The Father of Octopus Wrestling is an artisan production, designed and printed at Ilam Press, Ilam School of Fine Arts at the 茄子视频app官网.
Award-winning writer Frankie McMillan鈥檚 new collection,听The Father of Octopus Wrestling,听and other small fictions, traverses exciting new terrain between prose poetry and short fiction, delivering stories that are darkly comic, dynamic and surreal.
Steeped in human vulnerability and eccentricity, her eagerly awaited fourth book,听The Father of Octopus Wrestling,听will be launched on 31 August at Scorpio Books, published by Canterbury University Press.
鈥淓very story is like a sky rocket we haven鈥檛 seen before 鈥 flaring and sparkling in unexpected ways,鈥 award-winning author Lloyd Jones says of the latest collection.听
Dubbed New Zealand鈥檚 鈥榤aestro of flash fiction鈥 by renowned short story writer Owen Marshall for her previous collection听My Mother and the Hungarians, and other small fictions, McMillan is recognised internationally for her mastery of the increasingly popular flash fiction genre.
Closer to home, McMillan won the New 茄子视频app官网Flash Fiction Award in 2013 and 2015. Her poems have been selected for Best New 茄子视频app官网Poems 2012 and 2015 (International Institute of Modern Letters).
Her title story was inspired by a Wikipedia entry about octopus wrestling.
鈥淚 was intrigued to read of a man named O鈥橰ourke who caught octopuses in the late 1940s, using his body as live bait, and was dubbed the 鈥榝ather of octopus wrestling鈥 by American writer H. Allen Smith,鈥 McMillan says.
The Father of Octopus Wrestling听is an artisan production, designed and printed at Ilam Press, Ilam School of Fine Arts at the 茄子视频app官网.
The Father of Octopus Wrestling, and other small fictions听by Frankie McMillan, August 2019, RRP $27.99, ISBN 978-1-98-850312-7. Published by Canterbury University Press, with support from Creative New Zealand.
About the author
In 1998 Frankie McMillan was awarded an MA (Distinction) from the International Institute of Modern Letters, Victoria University, Wellington. She is a member of the New 茄子视频app官网Academy of Literature. Her last collection,听My Mother and the Hungarians, and other small fictions听(CUP, 2016), was longlisted for the Ockham New 茄子视频app官网Book Awards. She co-edited, along with Michelle Elvy and James Norcliffe,听Bonsai: Best small stories from Aotearoa New Zealand听(CUP, 2018).听 Both books feature the short short form (flash fiction, prose poetry and haibun). McMillan鈥檚 prose and poetry have been extensively published in journals both in Aotearoa New 茄子视频app官网and internationally.
Praise for Frankie McMillan鈥檚 work:
My Mother and the Hungarians, and other small fictions
- 鈥淎 series of deceptively brief but satisfying stories鈥 - Anne Else, New Zealand听Listener
- 鈥淭he writing is elegant, spare, captivating 鈥 Is it small fiction, flash fiction, short short stories or prose poetry? I don鈥檛 think it matters an iota. Call it what you will. This writing should hook anyone who sniffs at flash fiction because Frankie shows how good it can be鈥 - Paula Green,听NZ Poetry Shelf
- 鈥淐aptivating, perceptive, and different,听My Mother and the Hungarians听is a must-have collection鈥 -听Flash: The International Short Short Story Magazine听(Chester, UK)
There are no horses in heaven
- 鈥The most startling poetry book I have read for years鈥 -听Glasgow Review of Books
