Now Is Not the Time to Panic chronicles the events of a fateful summer brought on by two unsuspecting teenagers, Frankie and Zeke. Theirs is an awkward, clumsy coming-of-age story set against a backdrop of secrecy and the building of a national pop culture moment.

This Devastating Fever explores the life of Alice, a struggling author living through bushfires, pandemic lockdowns, and an ongoing climate crisis, painted against the backdrop of the previous century and the thinkers and writers that defined it – most notably, Leonard and Virginia Woolf.

Tasmanian author Robbie Arnott’s third novel, Limberlost, is both a step away from the magical realism of his previous work, and a step up in his appreciation of the magic of the natural world, the human relationship to land and sea, and the small but honest ways in which we fall captive to nature, love and responsibility.

The confessional stories of Isaac Fitzgerald’s Dirtbag, Massachusetts explore the many facets of one man’s identity with warmth and honesty, painting a fascinating picture of rough childhood escapades and tentative debauchery.

Wildflowers by Australian writer Peggy Frew is an affecting and beautifully written novel that follows three sisters as they each struggle in different ways to carve out a space for themselves in the world. Jumping between the present, the past and ever-lasting memories, Wildflowers explores the limits of love and the extent of responsibility with commendable nuance.

Following the success of her debut novel, Kokomo, author Victoria Hannan is back with another tender, heart-breaking ode to the ways in which we deal with emotions, heartbreak, loss and love. Marshmallow chronicles the story of a group of five friends in the aftermath of a terrible accident that changes everything.

What really goes on behind the closed doors of female friendships? Girls They Write Songs About seeks to answer that question and many more in a witty, smart, thrumming novel that spans two tumultuous decades of friendship between the narrator Charlotte and her best friend Rose.

Her Fidelity by Katharine Pollock is a witty coming-of-age story infused with music and culture, set in Brisbane’s only independent record store.

Part travel diary, feminist theology and confessional memoir, Holy Woman explores what it means to be female in a religion that worships a male God.

I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Korean author Baek Sehee is a collection of dialogues and essays about the author’s experiences dealing with depression.

Ghost Lover brings us a ferocious dose of female desire in the form of a short story collection. The collection chronicles the lives of American women, young and old, successful and wanting: motherless, loveless and directionless.

Abomination is the compelling debut novel by Ashley Goldberg. It tells the story of a friendship between two men which endures religious differences, individual searches for meaning and painful self-discovery.

Losing Face by emerging author George Haddad is a powerful contemporary tale that frames the Lebanese-Australian immigrant experience and its trickle-down effects on later generations.

Permafrost is a brilliant yet haunting collection of short fiction by artist, writer and curator SJ Norman. The stories work together to show the darker, mythical underbelly of reality.

At Certain Points We Touch is a roaring yet poignant coming-of-age story of first loves and last rites by Lauren John Joseph - at once a testament to the enduring fabric of love and a heart-breaking ode to the many lessons that come with grief – often too late.

Scary Monsters is a profoundly smart, satiric and thrilling novel from two-time Miles Franklin Award winner Michelle de Kretser.

The stories of this collection span across different continents and cultures, from the past to the future, and they celebrate the Eugen Bacon’s own hybridity with breathtaking complexity and lyricism.

Send Nudes is a promising new collection of short stories focused on what it means to be a woman. Told over ten quietly assertive stories, this debut allows its reader a glimpse into the messiness and painful contradictions of girlhood.

The Mountains Sing is a soaring, heartfelt and scorching piece of historical fiction set over the many unstable years that preceded and followed the Vietnam War, written by celebrated Vietnamese poet Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai.

A wildly erotic, bitingly witty and outlandish novel about food, sex and religion from Melissa Broder. It’s an imaginative tale of extremes built on the interconnected appetites that fuel the human experience: physical hunger, sexual desire and spiritual longing, wrapped up in one delicious book.