The Slip is a bold debut short story collection from Melbourne-based author Miriam Webster – and the first release from indie publisher Aniko Press.
We spoke to Miriam about her inspiration, finding humour in dark places, and what it’s like to write from the perspective of an eel.
What was the initial spark for The Slip as a collection?
I wrote the first few stories after losing my dad in 2021, so it started as a book about grief, which is a slippery emotion – you never know where you stand. Then, as I kept writing, it morphed into something quite playful. I suppose you could say that slipperiness itself became the spark: I knew I was interested in shifting forms, strange creatures and difficult emotions. I wanted the stories to be funny and moving and a little sad, so I started writing about people in extreme situations.
Many characters in the book, such as Jack in ‘Brink Man’, are facing moments of personal crisis: grief, infidelity or the midlife variety. How did you approach writing about these difficult life experiences?
I think these moments of crisis make great stories because they bring out the extreme sides of people’s characters. There’s always this play of opposites: joy and pain, lightness and despair, humour and rage, risk and reward. They happen to all of us, but often it feels like you’re the first person on earth to experience such upheaval. You come out the other side changed – for better or worse. I guess the stories all reflect that complicated process.
The story ‘New Directions’ is narrated partly by an eel. What inspired you to write from this strange and slippery perspective?
They felt like the spirit animals I never asked for. Growing up in the bush, eels were something you wanted to avoid. When I moved to Melbourne, I spotted them in the creek near where I did my Masters of Creative Writing, and then they even showed up in my dreams. I started researching eels and found out a lot of weird facts about their reproductive cycles and Freud, species loss and illegal poaching – but you’ll have to read the story to find out about all that!
Place plays a significant role in your stories, particularly the sea and coastal landscapes. What draws you to these settings?
I suppose I’m a country girl at heart and I write about the places I know well. The bush and the river, the beach and the mountains are my emotional landscapes, the places I feel connected to. For me, place isn’t just the backdrop to human drama – it’s as much a part of the story as the characters and plot.
Is there a story in The Slip that you feel especially connected to, or that came to you in a surprising way?
The final story in the book, ‘A Look of Extreme Festivity’, is based in and around my home in the Kiewa Valley. It’s about grief and change, and in some ways it was both the easiest and the hardest one to write. But they’ve all surprised me, really. That’s the best thing about being a writer.
To order your copy of this fantastic book, click here.
Loving this interview with Miriam Webster? To read our interview with artist Emily Day, click here.
