From the award-winning author of Stone Sky Gold Mountain come these superbly crafted stories that explore the inner lives of those who are often ignored or misunderstood.

The Burnished Sun by Mirandi Riwoe is a story collection that includes two prize-winning novellas along with a range of historical and contemporary stories, all written by characters who seek to belong and find acceptance.

We follow a migrant mother who yearns to feel welcomed at a kids’ party in a local park; a young skateboarder caught between showing loyalty and being accepted; and an Indonesian maid working far from home who longs for the son she’s left behind. Bookending this collection are two powerful novellas – ‘Annah the Javanese’ re-imagines the world of one of Paul Gauguin’s models in nineteenth-century Paris, while the highly acclaimed ‘The Fish Girl’ reworks a classic W Somerset Maugham story from the perspective of a young Indonesian woman.

With rich emotional insight and a light touch, these wide-ranging stories reveal hidden desires and human fragility.

“The Burnished Sun effortlessly traverses between the sublime and the everyday, and across continents and time. Riwoe conveys small worlds in each story.” Alice Pung

At Byron Writers Festival, Mirandi Riwoe will take part in the panel ‘Lost Voices’ (Fri 26 Aug) with Eleanor Limprecht to discuss what it means to fill the gaps history has forgotten. ‘Writing From The Margins’(Sat 28 Aug) with Becky Manawatu and Mykaela Saunders to discuss how change originates at the margins of society and how they subvert dominant narratives with their writing.

Event details and tickets

For full program, go to byronwritersfestival.com/festival-program.

1 and 3-Day Passes for Byron Writers Festival 2022 are available via byronwritersfestival.com/tickets.