The Art of Navigation

Background Historically, literary fiction has been defined as the opposite of popular fiction. My research identifies an increase in contemporary literary fiction that is not 'realist litfic', but rather entertains or explores a science-fiction or fantasy conceit. This research centres specifically on speculative fiction's melding of clearly distinct but not always obviously differentiated genres which enables novelists to address, or at least take up the challenge of, what it means to be human in the Anthropocene. Contribution The Art of Navigation is a speculative fiction set in the Dandenongs, Victoria, in 1987. Three young girls leave their safe suburban world behind to spend a life-changing night in the Emerald Forest on the outskirts of Melbourne. The narrative moves between 1987, 1587 and 2087, with each part telling the same tale from the point of view of a different non-realist literary tradition: the first takes the form of a gothic ghost story, the middle section is a fantastic tale of possession, while the last uses science fiction to imagine the possibility of future time-travel technologies. I bring together different genres in one longform work to offer not only diverse perspectives on an inciting event, but to suggest that any singular understanding (of what is true, or what is real) is inevitably limited when it comes to comprehending a life in our rapidly technically and ecologically changing environment. Significance Melding different genres in this way demonstrates how a renewal of form(s) can speak to the contemporary Anthropocene experience. Having a language around this is crucial for mobilising complex dialogues on the subject. The work has received media attention (3CR; Inner North; Books+Publishing, Westerly, Canberra Times), and festival interest (Emerging Writers Festival, Bendigo Writers Festival, Albury Writers Festival, Dandenong Writers Workshop, The Wheeler Centre, Perth Writers Festival 2018).