In 2013, Michelle Michau-Crawford won the ABR Elizabeth Jolley Prize for her short story, Leaving Elvis, and in 2016, she was published by UWA Publishing, with her debut collection – Leaving Elvis And Other Stories . Michelle is the third writer I am profiling as a form of protest against the threatened closure of UWA Publishing. Without the currently embattled Press, readers would not have experienced the unique voice of this immensely talented writer, whose stories grip heart and mind both, and whose assured voice speaks clearly in each of these 13 inter-related stories. Here are a few of my favourite lines:
‘She’d never heard the word lubra used before. It hadn’t sounded like the right word to use for a woman.’
‘There’s a gap before she sighs. I’ve never seen a whole body sigh before.’
‘Our life is hardly the stuff of Days of our Lives, but Marion’s would make an even more ordinary TV show.’
‘The Whisperer’s child listens solemnly, then climbs into Louise’s lap and rests her head against her chest.’
There are several quotable lines and stories and this is just one of hundreds of books that I am grateful for. The loss of UWAP is a loss for all of us.
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