Lucky Creatures by Joseph Trinidad. THWUP (2026). RRP $35.00. PB, 264pp. ISBN: 9781776923090. Reviewed by Vaughan Rapatana. I will come out and state this right now: Lucky Creatures is an outstanding compilation of thirteen autobiographical essays. These are chronologically arranged to trace the life of Joseph Trinidad from his upbringing in Luzon, Philippines to his—and…
The End and the Beginning by KJ Holdom. Simon & Schuster (2026). RRP: $39.99. PB, 352pp. ISBN: 9781668236925. Reviewed by Jessie Neilson. The sense of inevitability, circularity of history, and impending doom is intimated in a seemingly innocuous image midway in the aptly-named The End and the Beginning. In this novel set in a small…
Portrait by Jackson McCarthy. AUP (2026). RRP: $25.00. PB, 68pp. ISBN: 9781776712304. Reviewed by Niamh Hollis-Locke. Boasting endorsements from the likes of Anna Jackson and former Poet Laureate Chris Tse, Portrait is a stunning debut that establishes McCarthy as a serious poet who can go toe-to-toe with the best of them. Characterised by a maturity…