Burn: Melanie Saward in-conversation with Candice Fox

When a tragic bushfire puts two kids in hospital, Indigenous teenager Andrew knows the police will come after him first. But Andrew almost wants to be caught, because at least it might make his dad come and rescue him from suburban Brisbane and his neglectful mother.

Growing up in small-town Tasmania, Andrew struggled at home, at school, at everything. The only thing that distracted or excited him was starting little fires. Flames boosted his morale and purified his thoughts, and they were the only thing in his life he could control. Until one day things got out of hand, and Andrew was forced to leave everything behind.

Now as the police close in and Andrew runs out of people to turn to, he must decide whether he can put his faith in himself to find a way forward.

Burn is an affecting, powerful novel about prejudice and growing up on the margins from exciting new Australian voice Melanie Saward.

Melanie Saward is a proud descendent of the Bigambul and Wakka Wakka peoples. She is a Tulmur (Ipswich) based writer, an associate lecturer in creative writing at QUT, and a PhD student. Melanie’s writing has been published in Flock – First Nations Stories; Kill Your Darlings, Overland, Scum Mag, and Verity La. She has been shortlisted for the Kuracca Prize and the David Unaipon Award and received highly commended mentions in the Boundless Indigenous Mentorship, the Harlequin First Nations Fellowship, and the Calibre Essay Prize.

Candice Fox’s first novel Hades won the Ned Kelly Award for best debut in 2014 from the Australian Crime Writers Association. The sequel, Eden, won the Ned Kelly Award for best crime novel in 2015. Her subsequent novels – Fall, Crimson Lake, Redemption Point, Gone by Midnight and Gathering Dark - have all been shortlisted for the award and in 2022 she won her third Ned Kelly for The Chase. Her most recent bestseller, Fire With Fire, was released in April 2023.