AustLit

'‘And what is wrong with sad stories? The world is always sad.’ So advises Little Red, the aged, marginalised, knowing female character in the title story of Tony Birch’s latest short fiction collection. As in Birch’s previous works, Dark as Last Night contains an abundance of sad stories, but with grief and trauma ameliorated by the main protagonist’s affection for at least one other character, be it a family member or neighbour.' (Introduction)

'Tony Birch has published four short story collections in a little over a decade, a dedication to the form with few comparisons in contemporary Australian literature. He writes stories as Ernest Hemingway suggested a true practitioner of the craft should – with the devotion of a priest and the guts of a burglar – but he also shares with the great Modernist a determination to winnow inessentials. Perhaps because he was raised in straitened circumstances, Birch has become adept at making do with less.' (Introduction)