An Unexpected Party

Co-published by Get YA Words Out and edited by Seth Malacari, An Unexpected Party brings together the stories of emerging authors from the LGBTQIA+ community.

From fantastical realms to real-world struggles, this anthology champions queer identity by challenging stereotypes and exploring the many facets of identity. Written with wit, heart and honesty, these stories take queer protagonists outside the box of young adult romance and centre them at the heart of stories that involve magic, paranormal beings and adventure.

Featuring trans and gender-diverse voices – asexual, aromantic, bisexual and more – the stories in An Unexpected Party are as diverse as their writers.

Praise for the book

‘A warm, tight hug, long overdue for the generations of queer young adults longing for a place in the world. An Unexpected Party contains an unashamed and beautiful honesty, carving out a space for broad, and ever resonant queer stories within the Australian YA cannon.’ Jade Breen, Children’s Book Council of Australia

‘An Unexpected Party is a profoundly humanising experience … It’s a world where all fictional elements, be they realistic or fantastic, exist to serve a necessarily complex space of identity, empowerment, trauma, grief and belonging for both the authors in this book and the characters they create.’ Laurie Steed, WritingWA

‘Queer readers or young people struggling to understand their individual and social selves could recognise aspects of themselves and the way they see the real world in these short science fiction or fantasy tales.’ Magpies

‘This collection of short stories is a veritable party of sparkling new voices, highly original stories that cover the spectrum of LGBTQIA+ experiences, within imaginary worlds, some sci-fi, some fairy story, some dystopian, some horror, but all are fresh and powerful writings that will attract a variety of readers.’ Helen Eddy, ReadPlus

‘A deeply touching, heartwarming anthology exploring queer stories in science fiction, fantasy and horror.’ Readings