Wakefield Press

Book title: The Missing Photograph by Christopher Race

Reviewer: Dr. Benjamin D. Muir 

​​I delight in bizarre books, and I have read many. I would go so far as to say that I have read so many books that are intentionally unorthodox (and often marketed as thus) that most forms of writing one might reasonably determine are formally or conceptually novel (no pun intended) for the sake of novelty fail to register to me as thus. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy them. I delight in them. It’s very hard, however, to incite me to registering a piece of writing as novel or inventive, especially where nonfiction and essays are concerned. Much like the eight tones and twelve semitones in Western musical composition, the range of human hearing from 20hz to 20Khz, and the limits of the visible spectrum of colour available to the eye, there are only so many ways you can skin a cat, and only so many ways you can write personal essay or creative nonfiction before you’re doing something else entirely.

In recent years, the various works of Anwen Crawford, Cher Tan, and Lucia Nguyen have managed to excite me as such, but very few others have. Christopher Race has just joined their ranks. I wouldn’t say Race’s work is as “out there” as that of the aforementioned, but The Missing Photograph is a delightful anomaly. It has a little bit of an identity crisis – that is to say, it’s not entirely sure whether it is a book of personal essays, a book of photography, or a book on personal essays. It works, though.

To get my gripes out of the way regarding a book I otherwise thoroughly enjoyed, it does seem a bit of a waste to print Race’s gorgeously curated photographs on fairly standard pulp where at times the finer details are lost (where a smoother gloss might have preserved it), but even in this strange, hybrid form, it is abundantly clear that Race is both a talented photographer and wonderful essayist.

Christopher Race runs the gamut throughout this book, from critically analysing a print of Bruegel, to unpicking the mysteries of his lineage through old photographs. He examines the pupal phase of what he did not know, at the time, was a common ladybeetle, reflects on his relationships with various people (both still in his life, presumably, or estranged) and takes on the semiotic weight, respectively, of a vacant lot, and a shot of the planet Venus taken by a spacecraft. Not all the photos were taken by Race, but his accompanying essays and analyses make them all his, one way or another. Moreover, Race does what I think is perhaps one of the hardest things of all to do in writing: he communicates the bittersweet, and the lashings of nostalgia and the passage through one’s life (of other lives through one’s own) with a heart-rending sensibility (and sensitivity) without ever needing to resort to any kind of overt sentimentality. To lean into precisely the kind of cliché Christopher Race manages to fastidiously avoid, those cosmic, earth-shattering feelings and movements louder than words. This is not something that could have been written by a younger person. The author has lived many lives, and to some extent, the sum of these is reflected in how it’s written.

On one hand, it is very difficult to communicate what this collection of personal essays is about, beyond being tied to a series of photographs, some by the author, some by his family, and some taken from elsewhere. This is not a memoir, nor is this a particularly themed collection, beyond the many ways in which photography and essay alike represent the ephemera of the ephemera that is us, and our lives. A cosmic blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment broken down into infinitesimally smaller frames. This is for those who see the beauty and magic in things as they are, not what they’re imagined to be.

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Reviewer's bio:

Benjamin D. Muir is a reformed juvenile delinquent born in and writing on unceded Dharug land (Penrith). He is a prize-winning writer, casual academic, teacher, researcher, and six-time failed metalcore musician. His novel, The McMillan Diaries, forthcoming from Kith Books in 2024, was the recipient of the 2019 AAWP/UWAP Meniscus Chapter One Prize. His work has appeared in SBS Australia, Studio Stories via FBI Radio’s Or It Didn’t Happen, Antipodean Science Fiction, The Conversation, Affirmations: of the Modern and several anthologies. He holds a doctorate from Western Sydney University, where he teaches literature and creative writing. His thesis was on depictions of grief and trauma in Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves.

Book title: Starry Eyed by Katharine Pollock

Reviewer: Lana Graham

In Katherine Pollock’s romantic comedy, Starry Eyed, 30-year-old Addilyn Acker's life is at a cosmic standstill. She’s stuck in her boring office job at Synergy Solutions and lacks a genuine relationship with her mother after the loss of her father. She also doesn’t have any real friendships or romantic prospects.

Addilyn tries to convince herself that she doesn’t need any relationships, but whether she likes it or not, her world is about to change when she’s invited to speak at Cosmic Con in New York City. Addilyn’s childlike naivety of the world contrasts endearingly with her intellectual curiosity, which thrusts her into her whirlwind trip to the Big Apple. Her science-fiction-fuelled fantasies all come true when she finally meets her sexy idol, Josh “Jolly” Courtney.

But when Addilyn’s out-of-this-world idyllic romance comes crashing to earth, she must question whether Josh is the idol she imagined him to be. Propelled on her own journey of self-discovery, Addilyn begins to open herself to new relationships. The truly heartfelt storyline is that of Addilyn and her mother. Pollock presents their mother-daughter connection tenderly. As their conversations initially lack connection, soon Addilyn’s yearning for the relationship she once had with her mother underpins the emotional core of this story.

Pollock’s quirky writing style is both fresh and endearing. Her use of lyrical prose, intertwining science fiction with romance. Starry Eyed is a fun, insightful and heartwarming read.

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Reviewer’s bio:

Lana writes stories where the ordinary collides with the extraordinary, usually involving colossal chaos! She lives in the serene Hawkesbury region of Sydney with her husband, sons, chickens, goats, sheep, and three Jack Russell Terriers. She loves exploring the world, especially places filled with secret magic. She’s currently working on a middle-grade story based on her Finnish heritage that’s set within the beautiful, magical landscape of Australia.