AustLit

'Sophie Blackall’s If You Come to Earth shares the vast scope of “You Matter,” though its text is more explicit in its grand objective. Her narrator is Quinn, a red-hatted young child based on a real person in Blackall’s life. The real-life Quinn has lived in Nigeria, Indonesia and Nepal, but Blackall met him in her native Australia and saw the globe-trotting young person as a worthy guide. “Dear Visitor from Outer Space,” Quinn begins, “if you come to Earth, here’s what you need to know.” From there, Blackall delivers on the promise. The book seems to contain everything — the world’s every river, flower, person, cruise ship and bottlecap. It covers sight, sound, sickness, conflict and inequality. It is overwhelming.' (Introduction)

'McSweeney's began in 1998 as a literary journal that published only works rejected by other magazines. That rule was soon abandoned, and since then McSweeney's has attracted work from some of the finest writers in the country, including Denis Johnson, Jonathan Franzen, William T. Vollmann, Rick Moody, Joyce Carol Oates, Heidi Julavits, Jonathan Lethem, Michael Chabon, Ben Marcus, Susan Straight, Roddy Doyle, T.C. Boyle, Steven Millhauser, Gabe Hudson, Robert Coover, Ann Beattie, and many others. At the same time, the journal continues to be a major home for new and unpublished writers; we're committed to publishing exciting fiction regardless of pedigree.

'Each issue of the quarterly is completely redesigned. There have been hardcovers and paperbacks, an issue with two spines, an issue with a magnetic binding, an issue that looked like a bundle of junk mail, and an issue that looked like a sweaty human head. McSweeney's has won multiple literary awards, including two National Magazine Awards for fiction, and has had numerous stories appear in The Best American Magazine Writing, the O. Henry Awards anthologies, and The Best American Short Stories. Design awards given to the quarterly include the AIGA 50 Books Award, the AIGA 365 Illustration Award, and the Print Design Regional Award.'

Source: McSweeney's website,
Sighted: 18/06/2012