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nina_reads_books 's review for:
Permafrost
by SJ Norman
Permafrost by SJ Norman has just been named on the longlist for the 2022 Stella Prize. I had a feeling it might make the list and read it last week in anticipation and I’m very glad I did. It’s a very accomplished piece of writing. SJ Norman is an artist and writer and they have an impressive list of awards and achievements to their name. I think though that Permafrost is their first collection of short stories.
I found the writing raw and beautiful. The stories move between locations from Australia to Japan to England. From an afterhours tour at Auschwitz to a journey in winter in Japan to find a former lover, these stories focus mostly on young people whose longing and desires and lost loves are often given a queer focus. In fact one of the things that struck me was that each narrator was unnamed and there were blurred lines between genders and sexuality. This gave the stories a dreamy and surreal quality.
Each story also brought in an element of a haunting or being haunted. This meant that within each story there was a tiny supernatural twist – a little bit eerie, a little bit unsettling and often leaving you with more questions than answers. But this is just my kind of writing to be honest!
Permafrost is a hard yes from me and I’m completely unsurprised it has made #thestellaprizelonglist2022. Get reading if you haven’t picked this up yet.
4 and a half stars
I found the writing raw and beautiful. The stories move between locations from Australia to Japan to England. From an afterhours tour at Auschwitz to a journey in winter in Japan to find a former lover, these stories focus mostly on young people whose longing and desires and lost loves are often given a queer focus. In fact one of the things that struck me was that each narrator was unnamed and there were blurred lines between genders and sexuality. This gave the stories a dreamy and surreal quality.
Each story also brought in an element of a haunting or being haunted. This meant that within each story there was a tiny supernatural twist – a little bit eerie, a little bit unsettling and often leaving you with more questions than answers. But this is just my kind of writing to be honest!
Permafrost is a hard yes from me and I’m completely unsurprised it has made #thestellaprizelonglist2022. Get reading if you haven’t picked this up yet.
4 and a half stars