Southern Aurora: Mark Brandi in-conversation with Ashley Kalagian Blunt

Southern Aurora is the unforgettable new novel from the Dagger award-winning author of Wimmera, Mark Brandi. A novel that shows small-town life is unforgiving if you're from the other side of the tracks.

Jimmy is a kid growing up fast on the poorest street in town. He tries to do everything right and look out for his mum and his younger brother. His older brother is in jail, so it's up to Jimmy to hold things together. But small-town life is unforgiving if you're from the other side of the tracks.

If only his mum didn't drink so much. If only he could win the school billycart race. If only his best friend understood. If only he could stop his mum's boyfriend from getting angry. If only he was there.

Jimmy soon learns that even when you get things right, everything can still go wrong.

Mark Brandi's bestselling novel, Wimmera, won the coveted British Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger, and was named Best Debut at the 2018 Australian Indie Book Awards. It was also shortlisted for the Australian Book Industry Awards Literary Fiction Book of the Year, and the Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year.

Mark's second novel, The Rip, was published to critical acclaim in 2019, and his third novel, The Others, was shortlisted for the Best Fiction prize in the 2022 Ned Kelly Awards. His fourth novel, Southern Aurora, will be published in 2023.

Mark's shorter work has appeared in The Guardian, The Age, The Big Issue, and in journals both here and overseas. His writing is also sometimes heard on ABC Radio National. He graduated with a criminal justice degree and worked in the justice system before changing direction and deciding to write. Originally from Italy, he grew up in rural Victoria. He now lives in Melbourne and is working on his next novel.

Ashley Kalagian Blunt  is a writer, speaker and podcaster whose psychological thriller, Dark Mode, was released in March 2023. She is the author of two previous books, How to Be Australian, a memoir, and My Name Is Revenge, a thriller novella and collected essays.  Her writing appears widely across Australian and international publications. 

Ashley is a frequent speaker and panel moderator, and co-hosts a podcast on writing, creativity and health. Originally from Canada, she has lived and worked in South Korea, Peru and Mexico.