead had a peculiar glint to his eye.’

‘She just radiated generosity — not the sort of empty friendliness you get at networking events, or the condescending niceness of a celebrity doing you a huge favour, but someone genuinely kind.’

‘The writing was full of all those moments that usually stay hidden, especially for male characters. The bodily fluids. The itchy skin. The grime of a bathtub.’

‘I believe a story should stand on its own, regardless of an author’s reputation, motivation or any explanation of intent.’

‘For me, the collective writing of Monty Python is an exploration of the boundaries of the thing that connects us all – humanity – through humour. Their persistent and profound sense of bathos, delivered with a laugh, is deeply human, beautiful and useful.’

‘What always attracts me to Park’s books is her flair for storytelling. The drama! The pathos! The cacophony of life that surrounds the Darcy family in The Harp in the South and Poor Man’s Orange.’