This collection teems with both the animal world and a vivid circus of quirky human individuals. The pieces globe-trot all over the planet: from Russia to America to New Zealand; and yet often their piquant wisdom comes from how they bear down into 鈥榤icro-geography鈥 of intimate relationships: the troughs, peaks, cliff-sides, the warm, still pools of recognition.
Frankie McMillan is like a quietly outrageous Zen master, showing us human folly and idiocy, steering us carefully over the dark river of vulnerability that swells under it all.
鈥楨very story is like a sky rocket we haven鈥檛 seen before 鈥 flaring and sparkling in unexpected ways.鈥 Lloyd Jones
Frankie McMillan鈥檚 last collection,聽My Mother and the Hungarians, and other small fictions聽(CUP, 2016) was longlisted for the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. She co-edited with Michelle Elvy and James Norcliffe,聽Bonsai: Best small stories from Aotearoa New Zealand聽(CUP, 2018). McMillan鈥檚 poetry collections include聽There are no horses in heaven聽(CUP, 2014). Her poems have been selected for聽Best New Zealand Poems聽2012 and 2015. She currently teaches at the Hagley Writers鈥 Institute.
The Father of Octopus Wrestling聽is an artisan production, designed and printed by Ilam Press, Ilam School of Fine Arts, and is聽published with the support of Creative New Zealand.
Listen to Frankie reading one of her stories from聽The Father of Octopus Wrestling, '', on NZ Poetry Shelf.
搁别补诲听听辞蹿听The Father of Octopus Wrestling聽on NZ Poetry Shelf.
Read Tracy Farr's speech聽Launching The Father of Octopus Wrestling (PDF 0.6MB)聽from the book launch at Scorpio Books, 31 August 2019.
