Transactions

An electric collection of fiction from an author shortlisted for Australia's Prime Minister Prize, Transactions presents a provocative and panoramic view of the contemporary world. Spanning themes such as immigration and globalization, war and poverty, human trafficking and global warming, sexual abuse and exploitation, and love and survival, the book highlights the complexities and traumas of the modern world. The story cycles offered in the compendium are both shocking and humorous—often concurrently—and feature a varied cast of characters such as a spoiled Emirati rich girl, an Iranian asylum seeker in Amsterdam, a Liberian refugee seeking aid from a charity, a Ukrainian prostitute, a Danish sex trafficker, and a Chinese gamer. These are individuals who live on the edge of what is considered civilized society, often caught between East and West and in the web of global politics. An electric collection of fiction from the Prime Minister’s Prize shortlisted author Transactions, the second work of prose fiction by Ali Alizadeh, presents a provocative and panoramic view of our contemporary world. Spanning themes such as immigration and globalisation, war and poverty, human trafficking and global warming, sexual abuse and exploitation, and love and survival, the book highlights the complexities and traumas of the modern world. Based on his extensive world travels and his experiences migrating from Iran to Australia as a teenager, Ali has created a manuscript of story cycles (connected stories and characters) that is both shocking and humorous, often at the same time. These are ‘global’ stories in their setting and their themes, featuring characters such as a spoiled Emirati rich girl, an Iranian asylum seeker in Amsterdam, a Liberian refugee seeking aid from a charity, a Ukrainian prostitute, a Danish sex trafficker and a Chinese gamer. These stories offer something exciting and new in contemporary fiction. Stylistically and thematically, Transactions is fresh and adventurous; the characters living on the edge of what is considered civilised society, often caught between East and West and in the web of global politics. The award-winning stories in The Rest is Weight reflect Mills years in Central Australia, as well as her travels to Mexico, Russia and China. The collection displays a confident diversity of narrative voices and a brevity in style. In The wind and other children , a girl searches for her lost grandmother while her parents quarrel at home; in Extra time, a man contemplates inertia after toxic contamination changes life in a remote Australian town; a woman imagines a mothers love for her autistic son in The air you need ; and in Hello, Satan , a boy awaits his destiny at a roundabout at midnight, on the edge of a small town. In exploring the human, Jennifer Mills deftly weaves themes of longing, alienation, delusion, resilience, and love. Sometimes dreamy and hypnotic, sometimes comic and wry, these stories leave their mark. Collected or on their own, Mills fiction is both a joy and a wonder to read.

Displaying a confident diversity of narrative voices and brevity in style, this collection of short stories reflects the author’s experiences in Central Australia, China, Mexico, and Russia. In “The Wind and Other Children,” a girl searches for her lost grandmother while her parents quarrel at home; a man contemplates inertia after toxic contamination changes life in a remote Australian town in “Extra Time;” and “The Air You Need” finds a woman imagining a mother’s love for her autistic son. An exploration of the human being, this compilation weaves themes of longing, alienation, delusion, resilience, and love. Sometimes dreamy and hypnotic, sometimes comic and wry, these stories leave their mark.