Tony Birch
Dark as Last Night
“‘Tony Birch writes short stories better than pretty much anyone at work in Australia today’”
UQP, 2021
Dark as Last Night confirms, once again, that Tony Birch is a master of the short story.
These exceptional stories capture the importance of human connection at pivotal moments in our lives, whether those occur because of the loss of a loved one or the uncertainties of childhood.
In this collection we witness a young girl struggling to protect her mother from her father’s violence, two teenagers clumsily getting to know one another by way of a shared love of music, and a man mourning the death of his younger brother, while beset by memories and regrets from their shared past.
Throughout this powerful collection, Birch’s concern for the humanity of those who are often marginalised or overlooked shines bright.
About the Author
Tony Birch is the author of three novels: The White Girl, winner of the 2020 NSW Premier’s Award for Indigenous Writing, and shortlisted for the 2020 Miles Franklin Literary Prize; Ghost River, winner of the 2016 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Indigenous Writing; and Blood, which was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award in 2012. He is also the author of Shadowboxing, and four short story collections: Father’s Day, The Promise, Common Peopleand Dark as Last Night, which won the 2022 NSW Premier’s Literary Award Christina Stead Prize for Fiction and the Queensland Literary Award for Fiction, was shortlisted for the 2022 ABA Booksellers Choice Awards: Nielsen Adult Fiction Book of the Year, and was longlisted for the 2022 Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award. He has published two poetry collections: Broken Teeth and Whisper Songs, which was also longlisted for the 2022 Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award. In 2017 he was awarded the Patrick White Literary Award. Tony Birch is also an activist, historian and essayist.
