Before the Anthropocene, the air pulsed with birdsong. Now, a silence is falling.Ava spends her days at The Department, rebuilding lost species from the remaining fragments of art and scientific data. Her dying mother thinks she should quit. So does her lover, and the sex workers who loiter outside her apartment. But when a ghost from her past shows up, Ava is compelled to follow its broken song deep into the archives – uncovering a secret that could reverse the age of silence.
Set in a time of mass extinction, Department of the Vanishing blends documentary poetry, archival image, and narrative verse to explore the vital questions: Can we live in a world without birdsong and is it possible to create a new opus with the fragments left over?
Winner of the 2025 Tasmanian Literary Award (University of Tasmania Unpublished Manuscript Prize)
‘Rare and resplendent. A full-bodied roar at the crimes of extinction and a psalm for the wonder of the living world.’ – Jennifer Mills
‘A sexy, compelling and beautifully crafted elegy not only to birds but to feeling itself. The denouement is spectacular; I cheered and wept.’ – Angela O’Keeffe
‘Simultaneously fragile and furious, intimate and immense, Department of the Vanishing is a remarkable achievement.’ – James Bradley
‘Surprisingly seductive and at times deeply sad, Department of the Vanishing brilliantly explores what it takes to live life with grief for lost family and a vanishing wild.’ – Jane Messer
Johanna lives in Nipaluna (Hobart) where she writes fiction, poetry and children’s books. Her work is widely published and she has won a string of awards, including a Tasmanian Literary Award for Department of the Vanishing.
Johanna will be in conversation with Danielle Wood, author of several works of fiction and non-fiction, including the Vogel Prize winning novel The Alphabet of Light and Dark, as well as the co-editor of two anthologies of Tasmanian writing. As "Minnie Darke", she’s the author of six works of fiction including the best-selling romantic comedy, Star-crossed. With fellow Tasmanian writer Heather Rose, she is “Angelica Banks”, author of a trilogy of children’s books. Danielle writes a fortnightly column for the Mercury, teaches writing at UTAS and her most recent book is Minnie Darke's Three Juliets about forced adoption, dressmaking and the tangled threads of maternal love.
Join Johanna and Danielle at the Afterword Cafe.
Tickets available on TryBooking: https://www.trybooking.com/DJIJZ
Event Venue
131 Collins Street, Hobart, TAS, Australia, Tasmania 7000
Tickets
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