Following our theme for 2024, Satyam Vada Dharmam Chara — to speak the truth and practice kindness — we bring you 16 celebrated books that will be discussed this year at the festival. Written by highly acclaimed authors from around the globe, these works provide diverse and thought-provoking contributions to our literary world.
POSTED
27 November 2024
16 Books Unveiling Our Diverse Literary World at the 2024 Festival
Empireworld
by Sathnam Sanghera
From award-winning author and journalist, Empireworld performs a profound exploration of the British Empire’s influence on both those within its occupation and those outside it. An adept demonstration of just how deeply British imperialism is embedded into our world.
Ghost Cities
by Siang Lu
Allegorical and imaginative, Ghost Cities follows multiple narratives relating to the uninhabited cities of China. Though seemingly unrelated at first, these stories ultimately intertwine, revealing greater truths about life. A must-read for fans of Haruki Murakami and Italo Calvino.
The Golden Road
by William Dalrymple
By examining India’s predominant influence on Asia through its art, religion, mathematics, technology, astronomy, music, dance, and mythology, award-winning historian William Dalrymple argues that India was the great intellectual and philosophical superpower of ancient Asia.
36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem
by Nam Le
Nam Le, a Vietnamese refugee to Australia, explores racism, oppression, and historical trauma in this book-length poem about identity and the violence that comes with it. A breakthrough poetic debut that is scathing, hilarious, and deeply moving.
Songs for the Dead and the Living
by Sara M. Saleh
A coming-of-age narrative spanning generations and continents, from Palestine to Australia. Through the perspective of Jamilah, a Palestinian refugee, the fragilities and flaws of family in the wake of war, and the love it takes to overcome great loss, are unveiled.
Smoke and Ashes: Opium’s Hidden Histories
by Amitav Ghosh
A deep dive into the impact of opium on global history, economies, and cultures by best-selling author of the Ibis Trilogy, Amitav Ghosh. Ghosh also unpacks the influence opium has had on his own understanding of self.
Gunflower: Stories
by Laura Jean McKay
A collection of short stories filled with McKay’s trademark humor, energy, and flair, covering thought-provoking themes on relationships, humanity, animality, and the world as it is and could be.
Your Utopia
by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur
From revered Korean author Bora Chung, Your Utopia is a collection of short stories spanning ideas of loss and discovery, idealism and dystopia, and death and immortality. Her humorous, confronting, and captivating writing provides a fruitful and provocative take on relevant social and political commentary.
River East, River West
by Aube Rey Lescure
Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2024, River East, River West presents a reversal of the east-west immigrant narrative. Set against China’s economic boom, this literary debut highlights race, identity, and family, as well as the complexities and disillusionments of capitalism.
Invitation to a Banquet
by Fuchsia Dunlop
Through a banquet of thirty mouth-watering Chinese dishes, award-winning cook and writer Fuchsia Dunlop unfolds every corner of China’s sophisticated and gastronomic culture. A mesmerising tribute to the intricate depths of Chinese cuisine.
My Dream Job
by Norman Erikson Pasaribu
A poetry collection on labor, class, and queerness that encapsulates the ultimate eulogy for a postcolonial dream. Norman Erikson Pasaribu’s first work originally written in English.
A Death in Malta
by Paul Caruana Galizia
Not only does Paul Caruana Galizia investigate the life and assassination of his mother Daphne, but he also examines the globalization of corruption and what it has done to Malta. A Death in Malta covers the European country’s jump from colonialism to another kind of violent power, while paying a universal homage to mothers and their sons.
Cigarette Girl
by Raith Kumala
Now adapted into a Netflix series, Cigarette Girl introduces readers to three generations of Indonesia’s history through the evolution of a family’s clove cigarette business. A story about love, family, self-discovery, and hidden secrets.
A-Maze
by Ma Thida
Relating the path to democracy in Myanmar to a maze, Ma Thida explores the political trajectory of her country in relation to the 2008 Constitution, significant past political incidents, and deeply rooted social and structural obstacles.
She Is the Earth
by Ali Cobby Eckermann
Celebrated Aboriginal Australian poet and Yankunytjatjara woman Ali Cobby Eckermann journeys through grief and celebrates the healing power of Country in her new verse novel. Read it to see the ‘She’ in and around us all.
In Other Words: 40 Years of Writing Indonesia
by Goenawan Mohamad
A collection of essays by one of world literature’s most important writers. Featuring essays from 1968 to today, Mohamad composes a striking and perceptive commentary on literature, faith, mythology, politics, and history.
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