'Cracking The Spine is the most innovative resource in Australian literature I have seen in many years. An anthology of contemporary short stories, each with a commentary by their authors, the collection breaks down the wall between the creative and discursive, the imagistic and the expository. Filled with cutting-edge, innovative writers and armed with an expansive definition of what it is to be an Australian, Cracking the Spine will be at once accessible to undergraduate students and informative and challenging for their teachers. What a thrill to see a work like this come about ' -Nicholas...

Chevalier's characters ride the citybound bus route, spend the night in a nudist colony and do time in jail(as inmates and as prison educators). Set in both Australia and America, these quirky tales are written with humour, compassion and great flair. 'A new voice in Australian fiction.' Fiona McGregor

"Here are short and clever pieces by thirty contemporary Australian writers on topics ranging from the eroticism of mash potato, parenting as magic realism and a tongue-in-cheek history of the Cyclops bicycle. The fusion of poetry and prose has created a feast for our literary taste buds. Expect synergy. Julie Chevalier, an editor of Small Wonder. Prose poems and microfiction appeal to people don t have the time to read War and Peace. They appeal to people who need an instant blast of colour before hurrying off to a packed day. Microfiction distills elements of narration into, in this case, a...