words with friends

Some of the biggest names in books right now are gracing our shores this month for the Sydney Writers’ Festival. We asked them to let us in on their latest literary obsessions

YRSA DALEY-WARD (THE POET BEHIND THE WILDLY POPULAR BONE) FORGET IT By Anastacia Reneé

A new collection of poems I’m completely in love with. Visceral, raw, gorgeous language and words. ($22, Black Radish Books) SEXING THE CHERRY By Jeanette Winterson

One of the dreamiest historical-fantasy stories I’ve ever read... and read and read. I float away with this book. ($22.99, Penguin)

EMMA GLASS (THE WRITER OF THE BREAKOUT HIT, PEACH) SUCH SMALL HANDS By Andrés Barba

I loved this ghost story. The language is crisp, with the narrative [using] direct expressions of concepts too difficult for the young characters to comprehend. This timeless, placeless story is a fresh addition to the horror genre. ($31.95, Transit Books) THE END WE START FROM By Megan Hunter

This could be anywhere in the world and it could be happening now. A fragmentary illustration of motherhood in a postapocalyptic world, the poetic novella examines big themes in a small space. ($19.99, Picador)

JENNY ZHANG (THE AUTHOR OF THE LENA DUNHAM-APPROVED SOUR HEART) HER BODY & OTHER PARTIES: STORIES By Carmen Maria Machado

These stories defy genre and redefine it at the same time – the horrors and pleasures of having a body glisten across every page of this book. ($24.99, Serpent’s Tail) HUNGER By Roxane Gay

Gay’s memoir left me reeling. In it, she writes poignantly, honestly and beautifully about unruly bodies and sexual assault, and examines what it means to accept yourself when your body has been deemed unacceptable. ($22.99, Hachette) Sydney Writers’ Festival runs April 30-May 6; swf.org.au E