’This is a theme that Cheng’s stories revisit again and again. All of her characters—a diverse cast of difference races and faiths—are searching for connection or a sense of belonging, and coming up short. Despite its title the focus of this collection is not explicitly on that increasingly controversial public holiday. Rather, it is on the struggles, internal and external, that occur when people from different backgrounds meet by chance or are brought together…Australia Day is a bittersweet, beautifully crafted collection that will be much admired by fans of Cate Kennedy and Tony Birch.’

‘Melanie Cheng is an astonishingly deft and incisive writer. With economy and elegance, she creates a dazzling mosaic of contemporary life, of how we live now. Hers is a compelling new voice in Australian literature.’

‘What a wonderful book, a book with bite. These stories have a real edge to them. They are complex without being contrived, humanising, but never sentimental or cloying—and, ultimately, very moving.’

‘In each story, Melanie Cheng creates an entire microcosm, peeling back the superficial to expose the raw nerves of contemporary Australian society. Her eye is sharp and sympathetic, her characters flawed and funny and utterly believable.’

‘Melanie Cheng’s stories are a deep dive into the diversity of humanity. They lead you into lives, into hearts, into unexplored places, and bring you back transformed.’

‘The characters stay in the mind, their lives and experiences mirroring many of our own, challenging us to think how we might respond in their place. An insightful, sometimes uncomfortable portrayal of multicultural Australia from an observant and talented writer.’

‘Australia Day is an absorbing panorama of contemporary Australia…These are 14 powerfully perceptive stories, written with love, humour, realism, and a distinct edginess. While the terrain covered might be familiar, Cheng’s take on our treasured multiculturalism feels fresh… It’s necessary reading, not only because it’s a microcosm of who we are, but because each story is a gem, and a joy to behold.’

‘If only the PM might pick up a copy, even by mistake.’

‘A wonderful feat of storytelling…Melanie Cheng is an exciting new writer.’ 

‘A sumptuous collection of fourteen short stories, which are disparate but with modern Australia or Australians at their heart, exploring issues of racism, infidelity, grief, parenthood, children and ageing. Despite the brevity of some of these stories (one is just eight pages), they are heartfelt and Melbourne-based Cheng paints the characters beautifully.’

‘A panorama of contemporary multicultural Australia that explores each and everyone’s desire to belong.’

‘A diverse, captivating collection of short stories.’

‘The happy surprise of Cheng’s work as a collection lies in her resolute grasp of the absolute normalcy of a culture that not so many years ago was divided and dually suspicious. The census gives us the facts but it takes fiction to make reality three-dimensional.’

‘The author’s empathetic eye and easy facility with dialogue make the anthology a strong debut, with the longer stories in particular offering breadth and depth…It feels like Cheng has taken a wide sample from the census to craft this inclusive portrait of contemporary Australia.’

‘A stunning debut that takes its place among Australian short story greats.’

‘Cheng’s work is polished and affecting. Australia Day is that thing we all chase: a complex, engaging and timely read.’

‘Cheng paints a holistic snapshot of Australian life, with the result being a collection of stories that are simultaneously cynical and hopeful…The ambiguity inherent in labelling something “Australian” is also manifested in Cheng’s characters, prompting the reader to interrogate their own definition of what it means to be Australian.’

‘Melanie Cheng writes prose that gets straight to the heart of the matter and tells it how it is…The more I sit here and reflect on each story in this collection, the stronger and more powerful they become.’

‘Melanie Cheng’s voice is strong, compassionate and embracing in these 14 stories that reflect the diversity of Australians and the starkness of human frailty. The recurring theme in all these stories is the ability to re-form lives that, at first, might seem to be shattered beyond repair.’

‘The different cultures, the intriguing characters all left me wanting more. I’d love to see some longer fiction from Melanie Cheng in the future but I’ll happily accept anything and everything she writes. A fantastic talent who has nailed the art of the short story.’

’The book bears witness to the author’s empathetic eye, multicultural characterisation and easy facility with dialogue…This short story collection explores what it means to belong, to be Australian; its insight from different vantage points and its photo-realistic narrative make it an exciting and impressive debut.’

‘Wonderful.’

‘Melanie Cheng’s Australia Day brought this prodigal reader of short fiction back into the fold. And what better return than through Cheng’s creation of illuminated characters of colour—young, old, rich, poor, married, widowed, Muslim, Chinese…Cheng’s Australia Day explores the density and difficulty inherent in being culturally and physically different and serves to remind me that when our six families of adopted children from China gather in Queenscliffe on Australia Day each year, raising two flags on the pole instead of one that we, like all of Cheng’s characters, are restoring belonging from our individual and collective loss.’