Nicola Chang

For me, the best writers are those who are trying to understand life and society and get at the truth of experience as it is felt. An original voice is what I respond to first and foremost. Writers who are unlike others and who are challenging the idea of what a literary novel—and sentence—is and can do really excite me. I also love propulsive character-driven novels with intricate plots, unforgettable set pieces and dazzling dialogue. Some examples include Anna Burns, Gwendolyn Riley, Rachel Cusk, Annie Ernaux, Katie Kitamura, Elif Batuman, Elena Ferrante, Jeffrey Eugenides and Jonathan Franzen. Close to Home by Michael Magee is a recent debut I’ve admired. From experiments in form that defy easy definition, vernacular-inflected realism to the tragicomic, the weird and ethereal, I am drawn to emotional complexity and compelling, transformative storytelling that contends with the darkness as well as the light.

In non-fiction I am interested in narrative-driven, persuasive perspectives, a unique, fearless voice and the interplay between the personal and the political. I am keen to work with early career scholars and researchers who are within or adjacent to the academy. I would also be excited to hear from critics and writers who are thinking deeply, universally and urgently about the lives of others, society and the world and such subjects as the arts, food, family, language, creativity, sport, the body, work, travel and music. If they can do this provocatively and humorously, then all the better.