Each month we celebrate an Australian debut release of fiction or non-fiction in the Kill Your Darlings First Book Club. For September that debut is Small Joys of Real Life by Allee Richards, out now from Hachette. 


The night Eva shared a smile with Pat, something started. Two weeks later, lying together in her bed, Pat said, 'You can't live your life saying you'll get around to doing something you know will make you happy. You just have to do it.' Eva didn't know how devastating those words would turn out to be. Pat dies and the aftershock leaves Eva on unsteady ground. She is pregnant. And she has to make a choice.⠀

First Book Club host Ellen Cregan spoke with Allee about the book and the experience of writing it at a live online event hosted by Yarra Libraries.

Our theme song is Broke for Free’s ‘Something Elated’. Sound production by Lloyd Pratt.

Full transcript available at killyourdarlings.com.au

Small Joys of Real Life by Allee Richards - September KYD First Book Club 2021

Each month we celebrate an Australian debut release of fiction or non-fiction in the Kill Your Darlings First Book Club. For October that debut is 'The Psychic Tests' by Gary Nunn, out now from Pantera Press.

In 'The Psychic Tests' award-winning journalist Gary Nunn investigates psychics, mediums and astrologers to understand their uncanny, under-investigated and unregulated power. Gary tries out some psychics himself, sometimes with hilarious results. He hears about their secret influence over world leaders, CEOs, news editors and the criminal justice system. Believe in them or not, psychics can impact who will date you, befriend you and even who’ll hire you.

Our theme song is Broke for Free’s ‘Something Elated’. Sound production by Lloyd Pratt.

Full transcript available at killyourdarlings.com.au

The Psychic Tests by Gary Nunn - October KYD First Book Club 2021

Welcome to the second episode of our new interview series, Pub Talk, where we chat to some of Australia’s most experienced and influential publishers, editors and agents. During these conversations you’ll receive insiders’ information about the industry, as well as advice from experts on the many pathways to publication for new writers.

We’re thrilled to have Leah Jing McIntosh as our guest this month. She is a critic, researcher, and the founding editor of Liminal magazine, an anti-racist literary platform that interrogates and celebrates the Asian-Australian experience. Alongside editing Liminal and establishing literary prizes for writers of colour, she produces literary events, often working in collaboration with major arts organisations.

Tune in to hear KYD publishing director Rebecca Starford and Leah discuss the role of literary magazines, the politics of visibility and the power of community.

Our theme song is Johnny Ripper’s ‘Typing’. Sound production by Lloyd Pratt.

Find a full transcript for this episode at killyourdarlings.com.au

Pub Talk – Leah Jing McIntosh from Liminal

Each month we celebrate an Australian debut release of fiction or non-fiction in the Kill Your Darlings First Book Club. For November that debut is Permafrost by SJ Norman, out now from UQP.

This brilliant collection of short fiction explores the shifting spaces of desire, loss and longing. Inverting and queering the gothic and romantic traditions, each story represents a different take on the concept of a haunting or the haunted. Though it ranges across themes and locations—from small-town Australia to Hokkaido to rural England—Permafrost is united by the power of the narratorial voice, with its auto-fictional resonances, dark wit and swagger.

Our theme song is Broke for Free’s ‘Something Elated’. Sound production by Lloyd Pratt.

Full transcript for this episode available at killyourdarlings.com.au

Permafrost by SJ Norman - November KYD First Book Club 2021

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