BOOKS
The First Law of Sadness
Cover photograph for 2017 David Philip Publishers edition by Michael Tymbios, with lettering by Alice Edy.
Short fiction
2017
First published in South Africa by David Philip Publishers (Cape Town); new edition in 2023 by Karavan Press (Cape Town)
ABOUT:
Audacious, imaginative tales of killer eagles and paintball guns, tattoo removal and animal sanctuaries, pornographers and biltong makers; of a South Africa concurrently too strange and too familiar for comfort.
With trademark poetic and spiritual flair, these stories combine comedy and grief, spectacle, sex, and nostalgia.
PRIZES:
Winner of the 2018 Nadine Gordimer Award
A 2017 Sunday Times Book of the Year
Cover design for 2023 Karavan Press edition by Michael Tymbios.
REVIEWS:
"Mulgrew is easily the best thing we've got." ★★★★★ – Sunday Times
"A book full of the possible becoming probable, of the mundane made massive, of leviathans glimpsed out of the corner of an eye." – Mail & Guardian
“Nick Mulgrew does [short stories] justice like few other contemporary South African writers. Pensive and beautifully crafted.” – Cape Times