the animals in that country laura jean mckay

Jessica Alice is a poet, critic, broadcaster She is the Director of Writers SA, the peak organisation for writing and literature in South Australia. She is the ‘animal expert’ presenter on ABC Listen’s Animal Sound Safari. Laura is a lecturer in creative writing at Massey University, with a PhD from the University of Melbourne focusing on literary animal studies. Her work appears in The Guardian, Overland, Best Australian Stories, The Saturday Paper, and The North American Review. 2013), shortlisted for three national book awards in Australia. Laura Jean McKay is the author of The Animals in That Country (Scribe, 2020) and Holiday in Cambodia (Black Inc. As the flu progresses, the unstoppable voices become overwhelming, and many people begin to lose their minds…īold, exhilarating, and wholly original, The Animals in That Country asks what would happen, for better or worse, if we finally understood what animals were saying. Instead, she surrounds herself with animals.Īs disturbing news arrives of a pandemic sweeping the country, Jean realises this is no ordinary flu: its chief symptom is that its victims begin to understand the language of animals - first mammals, then birds and insects, too. She’s never been good at getting on with other humans, apart from her beloved granddaughter, Kimberly. Hard-drinking, foul-mouthed, and allergic to bullshit, Jean is not your usual grandma. Out on the road, no one speaks, everything talks. The main symptom: being able to understand the language of animals. Laura is also the author of Holiday in Cambodia (Black Inc., 2013).

Laura will be discussing her latest book, The Animals in That Country, centred on a pandemic of a different kind. Laura Jean McKay is the author of The Animals in That Country (Scribe 2020) - winner of The Arthur C Clarke Award, The Victorian Prize for Literature, the ABIA Small Publishers Adult Book of the Year and co-winner of the Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. Hosted by Jessica Alice, Director of Writers SA. Join us for an In Conversation with Author Laura Jean-Mckay this Thursday at 4pm.

The animals in that country laura jean mckay