All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld comes out today!

It’s the story of an extremely standoffish girl who flees the rough-and-tumble sheep stations of Australia for a craggy farm in Britain. Why she fled, and how she plans to survive in a world of livestock, sex work, and lifelong guilt, are the questions that burns this story down to the nub, like a candle. Evie Wyld is one of Granta‘s 20 best young writers, and All the Birds, Singing is one of the most gripping books of the year.

We asked the author one question.

How are you celebrating the US publication of All the Birds, Singing?

Evie Wyld: During the day, I’ll be working in my bookshop–I’ve been negligent with the dusting lately and I need to do a stock take, so I’ll be keeping the shutters down and having a spring clean. Exciting times. 

I’ve just started mentoring a young woman and we’ll have our first meeting at lunchtime–somewhere in Soho. I’m a bit nervous about it, so it’ll be nice to get the first one out of the way. Afterwards if there’s time, I might go and buy myself some publishing-day boots. 

In the evening I’ll be reading at an event called Faber Social with Ben Marcus, Jon McGregor and Sarah Hall. I’m on pretty late so will have to abstain from drinking until afterwards because I can’t read after a drink. But  after I’ve finished I’ll be aggressively demanding someone feeds me and gives me drink.

Read the first chapter of All the Birds, Singing here.

Get the book here.

– Brian Hurley