anything can happen

Title: anything can happen
Author: Susan Hampton
Publisher: Puncher & Wattmann

Shortlist: Non-Fiction

anything can happen is a memoir from a prize-winning Australian author. Funny, heartbreaking, it has exactly the arc of a good story. Among a slice of social history of Sydney’s inner west, there’s a farm in Victoria, a rural lesbian subculture, Mardi Gras, the pleasures of teaching writing, and flashbacks to the working-class fishing culture of Stockton (Newcastle) in the 1960s and 70s.

Juxtaposition is her gift, as is the very natural speaking voice. With the eye of a poet, and someone who has experienced it all, straight and married, gay and married, mother, friend, lover, writer, this is a raw and truthful account of a life lived fully.

Judges’ report

This subtle, supple memoir cut through a strong and crowded field of contenders with its wry observations and delicious prose. Susan Hampton takes us through the swings and roundabouts of her life: marrying into the Slovenian immigrant community at 19, raising her son among artists in Sydney's gay 80s, navigating lesbian poly drama in the Central Goldfields, and coming of age in the working-class fishing towns near Newcastle in the 60s. What emerges is a mosaic of 20th-century Australia in all its incongruous glory, peopled with lively, opalescent characters who each catch the light in their own way.

Extract

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About the Author

Susan Hampton

VPLA book photography by Sarah Walker

The 2025 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards are proudly supported by the Victorian Government through the Community Support Fund and Creative Victoria.