Past Event

Book Launch: Transactions by Ali Alizadeh

15th Jul 2013

Presenter: UQP
Website: http://uqp.com.au/
Event Duration: 120 minutes

Transactions, the second work of prose fiction by poet, novelist, critic and playwright Ali Alizadeh, presents a provocative and panoramic view of our contemporary world.

Based on his extensive world travels and his experiences migrating from Iran to Australia as a teenager, these are global stories in their setting and their themes, featuring characters such as a spoiled Emirati rich girl, an Iranian asylum seeker in Amsterdam, a Liberian refugee seeking aid from a charity, a Ukrainian prostitute, a Danish sex trafficker and a Chinese gamer.

Fresh and adventurous, this absorbing story cycle offers a provocative and panoramic view of contemporary life.

Ali Alizadeh’s critically acclaimed book of poetry Ashes in the Air was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards last year and I would be surprised if Transactions doesn’t receive similar attention, as it is a powerful piece of prose fiction.  Through a series of interconnected stories, Alizadeh has created a truly global and uncompromisingly frank narrative ... His characters are often caught between East and West and dwell in the harsh fringes of cultural collision ... characters glimpsed and yet fully realised through Alizadeh’s poetic yet direct storytelling ...This is a challenging and surprising collection from a talented writer. 4.5 STARS — Books & Publishing

A treasure box of unexpectedly linked stories, written with compassion and sparkling intelligence.  In startling vignettes, Alizadeh sketches assassins and prostitutes, writers and refugees, the victims and oppressors from all over the planet — and then reveals the invisible bonds linking them together and pushing them apart. Funny, angry and at times immensely moving, Transactions is a book unlike any other you’ll read this year. — Jeff Sparrow, Overland