Dirt

‘McGregor goes straight for the jugular. She also goes straight for the heart.’ — Veronica Sen, The Canberra Times


A new girl in town seeks the realisation of her fantasies, and finds the unexpected. A brother and a sister embark on a journey in search of their estranged brother. An acquaintance comes to stay and old habits are quickly resumed …


No one in these stories has solid ground under their feet. Linked by coincidence and desire, by death and geography, they struggle towards futures where nothing in certain — learning to live without expectation but not without hope.


Originally published in 1994 as Suck My Toes, Dirt is short fiction at its finest: polished, witty, and explosive. It won the Steele Rudd Award for an Australian short-story collection, cementing Fiona Kelly McGregor’s reputation as one of our most exciting writers.