Kirsty Gunn
Pretty Ugly by Kirsty Gunn is the inaugural title in a new series of short story collections from Landfall Tauraka and Otago University Press, celebrating the art of short fiction in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Contradictions, misunderstandings, oppositions, enigmas, provocations, challenges – these messy troubles are the stuff of life. In Pretty Ugly, Gunn reminds us of her unparalleled acumen in handling ambiguity and complication, which are essential grist to the storyteller’s mill. These 13 stories, set in New Zealand and in the UK, are a testament to Gunn’s unrivalled ability to look directly into the troubled human heart and draw out what dwells there. Gunn’s is a steady, unflinching gaze.
In this collection, Gunn practises ‘reading and writing ugly’ to pursue the deeper (and frequently uncomfortable) truths that lie under the surface, at the core of both human imagination and human rationality.
'Each story is an exquisite, thorn-sharp bouquet. ‘I am fully in love with Kirsty Gunn’s stories. They hit the heart of life so truly it makes me quiver.’ —Jane Campion
Author
Kirsty Gunn is a novelist and short story writer whose recent work has appeared in Landfall 244, The New Zealand Listener and Newsroom. Gunn’s writing has been widely anthologised, broadcast, and adapted into film and dance theatre. She has received multiple prizes and awards, including Book of the Year at the 2013 New Zealand Post Awards for her novel The Big Music (Faber, 2012). A regular contributor to a range of international newspapers and magazines, Gunn is also a professor of writing practice and study at the University of Dundee, where she founded and directs the writing programme. She lives in London and Scotland with her husband and two daughters.
Publication details
Paperback
Fiction, Short Stories
210x148mm
ISBN 9781990048890
RRP $35
Release date: 17 October 2024