A Roundtable Discussion of Australian YA Speculative Fiction

This article was written by Christine Yunn-Yu Sun. Born in Taiwan and now based in Melbourne, Christine is a writer, translator, reader, reviewer, journalist and independent scholar in English and Chinese languages. You can find her at ‘Voices under the Sun.

At the recent Continuum 16: Reboot / 62nd Australian National Science Fiction Convention in Melbourne, some of Australia’s most acclaimed YA authors gathered to discuss their work. Their conclusion won hearty applause from the audience, who agreed that some of the best, most original and interesting YA speculative fiction is being written by Australians.

The event was moderated by Kate Whitfield, senior editor of children’s and YA books at Allen & Unwin. All four attending authors – Vanessa Len, Lili Wilkinson, Kate J. Armstrong, and Ellie Marney – agreed that Australian YA speculative fiction features amazing imagination and rich ability to inject into other worlds.

Born in Virginia and now based in Melbourne, Armstrong (Nightbirds, Fyrebirds) observed that Australian YA is a supportive community where authors constantly help and learn from each other. Perhaps it’s because ours is a small publishing industry, perfect for community building. “Australia offers a friendly and caring environment where authors receive a lot of local attention.”

Len (Only a Monster, Never a Hero) published her first novel during the pandemic, and the thrill of seeing it in bookstores and meeting fans online was more than enough to sustain her through those unusual and uncertain times. Wilkinson concurred it’s hard for Australian authors to see their books being promoted overseas. “It can feel like a tiny fish in a vast ocean.”

Marney (Some Shall Break, The Killing Code) praised Australian publishers for being responsive and helpful, which may not be the case in other markets. For example, when one of her books was banned in the United States due to its queer content, she heard nothing from her publisher there. (Whitfield helpfully opined: “It’s a badge of honour if you’re banned!”)

Wilkinson (A Hunger of Thorns, Deep is the Fen) gave emphasis to the fact that the YA market has undergone considerable changes in recent years. The Twilight, Hunger Games, and Divergent series have fractured the YA fantasy market, in the same way that Game of Thrones has converted the adult fantasy domain – and publishers have taken note. Diversity in fantasy is awesome from a storytelling perspective as well.

For example, Len, of Chinese-Malaysian and Maltese heritage, started writing because she “couldn’t see characters like her in books”. She highlighted the recent rise of readers and authors of diverse backgrounds, a view shared by Shelly Parker-Chan on another occasion. “It’s a long, endless tunnel, and you have to believe you can make it. You have to believe someone else out there wants to read it. If you build it, they will come.”

Meanwhile, Marney explained how the horror genre has boomed since 2016-17, with diverse voices leading the way in Aotearoa New Zealand and the United States. The genre’s popularity reflects the fact that people are still recovering from the pandemic. The film Get Out, TV series Stranger Things and books like Reece Carter’s middle-grade adventure A Girl Called Corpse also helped stretch the market.

That segued into the topic of gate-keeping by publishers. All four authors recalled their own unique experiences, which ranged from moderating front covers and toning down violence to “no swearing in the first page” and “some swear words are OK but not others”. All agreed that feedback from publishers is helpful, as some markets are highly sensitive about issues such as guns, pirates, and slavery.

So, is speculative fiction offering more freedom to explore serious and difficult issues? The answer is definitely YES. Fiction can help young readers explore dark issues safely. Whether it’s fantasy, science fiction or horror, based on or inspired by real events of the past or the present, fiction allows authors to tell the stories they want in their own chosen ways, escaping from reality while remaining connected with contemporary and real-world issues and concerns.

Here, Wilkinson cited her critique of capitalism in A Hunger of Thorns, while lauding Armstrong’s Fyrebirds as an example of delving into the complex issue of women’s agency. In comparison, Marney found historical fiction “gets you some distance but can still hit home”, as exemplified by The Killing Code which is set in Washington DC during the Second World War.

Finally, all four authors agreed that world-building is hard. They stressed that, in YA fiction, teenage protagonists need to have agency, drive the story, and make all the decisions. Our teenage readers also need more science fiction, not just dystopian and especially hard sc-fi.

As these authors concluded, there’s nothing more delightful than seeing readers who are engaged and enthusiastic. It’s more about telling stories with passion and love, writing what they want to read and tell, rather than chasing markets and following trends. YA speculative fiction in Australia is all about pushing boundaries.