Spinning Around: The Kylie Playlist (ed by Kirsten Krauth & Angela Savage, Fremantle)

Kylie Minogue’s greatest hits become writing prompts for popular Australian writers in Spinning Around: The Kylie Playlist. With contributors such as Alice Pung, Christos Tsiolkas and Lucy Treloar, this ‘playlist’ of fiction, nonfiction and poetry celebrates a diverse tapestry of Australian culture through which Minogue floats like a heavenly spirit of inspiration. In this anthology edited by Kirsten Krauth (Into Your Arms: Nick Cave’s Songs Reimagined) and Angela Savage, a young woman picks up a hitchhiker and plays ‘I Should Be So Lucky’ on a jukebox, a closeted uni student is conflicted over tickets to Kylie’s Kiss Me Once tour, and lovers on a research base in Antarctica hear their hearts go ‘Padam Padam’. Overall, it is a joyful concept that has allowed the writers to have fun with their storytelling, and it makes for an engaging read. Many contributors pay homage to Minogue’s icon status in the LGBTQIA+ community, with several stories featuring the clubbing scene of the 1980s and 90s. However, the book can be read beyond Minogue’s music as a showcase of the queer literary talent in this country. Ellen van Neerven’s poem, inspired by ‘Spinning Around’, was a standout for this reviewer, as was the nuanced depiction of queer relationships in Miriam Sved’s ‘Dancing’. This book will definitely appeal to fans of Kylie Minogue, but it will also interest readers who want a poppy collection of contemporary Australian short stories.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Abe Theobald is a writer and graduate researcher at La Trobe University. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Category: Reviews