Joyful Strains

Making Australia Home

by Kent MacCarter & Ali Lemer (Eds.)

Joyful Strains collects twenty-seven memoirs from writers describing their expatriation to Australia. These are stories about what they found, who they became and what they now think of Australia – stories that provide entertainment, perspective and cause to celebrate our increasingly diverse nation. This is an insightful, compelling and sometimes confronting collection for all Australians.

Contributors include: Alice Pung, Danny Katz, Mark Dapin and Diane Armstrong, with an introduction from Arnold Zable.

‘From the affectionate to the bitter to the hilariously
funny to the probingly intelligent, this is a collection not to be missed.’
– JM Coetzee

‘The stories in this challenging collection show suffering and heroism, happiness and laughter, and above all hope and vindication of the visionary ideal of multiculturalism. I am, you are, we are Australian. Joyful strains indeed.’
– Mungo MacCallum

‘These are intelligent, personal and elegant accounts of what it means to leave, what it means to arrive and how it feels to stay. Joyful Strains is undoubtedly a place worth visiting.’
– Jon Bauer, Sydney Morning Herald &Saturday Age

‘Compulsory reading.‘
– Stephen Romei, The Australian

‘Joyful Strains not only offers an invaluable insight into Australian immigration, it’s also a great read: at once entertaining and harrowing.’
– Thuy On, Sun Herald &Sunday Age

‘An example of a good idea backed up by an excellent execution. This is intelligent, relevant, absorbing writing.’
– Bookseller+Publisher Magazine

‘The literary quality of the individual chapters is uniformly high.’
– – Geordie Williamson, Weekend Australian

‘An eye-opening, truthful collection of personal essays by writers we should be proud to call our own.’
– Readings

‘To read these intimate, immediate stories is to be wholly immersed in them, enraptured and intrigued…’
– The Big Issue