Key Facts
- Meg Mason's new novel
- Sophie, Standing There, about a sound technician obsessed with a writer
- Max Easton's latest
- Now, Autonomy, set in western Sydney
- Zoonotic diseases book
- Sentinels by Michael Dulaney, covering Covid-19, HIV, rabies
- Music essay collection
- It's Not For You by Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich, featuring 18 artists
- Blackbirding history
- Up to 62,000 Pacific Islander people coerced between 1860 and 1906
- Alan Joyce memoir
- Riding the Jet Stream, covering 15-year Qantas tenure
Background
Each month, Guardian Australia editors and critics select upcoming titles they have read or eagerly anticipate. The August 2026 list spans fiction, nonfiction, memoir, and essay collections, with several works from established and debut Australian authors.
The selection includes Meg Mason’s first novel since her 2020 global hit Sorrow and Bliss, a new work from Miles Franklin-longlisted author Max Easton, and a sequel to AJ Mackinnon’s bestselling sailing memoir. Several titles address historical and contemporary social issues, from zoonotic diseases to Australia’s colonial past.
Current Situation
Among the fiction highlights, Meg Mason’s Sophie, Standing There follows a sound technician who becomes obsessed with a famous writer, Lilac Dunne, after her husband leaves her. The novel is described as witty and metatextual, with cameos from authors including George Saunders.
Max Easton’s Now, Autonomy continues his chronicle of working-class life in western Sydney, following a friendship group facing financial pressures and state oppression. Adam Ouston’s Mine is a single-sentence novel about a poet, activist, and teacher trapped in an abandoned mine shaft in Tasmania, described as a jeremiad against labour and environmental exploitation.
Jaclyn Moriarty’s Time Travel for Beginners offers a whimsical tale of a time travel agency where visits to the past have no impact on the present. Abby Horne, the protagonist of Blue Giant, is a Melbourne scenester caught up in a tech billionaire’s Mars settlement scheme.
| Title | Author | Genre | Key detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sophie, Standing There | Meg Mason | Fiction | Follow-up to Sorrow and Bliss |
| Now, Autonomy | Max Easton | Fiction | Third in western Sydney series |
| Sentinels | Michael Dulaney | Nonfiction | Zoonotic diseases |
| It's Not For You | Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich | Essays | 18 women and gender-diverse artists |
| Mine | Adam Ouston | Fiction | Single-sentence novel set in Tasmania |
| Time Travel for Beginners | Jaclyn Moriarty | Fiction | Time travel agency |
| Good Witch | Lucianne Tonti | Nonfiction | Witch trial sites in Europe and US |
| Blue Giant | Abby Horne | Fiction | Mars settlement scheme |
| The Wanted and the Unwanted | AM Stafford | Nonfiction | Wyndham Native hospital |
| Realms of Gold | AJ Mackinnon | Memoir | Sequel to Jack de Crow voyage |
| Riding the Jet Stream | Alan Joyce | Memoir | Former Qantas CEO |
| Untitled blackbirding book | Ryan Butta | Nonfiction | Australia's slave trade |
Impacts
Nonfiction titles address pressing issues. Michael Dulaney’s Sentinels examines zoonotic diseases like Covid-19, HIV, and rabies, linking their acceleration to environmental destruction. The book maps a journey from southern China to the Andes and the Arctic.
Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich, former bassist of Camp Cope, collects essays and interviews with 18 women and gender-diverse artists who changed the Australian music industry, including Amy Taylor, Sarah Blasko, and Courtney Barnett. Ryan Butta’s work exposes the history of blackbirding, the coercion and kidnapping of up to 62,000 Pacific Islander people to labour on Australian sugar cane plantations between 1860 and 1906.
AM Stafford’s The Wanted and the Unwanted details the Wyndham Native hospital in the Kimberley, a place of segregation where Aboriginal Australians were denied treatment. Former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce’s memoir covers his 15-year tenure, including controversies such as ghost flights, worker outsourcing, and the 2011 strikes.
Future Outlook
Scenario analysis: The possibilities below are not certain predictions.
If these titles perform as expected, Meg Mason’s novel could replicate the global success of Sorrow and Bliss, whose cover was widely recreated. The book’s metatextual approach may resonate with readers interested in literary culture.
Ryan Butta’s historical account could spark renewed debate about Australia’s colonial legacy, potentially influencing public discourse on reparations or historical recognition. Similarly, Michael Dulaney’s Sentinels may contribute to conversations about pandemic prevention and environmental policy.
Alan Joyce’s memoir, released after a legal agreement that had silenced him, may offer new insights into Qantas’s controversies, but its impact depends on the detail he provides about politicians and former colleagues, which the article notes is limited.
Source: theguardian.com
