The Slip by Miriam Webster

A$29.99

These dark, feral and unforgettable stories are about the things we can’t hold onto: a marriage drifting out with the tide, a family collapsing like a wave, a young woman’s affair that dissolves as quickly as it ignites.

From Melbourne to regional Victoria and beyond, lovers flounder in the push and pull of desire, and families are caught between duty and disarray. A restless couple are visited by an old flame, a washed-up playwright faces his demons and a woman returns to her childhood home to confront her twin brother’s ghost.

Elsewhere, a one night stand takes a sinister turn, an intoxicated eel writhes its way to the sea and a grieving gardener finds solace in the dirt beneath his nails. Brimming with dark humour, empathy and a sharp eye for the uncanny, this is an electrifying debut from an original new voice.

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These dark, feral and unforgettable stories are about the things we can’t hold onto: a marriage drifting out with the tide, a family collapsing like a wave, a young woman’s affair that dissolves as quickly as it ignites.

From Melbourne to regional Victoria and beyond, lovers flounder in the push and pull of desire, and families are caught between duty and disarray. A restless couple are visited by an old flame, a washed-up playwright faces his demons and a woman returns to her childhood home to confront her twin brother’s ghost.

Elsewhere, a one night stand takes a sinister turn, an intoxicated eel writhes its way to the sea and a grieving gardener finds solace in the dirt beneath his nails. Brimming with dark humour, empathy and a sharp eye for the uncanny, this is an electrifying debut from an original new voice.

Download book cover.

 

About the author

Miriam Webster’s fiction and essays have been published in Aniko Magazine, HEAT, Island, Overland, The Suburban Review, swim meet lit mag and certain zines. She is a Wheeler Centre Hot Desk Fellow and her work has been recognised in major prizes including the Calibre Essay Prize, the Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize, the Olga Masters Short Story Award and the inaugural KYD Nonfiction Essay Prize. She lives in Naarm/Melbourne. The Slip is her first book.

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Credit: Bonnie Jarrett Creative.

Praise for The Slip

“What an impressive debut. These stories are so clever, tender, full of life and downright sassy. I couldn’t get enough of them.” ~ Jennifer Mills, author of Salvage

“Playful, precise, smart and sexy. Webster's stories are inventive and her characters have so much heart. The Slip is a brilliant collection – I was captivated." ~ Laura Elvery, author of Nightingale

Press

Q&A in TrulyAus, June/July 2025 in print and online.

Review in Meanjin online.

Extract from ‘Glimmer’ in Kill Your Darlings online.

Personal essay ‘Whale Watching Reminded Me Why I Write’ in Ramona Magazine online.

Interview on the Unfolded podcast with Seth Robinson and Tony Birch online.

Review in The Saturday Paper online.

Interview on 3RRR Literati Glitterati online.

Interview on Tsundoku podcast online.

Details

ISBN: 978-0-6489898-0-6

Format: Paperback

Extent: 240pp

Publication date: 29 July 2025

Rights: World

Genre: Literary fiction

RRP: $29.99

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