Kirsten Krauth, Paul Dalgarno and Andrew Wear reflect on the process of pivoting their book launches online. Pictures by Penny Ryan, Giulia McGauran and author supplied respectively.
If you’re lucky enough to have a book published in the last 18 months and unlucky enough to be caught within the pernicious reaches of COVID, chances are you have or are considering launching your work online. Yes, it’s not the same as drinking wine and nibbling on cheese with your cheer squad in the same room but having a book launched digitally does have its own benefits.
ArtsHub spoke to three authors who refused to let their scuppered plans further ruin festivities. Kirsten Krauth’s novel, Almost a Mirror, was published in April 2020, at the early onset of COVID. It’s an elliptical, nostalgic and deeply visceral book that’s powered by iconic 80s hits and the Australian post-punk music scene.
Thuy On is the Reviews and Literary Editor of ArtsHub and an arts journalist, critic and poet who’s written for a range of publications including The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Sydney Review of Books, The Australian, The Age/SMH and Australian Book Review. She was the Books Editor of The Big Issue for 8 years and a former Melbourne theatre critic correspondent for The Australian.
Her debut, a collection of poetry called Turbulence, came out in 2020 and was released by University of Western Australia Publishing (UWAP). Her second collection, Decadence, was published in July 2022, also by UWAP. Her third book, Essence, will be published in 2025.
Threads: @thuy_on123 Instagram: poemsbythuy
