Short stories and poetry are far from dead in Australia despite publishers’ reluctance to produce more than a handful of anthologies each year. Far from your average short story and poetry collection, Herding Kites – A Celebration of Australian Writing is a joint initiative of the National Young Writers Festival and Affirm Press, marking ten years of the NYWF. Edited by Michael Williams, this eccentric, eclectic and electric anthology incorporates play scripts, poems, cartoons and zines in addition to ‘truth-or-dare’ essays and fictions. Featuring well known and lesser-known talent, this collection signifies the NYWF ethos – ‘open to all’ and ‘infectiously participatory’.

Amongst my favourites were All Bogans Here, an essay by Anna Funder, recounting the NYWF session, ‘Smarter than your average bogan’; irreverent and hilarious, a celebration of the bogan within. ‘How I met my daughter’ by well know writer Max Barry, a shocking look at the selfishness of love and the need to be the centre of ones own universe. Ianto Ware’s zine extract ‘You Will Not Find Tintin on Facebook’ and Nick Earls’ “Ladies Night at the Underwood Pet Hospital’ both offered some light hearted comic relief.

Personally I couldn’t put this book down and I found something to suit every mood whenever I felt like diving in for a quick read. Given the success of the NYWF over the past decade and the diversity of writing it spawns, perhaps mainstream publishers should be taking this type of writing more seriously. I know as a reader, I’d love to see more quality Australian writing on book store shelves whatever its format. I don’t think I can summarise my opinion of the collection more accurately than Michael Williams who said that: “Herding Kites showcases the talents of everyone from unheralded underground mavericks and hot up-and-comers to internationally acclaimed wordsmiths – all writing for the love of the craft and not just the salvation of a cheque.”